# British, American different turns of phrase **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 22, 2010, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070 "2010-12-22T13:58:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![tetranz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a587f6/32.png) [@tetranz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tetranz)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/101 "2010-12-23T23:14:34Z")
In the US my address might be _on_ ABC Street. In NZ and I think UK it would be _in_ ABC Street. In the US it might simply be “on ABC” since it seems common to the drop the street, road or whatever suffix when talking if the name is unique. Don’t forget fanny 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2010, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/102 "2010-12-24T02:13:13Z")
> [@Barking\_Dog](#): > > As a Texan, I would assume the same. > > also > > UK: He/She is on line. > US: He/She is in line. > > I never quite understood that. “On line” is what you are right this moment. “in line” is what you are when you are “in” a line of people. Didn’t we deal with this at great length earlier in the thread? No, we in the UK don’t say that. Ever. Apparently some of you Americans in New York do. Where are people hearing this bizarre “fact”? ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2010, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/103 "2010-12-24T11:32:07Z")
This is quite possibly an urban legend but I heard the story of a young Irishman visiting New York on holiday. He got into trouble when the guy at passport control asked why he was visiting and he replied “I’m just here for the craic” . ---
**Author:** ![ramel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb8c5e/32.png) [@ramel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ramel)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2010, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/104 "2010-12-24T11:33:05Z")
> [@tetranz](#): > > Don’t forget fanny 🙂 I still remember when I first heard of “fanny packs”. That was a confusing couple of minutes 😛 How about UK: Mobile phone US: Cell phone ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2010, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/105 "2010-12-24T13:41:40Z")
> [@ramel](#): > > How about > > UK: Mobile phone > US: Cell phone Twenty years ago, a British person would, indeed, have said “cell [or cellular] phone”. That seems to have changed, and now “mobile” seems to have become much more common. However, I suspect most Brits would still understand “cell phone” perfectly well (and even without all the exposure they get to American entertainment media). In fact, most of the examples in this thread seem to be phrases that would _both_ be considered perfectly normal in one country, but only one of which is common in the other. Rather surprisingly, to my mind, the country that most often seems to accept just one variant appears to be America. Over in [another thread, in GQ](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=589711), I am surprised to find myself being assured that Americans would _never_ say “Happy Christmas” rather than “Merry Christmas,” although I (backed up by others in the thread) know quite well that both forms are common in Britain. I find the apparently greater linguistic restrictiveness of the U.S. odd, considering that America is much the larger, and, in most respects, the more culturally diverse country. ```auto While I'm here, I would like to mention that the word "nervy" has almost opposite connotations in Britain and America. In Britain, a nervy person is one who is very prone to nervousness, someone timorous and easily rattled; in America, a nervy person is one with "a lot of nerve" (in a good way), someone bold and willing to take risks. (I realize that, as a single word, this does not fully meet the conditions of the OP, but it is a rather radical difference - one that could lead to real misunderstandings - that seldom seems to be remarked upon.) Also, many British people (including, once, myself), presumably having heard the American expression "fender bender," believe that "fender" is the American word for what they themselves would call a car's *bumper*. It is not. A bumper is a "bumper" on both sides of the Atlantic. *Fenders*, in America, are those parts of a car's bodywork that partially cover the wheels, protecting them from the elements (and, like bumpers, they do rather often get bent during minor accidents). I do not think British English actually has a word with quite the same meaning, although the rough equivalent on a bicycle would be called a "mudguard" (I am not sure if that is what it is on an American bike). ``` ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2010, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/106 "2010-12-24T13:51:56Z")
That would be called ‘wheel arch’, or ‘wheel arch trim’ in the UK, I think, although our cars don’t generally have wheels that are obscured by bodywork. ---
**Author:** ![chaika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chaika/32/405_2.png) [@chaika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaika)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2010, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/107 "2010-12-24T15:02:46Z")
In the U.K., the phrase “at school” is used differently than it is in the U.S. In discussing a former schoolmate, for instance, an English person would say, “We were at school together.” An American would never say that; he/she would say something like “We went to school together” or “We went to the same school.” Also, “needn’t” (U.K.) vs. “don’t need” (U.S.). Along the same lines, the word “want” can be used in the U.K. to mean “need” (a usage unheard of in the U.S.), e.g., “Your hair wants cutting.” This usage seems to have declined in the U.K., though. In my entirely unscientific observation, it seems much less common now than it was when I was at school (ha!) in England. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2010, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/108 "2010-12-24T16:45:27Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > That would be called ‘wheel arch’, or ‘wheel arch trim’ in the UK, I think, although our cars don’t generally have wheels that are obscured by bodywork. Fenders usually don’t obscure the tires on modern cars. ---
**Author:** ![\_mostly\_Harmless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/9d8465/32.png) [@\_mostly\_Harmless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_mostly_Harmless)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2010, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/109 "2010-12-24T16:54:53Z")
> [@Candyman74](#): > > The one that always gets me is the pronounciation of numbers; I can’t help it, but to me the American way sounds like a toddler trying to talk (I realise that the British way of saying many things sound equally odd to Americans): > > UK: One hundred and twelve > US: One hundred twelve > > UK: Two thousand and ten > US: Two thousand ten As an American I can not think of a context in which I would say “One Hundred Twelve.” I do, however say the “and” as an " ‘n’ " and say it pretty fast. This might be elided to the point where some may not hear it at all, but I still say it. I would only say “Two Thousand Ten” only if I were refering to the year. I would say “Two Thousand and Ten” if I were talking about that many apples. ---
