# Britishisms **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 24, 2004, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishisms/281462 "2004-12-24T09:51:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![START](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@START](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/START)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2004, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishisms/281462/1 "2004-12-24T09:51:56Z")
Instead of; Right away they say Straight away Sweaters they say Jumpers Vacation they say Holiday Friends they say Mates French Fries they say Chips Butt they say Bum ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2004, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishisms/281462/2 "2004-12-24T10:00:42Z")
Right away, I’ll point out that I’ll happily wear sweaters, my friend. 😛 (Correct on the others, though 😃 ) ---
**Author:** ![owlstretchingtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/958977/32.png) [@owlstretchingtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlstretchingtime)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2004, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishisms/281462/3 "2004-12-24T10:06:03Z")
> [@START](#): > > Butt they say Bum Nope - Arse. Always arse. Even the Queen. ---
**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, 2004, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishisms/281462/4 "2004-12-24T10:16:18Z")
The obvious ones: flashlight \> torch sidewalk \> pavement cookies \> biscuits yard \> garden (car)hood \> bonnet (car)trunk \> boot eggplant \> aubergine pissed \> angry drunk \> pissed zucchini \> courgette jello \> jelly pharmacist \> chemist fall \> autumn candy \> sweets chips \> crisps gas \> petrol ---
**Author:** ![owlstretchingtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/958977/32.png) [@owlstretchingtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlstretchingtime)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2004, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishisms/281462/5 "2004-12-24T10:38:22Z")
Football means football. American football means that rugby abomination and we call Baseball “rounders” and Basketball “netball”. We seem to have different meanings for the word “beer” too. For you it’s a fizzy soft drink - for us it’s something that gets you pissed (see above). There a similar confusion about the word “cider”. This is always alcoholic in Britain (and drunk by 17 year old chave in bus shelters). ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2004, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishisms/281462/6 "2004-12-24T10:52:35Z")
Here’s a sentence with quite different meanings on either side of the pond: “Girls these days wear their pants so low that you can see their fannies”. ---
**Author:** ![seosamh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@seosamh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seosamh)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2004, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishisms/281462/7 "2004-12-24T12:04:03Z")
(Some of this has probably been said before, but what the heck) In the UK we have the Royal Mail and our letters are delivered by Postmen (which also includes Postwomen), whereas the US Postal Service uses Mailmen/women. We park on our driveways, you drive on your parkways. Then there are the spellings: e.g. we never spell Defence with an S; we use C and S to differentiate between noun and verb in words like Licence/License and Practice/Practise; we double final consonants in words like traveller and pannelled; we spell colour, neighbour etc with a U. We pronounce the H in Herb. When we play football, the principal means of propelling the ball is by foot. ---
**Author:** ![Chimpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@Chimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimpy)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2004, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishisms/281462/8 "2004-12-24T12:42:16Z")
> [@seosamh](#): > > (Some of this has probably been said before, but what the heck) > > In the UK we have the Royal Mail and our letters are delivered by Postmen (which also includes Postwomen), whereas the US Postal Service uses Mailmen/women. > > We park on our driveways, you drive on your parkways. > > Then there are the spellings: e.g. we never spell Defence with an S; we use C and S to differentiate between noun and verb in words like Licence/License and Practice/Practise; we double final consonants in words like traveller and pannelled; we spell colour, neighbour etc with a U. > > We pronounce the H in Herb. > > When we play football, the principal means of propelling the ball is by foot. And when we play rugby, we don’t cover our entire bodies in foam. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2004, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishisms/281462/9 "2004-12-24T13:40:06Z")
