# The Great British English vs US English Playoff **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 10, 2018, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-british-english-vs-us-english-playoff/821123 "2018-09-10T20:45:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-british-english-vs-us-english-playoff/821123/241 "2018-09-18T11:12:49Z")
I haven’t read every pages, so forgive me if we’ve done this one: UK: Colleague US: Coworker Win for the UK here. A colleague sounds vastly more professional and successful than a coworker, who’s clearly stacking shelves. In a similar vein UK: Curriculum Vitae US: Resumé UK win, because Latin must always trump French, non? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-british-english-vs-us-english-playoff/821123/242 "2018-09-18T11:21:16Z")
> [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > UK: Car park > US: Parking lot > > “Car park” sounds like a place where cars go to frolic. US wins. By that reasoning, UK wins. My car wants to go someplace nice to spend time with its friends! > [@Johanna](#): > > UK: semibreve, minim, crotchet, quaver, semiquaver > US: whole note, half note, quarter note, eighth note, sixteenth note > > Split decision: The US system on the whole is a clear winner for being _intelligible_. On the other hand, Americans need to learn to say “crotchet,” because _crotchet_ is too cool a word to ever go unused. … if the longest note is a semishort, how long is a reallong one? And damn but now I want to hug whomever called the two biggest notes “white” and “black” in Spanish (_blanca, negra, corchea, semicorchea, fusa, semifusa_). ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-british-english-vs-us-english-playoff/821123/243 "2018-09-18T15:39:51Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Consider, for example, US 50, which is part of the US **Highway** System (a designation that pertains to how its maintenance is funded). It has one foot in Ocean City New Jersey and the other foot in Sacramento California, traversing the country as one continuous road. Along sections of its run, it shares the roadbed with various Interstates; on other stretches, it is two lanes wide and has intersections (notably in Nevada it earned the name “the loneliest road”). It goes through towns as a regular arterial, indistinguishable from a city street. It is a “highway” because it is a major connector between cities that supports traffic moving in excess of 50 miles per hour in lesser-populated areas, but many of its segments bear no resemblance to a “freeway”. > > Contrast this with Interstate 80, which runs from San Francisco to Teaneck: at no place along its length (barring ubiquitous road construction) is it less than 4 lanes wide, nor can you get on or off it except by ramp or cross the grade itself against the flow. It is, yes, a highway, as well as a freeway, from end to end. > > There might not be a distinction between “highway” and “freeway” where you live, but where I live there is. Ocean City, Maryland - not NJ. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-british-english-vs-us-english-playoff/821123/244 "2018-09-18T15:41:34Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > UK: liquorice > US: licorice > > US wins this one by a mile. “Liquorice” is ridiculous. > > UK: semibreve, minim, crotchet, quaver, semiquaver > US: whole note, half note, quarter note, eighth note, sixteenth note > > Split decision: The US system on the whole is a clear winner for being _intelligible_. On the other hand, Americans need to learn to say “crotchet,” because _crotchet_ is too cool a word to ever go unused. > > UK: -ise > US: -ize > > US wins, because the z goes back to the original Greek and is unambiguous as to pronunciation. À propos of that: > > UK: zed > US: zee > > Zed wins. No contest. How can anyone not prefer to say “zed”? > > UK: naff > US: (no equivalent) > > UK wins this by forfeit, but would have won anyway because “naff” just captures the concept perfectly in a neat syllable. The nearest US equivalent may be “subpar,” but “naff” is simply the right word with the apt tone of dismissiveness. I always thought the US version of naff was either useless or sh\*tty. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-british-english-vs-us-english-playoff/821123/245 "2018-09-18T15:47:22Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I know you folks keep saying this but I’ve been American my whole life and I’ve never been in a conversation in which someone used “the highway” or “a highway” to mean anything but a controlled-access road. > > Numbered roads that are not controlled access—I’ve only heard them calle, r.g., “Route 60,” never “Highway 50.” Long Island NY Route 24 also known as Sunrise Highway. Businesses on it typically use Sunrise Hwy as an address. Also on Long Island we have limited access roads where commercial vehicles are prohibited, called parkways. Not sure if that’s what freeways are. Our “expressways” are effectively interstates, complete with commercial vehicles. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-british-english-vs-us-english-playoff/821123/246 "2018-09-18T15:49:35Z")
> [@RobDog](#): > > UK: Scoreless draw > > US: Shutout > > Result: Umm Not so. In the US a shutout is a victory where the losing side is held scoreless. A scoreless draw would be a 0-0 tie, only once possible in hockey, but no longer due to overtime rule changes. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-british-english-vs-us-english-playoff/821123/247 "2018-09-18T16:00:36Z")
> [@BwanaBob](#): > > I always thought the US version of naff was either useless or sh\*tty. Not really, naff means more, sort of, unfashionable or uncool. I think ‘lame’ might work? ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-british-english-vs-us-english-playoff/821123/248 "2018-09-18T17:15:34Z")
> [@BwanaBob](#): > > Not so. In the US a shutout is a victory where the losing side is held scoreless. A scoreless draw would be a 0-0 tie, only once possible in hockey, but no longer due to overtime rule changes. Yes, I know. It was just a lame attempt at a joke based on th… never mind. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-british-english-vs-us-english-playoff/821123/249 "2018-09-18T18:52:33Z")
UK: Are you mad? US: Are you crazy? I prefer the UK version because it sounds more contemptuous and refers to an aberrant state of mind. “Crazy” is more like “excited” or “out of control,” and indicates a state of action, not mind. UK: Knickers US: Panties UK version sounds naughty. US version sounds stalkerish. “I pulled off her knickers” sounds less rapey than “I pulled off her panties.” UK: Stuffing birds US: F\*cking women Alfred Hitchcock used this double meaning in _Psycho_, when Norman Bates was talking about his love for taxidermy. It depends on the context, proper or dirty, so I call this a tie. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-british-english-vs-us-english-playoff/821123/250 "2018-09-18T19:04:07Z")