**Author:** ![Racer1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee59a6/32.png) [@Racer1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Racer1)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2010, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/110 "2010-12-24T20:07:59Z")
The problem with this thread is that people are hearing things said in a regional dialect and assuming it applies to the whole country. Then there’s the “on line” thing, that I’ve never heard in any dialect, personally. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2010, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/111 "2010-12-24T20:38:34Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Or UK: BP have _spilt_ some oil. Spilt, spelt, dreamt are all valid UK forms. > > I agree (and I also understand that’t just the way things are), but to me, it sounds like a list being recited. i.e: > UK: One hundred and twelve = 112 > US: One hundred twelve = 100,12 Both versions are used to mean exactly the same thing in the US and the one you’ve marked UK is actually much more common. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2010, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/112 "2010-12-24T21:54:14Z")
> [@\_mostly\_Harmless](#): > > As an American I can not think of a context in which I would say “One Hundred Twelve.” I do, however say the “and” as an " ‘n’ " and say it pretty fast. This might be elided to the point where some may not hear it at all, but I still say it. > > I would only say “Two Thousand Ten” only if I were refering to the year. I would say “Two Thousand and Ten” if I were talking about that many apples. Yeah, thinking about it I’ve only really heard Americans say it when related to dates. Like the beginning of The Daily Show, “December 12th, TWO THOUSAND TEN”. Actually, that brings up another one. Americans seem to drop the “the” from dates a lot. That Daily Show intro would be “December the 12th, Two Thousand and Ten” in the UK. Oh hang about. Now I’m not even sure. Do they say “December 12” or “December 12th”? Crap. Now I’m confusing myself. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2010, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/113 "2010-12-25T00:36:40Z")
UK: Lend it me, go to university, whilst, in the street US: Lend it to me, go to college or to a \*particular \*university, while, on the street The UK “At the end of the day” seems to have completely supplanted “When all is said and done” in the US ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2010, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/114 "2010-12-25T01:49:16Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I agree (and I also understand that’t just the way things are), but to me, it sounds like a list being recited. i.e: > UK: One hundred and twelve = 112 > US: One hundred twelve = 100,12 Wait, are you implying that if an American said one hundred twelve, they mean it as “100,12”, or it sounds like that to you? Because 100,12 = 10,012, and that would be pronounced as “ten thousand twelve” or “ten thousand and twelve”. Now I’m confused. **amanset** , if the Daily Show were in the UK, wouldn’t it be “the 12th of December”? It is my understanding that British people tend to say date/month/year, whereas Americans usually say month/date/year, which is why we also write it differently. (ie, today is 24/12/10 in the UK and 12/24/10 in the US.) ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2010, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/115 "2010-12-25T03:11:39Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > **amanset** , if the Daily Show were in the UK, wouldn’t it be “the 12th of December”? It is my understanding that British people tend to say date/month/year, whereas Americans usually say month/date/year, which is why we also write it differently. (ie, today is 24/12/10 in the UK and 12/24/10 in the US.) To be honest, I think we’re all over the place. The date is written that way but what we say can be either, july the fourth or the fourth of july. Maybe it depends on which bit you want to stress, “JULY the fourth”, if you want to make it clear you are talking about the summer and the “FOURTH of july” if you are stressing that it was the fourth and not, say, the fifth. Either that or my own command of the language is screwed up. That’s a real possibility. And no, I have no idea why I decided to take July the 4th/4th of July as an example. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2010, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/116 "2010-12-25T03:48:18Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > UK: Lend it me I am British and if I heard that, I would just assume that the person was uneducated and had missed out the “to”. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2010, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/117 "2010-12-25T04:34:38Z")
> [@tetranz](#): > > Kiwi in the US here … probably much the same as UK > > Politicians in an election .. > > US: Run for congress or whatever > NZ / UK: Stand for parliament or whatever Canadian politicians both run and stand, interchangeably, although I think “run” is more common. Oh, here’s one between the UK and Canada: in the UK, “crossing the floor” means to vote differently from one’s party on a bill (because MPs literally vote by gathering on one side or another of the chamber); but in Canada, it means to quit one’s party and join another caucus. (What the British call ‘crossing the floor’ we would call ‘defying the whip,’ assuming it was a whipped vote.) Britons, do they say ‘drop the writ’ for ‘ask the Queen (or in our case, the GG) to dissolve Parliament’ (“the Prime Minister dropped the writ today”) over there? ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2010, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/118 "2010-12-25T05:15:40Z")
> [@runcible\_spoon](#): > > In both those cases, what you have labeled Non-US is what I’d use nine times out of ten. What you have labeled US seems a little less colloquial, but also much less common. I’m going solely by what I see here, where the extra ‘of’ seems endemic. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2010, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/119 "2010-12-25T11:05:01Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > Britons, do they say ‘drop the writ’ for ‘ask the Queen (or in our case, the GG) to dissolve Parliament’ (“the Prime Minister dropped the writ today”) over there? In Australia, if it’s a reference to the advice by the PM (state premier) to the G-G (state governor) that parliament be dissolved, then it’s exactly that…“a request that parliament be dissolved”. Writs are then “issued” by the vice-regal representative. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2010, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/120 "2010-12-25T12:19:04Z")
> [@amarone](#): > > I am British and if I heard that, I would just assume that the person was uneducated and had missed out the “to”. As a Brit I find it spot on. The some construct can me seen in sentences like “lend me your book” instead of “lend your book to me”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070.md?page=7)