> [@owlstretchingtime](#): > > We seem to have different meanings for the word “beer” too. For you it’s a fizzy soft drink - for us it’s something that gets you pissed (see above). Y’know, you really have to come to the US sometime and have some of our beer. It ain’t all Budweiser anymore. Even in my blue-collar, low-educated family, most people enjoy a good strong beer when offered one. ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2004, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishisms/281462/10 "2004-12-24T13:47:11Z")
[Standing in between Heather Mitts and Linda Cohn (yay me!)] Ooh, ooh, say “get your knickers in a twist!” [/sibHMaLC(ym!)] ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2004, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishisms/281462/11 "2004-12-24T14:04:48Z")
clerk = clerk, but in England it’s pronounced “clark” And then there’s “aluminum” which in England is not only pronounced differently, but also spelled differently - “aluminium.” I have a friend who was born and raised in England, but who has been in the US since the mid-60s. Some of the language differences really baffled her (like when she asked for a bowl of jelly and got jam, instead of gelatin.) And for the record, she says “bum” and not “arse.” “Britain and America are two countries separated by a common language” - Robert Benchley. “Britain and America are two countries separated by a common language and a lot of fish.” - Eddie Izzard ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2004, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishisms/281462/12 "2004-12-24T14:45:53Z")
> [@Casey1505](#): > > [Standing in between Heather Mitts and Linda Cohn (yay me!)] > Ooh, ooh, say “get your knickers in a twist!” > [/sibHMaLC(ym!)] Unfortunately some folks think that this means to be angry or perturbed about someone or something when it actually means to get an erection, IMHO. On the OP: Brits: The victim was sent to hospital. The student went to university. U.S.'n: We put “the” in front of “hospital” and “university”. ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2004, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishisms/281462/13 "2004-12-24T14:49:56Z")
> [@LifeOnWry](#): > > … > “Britain and America are two countries separated by a common language” - Robert Benchley. > “Britain and America are two countries separated by a common language and a lot of fish.” - Eddie Izzard I _think_ the “separated…” quotation was from either Oscar Wilde or Beroge Berbard Shaw, but msut say I like the Eddie Izzzard one. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Kal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kal)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2004, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishisms/281462/14 "2004-12-24T14:54:47Z")
US - write your congressman (or whatever, you get the point) British - write to your (whatever) US - “I was tossing all night” = I didn’t sleep well British - “I was tossing and turning all night” = I didn’t sleep well British - “I was tossing all night” = I didn’t sleep well because I was masturbating like a motherfuck. ---
**Author:** ![MrFantsyPants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@MrFantsyPants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrFantsyPants)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2004, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishisms/281462/15 "2004-12-24T14:58:37Z")
GAR-aaahj (US) = gahr-IDJ (UK) ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2004, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishisms/281462/16 "2004-12-24T15:04:11Z")
The boundary between the pavement ( side-walk ) and the road . UK= kerb , US=curb . (We do use curb when talking about restricting or restraining something ) When looking for a place to stay . UK = accommodation , US = accommodations. and of course maths and math. ---
**Author:** ![Tuco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tuco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuco)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2004, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishisms/281462/17 "2004-12-24T15:16:41Z")
Some more: UK-\>US fag-\>cigaratte faggot-\>a type of meatball rubber-\>eraser bollocks-\>testicles (used as an expletive) ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2004, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishisms/281462/18 "2004-12-24T18:05:03Z")
My brother works in a coffee shop, and he was telling me about a British co-worker of his who asks customers “Do you want this for here or to take away?” ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2004, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishisms/281462/19 "2004-12-24T18:22:24Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > The obvious ones: Well if we’re going to talk about obvious Mangetout, snow peas \> mangetout 🙂 and rutabaga \>swede zucchini\>corgette arugula\>rocket ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2004, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishisms/281462/20 "2004-12-24T18:25:29Z")
> [@Celyn](#): > > I _think_ the “separated…” quotation was from either Oscar Wilde or Beroge Berbard Shaw, but msut say I like the Eddie Izzzard one. 🙂 You’re right. Sorta 🙂 It’s George Bernard Shaw. It’s been erroneously attributed to Oscar Wilde, and I KNEW it wasn’t Wilde, but I blanked on who it actually was and came up with Benchley. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishisms/281462.md?page=2)