UK: The tube US: The subway When I was in London, I asked directions to the subway, and wound up going under a bridge to a dead end. Subway wins for that reason. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-british-english-vs-us-english-playoff/821123/251 "2018-09-18T19:41:37Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > I haven’t read every pages, so forgive me if we’ve done this one: > > UK: Colleague > US: Coworker > > Win for the UK here. A colleague sounds vastly more professional and successful than a coworker, who’s clearly stacking shelves. Though, the US version, as seen here, has the advantage of being fucked with, to wit, “cow-orker”. > [@](#): > > UK: Curriculum Vitae > US: Resumé > > UK win, because Latin must always trump French, non? In fact, I have been seeing an increase in the American usage “CV”, so it has become almost a draw – the US might have a slight advantage in having two terms in common usage, one of which they mugged UK English for. ---
**Author:** ![blob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blob/32/489_2.png) [@blob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blob)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2018, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-british-english-vs-us-english-playoff/821123/252 "2018-09-19T00:53:44Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > Not really, naff means more, sort of, unfashionable or uncool. I think ‘lame’ might work? can I give a mention for the Australian “daggy”? ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2018, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-british-english-vs-us-english-playoff/821123/253 "2018-09-19T12:30:18Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > UK: The tube > US: The subway > > When I was in London, I asked directions to the subway, and wound up going under a bridge to a dead end. Subway wins for that reason. Ha, well, in the UK, subway means something different. Like fanny. So it doesn’t work for an underground railway. Anyhow, can we even allow the Tube? It’s slang for a very specific underground railway (just the London one - proper name ‘London Underground’). Doesn’t apply to others. I’d go with the Continentals and favour Metro - sounds cool and urban. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2018, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-british-english-vs-us-english-playoff/821123/254 "2018-09-19T16:46:13Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > In a similar vein > > UK: Curriculum Vitae > US: Resumé > > UK win, because Latin must always trump French, non? In the US academic circles I was in, CV was used all the time. So I saw an incredible number of CVs and rarely had any reason to look at a resumé. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2018, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-british-english-vs-us-english-playoff/821123/255 "2018-09-20T14:14:14Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > Ha, well, in the UK, subway means something different. Like fanny. So it doesn’t work for an underground railway. > > Anyhow, can we even allow the Tube? It’s slang for a very specific underground railway (just the London one - proper name ‘London Underground’). Doesn’t apply to others. I’d go with the Continentals and favour Metro - sounds cool and urban. So when I asked for directions to the subway, why didn’t they point to my butt/bum? ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2018, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-british-english-vs-us-english-playoff/821123/256 "2018-09-20T14:43:59Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > So when I asked for directions to the subway, why didn’t they point to my butt/bum? Ha, no, I was making an analogy. Both subway and fanny are words that my Italian teacher would call false friends - words you think you know the meaning of because they sounds familiar, but actually mean something else. A subway in UK English is an underpass - a walkway that goes underneath a road. It’s not an underground railway. ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2018, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-british-english-vs-us-english-playoff/821123/257 "2018-09-20T14:48:30Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Including lots of people whose first language isn’t English. Any languages or dialects which refer to the ground floor as the first floor are just wrong. Well, here in Perú we use “Primer Piso” for the ground floor. The word “Planta Baja” exists, but it sounds odd and it is also a full synonym of “Primer Piso”. ---
**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:** [September 20, 2018, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-british-english-vs-us-english-playoff/821123/258 "2018-09-20T22:34:45Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Brit: 99th floor > US: 100th floor > Result: Brit win, by induction > > Brit: 98th floor > US: 99th floor > Result: Brit win, by induction > > Brit: 97th floor > US: 98th floor > Result: Brit win, by induction > > . > . > . > . > . > . > . > > Brit: 1st floor > US: 2nd floor > Result: Brit win, by induction > > Brit: ground floor > US: 1st floor > Result: Brit win, because it’s unambiguous when you’re talking to a mixed audience Fun fact: In Calcutta if you’re speaking English, the “first floor” is as in the U.K. But if you’re speaking Bengali, এক তলা (literally, “level one”) is as in the U.S. ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2018, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-british-english-vs-us-english-playoff/821123/259 "2018-09-21T01:11:29Z")
> [@blob](#): > > can I give a mention for the Australian “daggy”? In NZ English I’d suggest that dag or daggy means something more like quirky and amusing, with a generally positive tone. Naff on the other hand is (mildly) negative. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2018, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-british-english-vs-us-english-playoff/821123/260 "2018-09-22T11:19:15Z")
UK: treacle US: molasses Point to the US, definitely. _Treacle_ is a word with a long and fairly bizarre history, that has been applied to several disparate things, none of which have to do with boiled-down sugarcane juice. Lewis Carroll had some fun with the word’s weird history in the Mad Tea-Party. While _molasses_ very simply means exactly what it is. The Indian English name for the stuff is “liquid jaggery.” While that’s reasonably descriptive, _molasses_ is still clearly the best word for it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-british-english-vs-us-english-playoff/821123.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-british-english-vs-us-english-playoff/821123.md?page=14)