On the topic of academics:
You take exams in the US. You (I believe) write exams in the UK.
I think that neither is satisfactory. The US version implies that you’re picking up the exam packet and carrying it somewhere, while the UK version implies that you’re scribing the exam (perhaps for someone else to then ‘take’ somewhere else?)
Not necessarily—any more than when you take a picture, take a punch, or take an aspirin.
Yeah, it’s the teacher who writes the exam!
The coarser the accent, the nearer it sounds to Em’bra.
Nope, we take them, too.
More! (I keep thinking of these.)
I noticed one British celeb saying “different to” and filed it under grammar glitch. Then I read the phrase in an online British newspaper. The other one is “bored of” (examples: “This war is different to the last one” and “I got bored of doing that.”)
Are these phrases grammatically correct in the UK?
One more obvious one:
Tights (UK) = pantyhose (US)
After years of watching sports on CBC, I notice that the Canadian announcers will use collective verbs with the city names of teams. For example, they might say “Toronto are offside” as opposed to what Americans would say “Toronto is offside”. Is this also the case in the UK, where you might say “Manchester are winning” as opposed to “Manchester is winning”?
Another Britishism I don’t understand: what are “elevenses?” Is that a tea break?
UK English definitely treats a collective as a plural: Microsoft are buying out… The team are doing well… The Glee Club are hosting… Pink Floyd are inarguably… Queen turn out a great… etc.
Elevenses is a tea or coffee break taken mid-morning with or without a snack.
Yes.
(Oh, BTW, we also ‘sit’ exams, which might have been what you were thinking of, NinjaChick)
11 o’clock = “Time for a little smackeral of something” 
I’ve heard and used “spunk” as “semen” in American usage as well. Perhaps it’s a regional thing.
One peculiar Britishism I’ve always noticed is this:
Is Bob coming over for dinner?
US: I think so.
UK: I would have thought so.
Anything to do with vehicles seems to have a whole new vocabulary associated with it:
US:UK
Hood:Bonnet
Trunk:Boot
Windshield:Windscreen
Side-view mirror:Wing Mirror
Tachometer:Rev counter
Station Wagon:Estate car
Semi:Lorry
Axleshaft:Halfshaft
Turn Signal:Indicator
Expressway/Freeway/Turnpike:Motorway
Drive shaft:Prop shaft
Muffler:Silencer
Lug Nut:Wheel Nut
Overpass:Flyover
Jalopy:Banger
Dampers:Shock Absorbers
License Plate:Number Plate
Exit ramp:Sliproad
I also seem to recall “tire iron” having a different UK equivalent, but I may just be imagining things.
Also, along with the university/college points raised, in the UK people “go to university” whereas in the US you would either say you “go to college” or you “go to XXX university.” I started using the British usage, as in “I went to university, then moved to Hungary,” and American speakers have called me out on that.
It doesn’t seem like an unnatural construction to me, but apparently nobody here says that, so I must have picked it up from the Brits.
“Bugger” (to have anal intercourse with someone) is considered quite vulgar, but the term “buggery” is an acceptable legal term, akin to “sodomy” in the US.
Most of us would say “different from”. However don’t forget that english is hugely different in the various regions of Britain.
Also on the “public school” thing. No one has got this right. They are called public schools to differentiate then from the only other educational establishments at the time - the monasteries. At that time the only way you could learn to read and write was to take holy orders (we still have echoes of this in words like “clerk” and “clerical work” ). The aristocracy weren’t going to let their eldest sons join the church so they set up non-monastical schools for the “public” ie the laity. So now you know.
Owl - went to the oldest of the Public Schools.
I just want to say this is the most fun thread ever. Perhaps it’s just that I am easily entertained, but I actually feel like I am learning something!
In that context, yes, but it’s also a mild expletive.
It’s an obsolete term in legal contexts, and pretty much everywhere else too.
Funny, I just saw **jjimm ** use that exact phrase in another thread, and thought… well that’s different!
One slight correction to** pulykameel’s** excellent list on transport.
UK lorry is equivalent to a US truck
UK Artic ( articulated ) is equivalent to a US semi
Oh and another that I haven’t seen (but may have missed) mention of:
US: He’s in the hospital
UK: He’s in hospital.
(Sadly a latecomer to the thread - my first ever visit to MPSIMS!).
I’m not familiar with “Violet Crunch” but we do indeed have violet flavoured sweets - Parma Violets ave been around forever, and any good quality chocolatier includes a dark chocolate-covered violet cream (topped with a crystallised violet) in their repertoire. My favourite. 
You forgot Aberystwyth! Best three years of my life.
Soap opera (us) - Drama series about impossibly good-looking people leading improbably wonderful lives. Centred round an oil barons club or fashion house.
Soap opera (UK) - Drama series about working class moles leading implausibly horrible lives. Centred round a pub.
Dogging (us) - hounding someone relentlessly
Dogging (uk) - Something different entirely (don’t google if you’re at work!).
And here we tend to use the verb “to have” when we’re talking about exams:
I can’t go out tonight - I *have * an exam tomorrow.
I *had * my Physics exam yesterday and I thought it was really hard.