# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2018, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-british-english-vs-us-english-playoff/821123/81 "2018-09-11T22:13:54Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > A garbage can is a dustbin. One with wheels is a wheely-bin. I’m not going to even try defending that. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2018, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-british-english-vs-us-english-playoff/821123/82 "2018-09-11T22:14:46Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > Slight tangent, if British-Canadian is allowed… > > CAN: Project (“PrOH-ject”) > US: Project (“Prah-ject”) > > Result: Point for Canada and the Crown, as it makes it easy to identify the Canadian on the project team. Canuck here: If we’re talking about the noun, we all seem to say “PRAH-ject” here: as in, I worked on that project. If we’re talking about the verb, it’s always “Proh- JECT.” ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2018, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-british-english-vs-us-english-playoff/821123/83 "2018-09-11T22:17:43Z")
> [@ticker](#): > > A corporation dustbin is a dumpster, not a truck. The term you are looking for is dustcart. Hmm, does “corporation dustbin” exactly correspond to dumpster? There’s also the UK term “skip”, although maybe I’d associate that more with the open-top thing that’s used at building sites. It’s been so long since I left the UK that I’m not sure of our generic word for a (lidded) dumpster. ---
**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 11, 2018, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-british-english-vs-us-english-playoff/821123/84 "2018-09-11T22:18:29Z")
Brit: banger US: brat I think this one goes to the US (theft of a German word) Brit: slip road US: ramp Again, a US win, because it is fully, concisely descriptive. Where I grew up, perhaps only in my family, we referred to the byzantine tangles of ramps off the freeway bridges as “spaghetti” – not sure if the UK has any real equivalent. > [@Map\_Ylow](#): > > Wonder where precisely that one came from. I kind of like it. It is literally “yout’”, a Brooklyn/Italianesque pronunciation. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2018, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-british-english-vs-us-english-playoff/821123/85 "2018-09-11T22:24:23Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Brit: slip road > US: ramp > > Again, a US win, because it is fully, concisely descriptive. Not really. In other senses, a ramp is something that slopes up or down. A freeway ramp does not always have a slope. ---
**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 11, 2018, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-british-english-vs-us-english-playoff/821123/86 "2018-09-11T22:49:41Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Not really. In other senses, a ramp is something that slopes up or down. A freeway ramp does not always have a slope. In the US, there is a term, “surface streets”, used to describe not-the-freeway. Sometimes freeways run in a ravine-like cut, sometimes atop a berm-like grade, sometimes elevated on a causeway, and, in rare cases, level with the surrounding area. They metaphorically rise above the land they traverse. Hence, the _ **ramp** _ carries you up to the lofty plateau that is the freeway, even if it is not really above the land. The slope is there, in our hearts if not in the bubbles of our spirit levels. ---
**Author:** ![Precambrianmollusc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/precambrianmollusc/32/63_2.png) [@Precambrianmollusc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Precambrianmollusc)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2018, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-british-english-vs-us-english-playoff/821123/87 "2018-09-11T22:50:27Z")
Brit: Annoyed (miffed , mildly irked, I am completely OK with that) US : Pissed US win, for directness and it sounds right when said in a pissed off tone of voice Brit Pissed (scot pished) US: Wasted UK win when you are pissed and you say so , it just rolls off the tongue in a delightfully slurred way ---
**Author:** ![Precambrianmollusc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/precambrianmollusc/32/63_2.png) [@Precambrianmollusc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Precambrianmollusc)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2018, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-british-english-vs-us-english-playoff/821123/88 "2018-09-11T22:56:55Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > And I’m from the U.K., and I’d say overalls, although I understand boiler suit. FWIW worth I am from the UK and would say coveralls (or covies) for the heavy duty boiler suit generally orange wedgie suits. Overalls gets used as more light duty protective covering. Obviously usage may vary. ---
**Author:** ![Map\_Ylow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/map_ylow/32/85_2.png) [@Map\_Ylow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Map_Ylow)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2018, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-british-english-vs-us-english-playoff/821123/89 "2018-09-11T22:58:50Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > It is literally “yout’”, a Brooklyn/Italianesque pronunciation. Aha! Sense make does that, rearrange as you see fit. ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2018, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-british-english-vs-us-english-playoff/821123/90 "2018-09-12T00:41:21Z")
> [@Map\_Ylow](#): > > You are not wrong. > > Wonder where precisely that one came from. I kind of like it. Utility vehicle. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2018, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-british-english-vs-us-english-playoff/821123/91 "2018-09-12T00:55:54Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > It is literally “yout’”, a Brooklyn/Italianesque pronunciation. [My Cousin Vinny](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nd1CijCUj8w). ---
**Author:** ![Map\_Ylow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/map_ylow/32/85_2.png) [@Map\_Ylow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Map_Ylow)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2018, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-british-english-vs-us-english-playoff/821123/92 "2018-09-12T00:56:01Z")
> [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](#): > > Utility vehicle. Yep, I knew that one. I was referring to it being a term for New York youth. ---
**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 12, 2018, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-british-english-vs-us-english-playoff/821123/93 "2018-09-12T01:04:31Z")
Meanwhile, the Kiwis are left hanging out there at the edge of the vast, roiling, empty ocean just hop and a skip away from lonely Rapanui. Surely they have a rich vernacular, influenced by the Maori, watched over by stoic Mowai. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2018, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-british-english-vs-us-english-playoff/821123/94 "2018-09-12T01:20:55Z")
UK: marrow US: zucchini US win, because _really_? Marrow is what gelatin is made of. ---
**Author:** ![Kiwi\_Fruit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kiwi_fruit/32/12_2.png) [@Kiwi\_Fruit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiwi_Fruit)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2018, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-british-english-vs-us-english-playoff/821123/95 "2018-09-12T03:16:15Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > UK: marrow > US: zucchini > > US win, because _really_? Marrow is what gelatin is made of. A vegetable marrow is what your zucchini turns into if its not harvested at the right time. Otherwise it’s a courgette, as has been already decided. Also, marrow is not what gelatin is made of. That’s calves’ feet to make gelatin. NZ: footpath US: sidewalk NZ win, as they can go anywhere, not just alongside a road. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2018, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-british-english-vs-us-english-playoff/821123/96 "2018-09-12T03:28:45Z")
> [@RobDog](#): > > UK: trousers > US: pants > > UK win. Because it sounds better when verbified. Compare: > > “I gave him £5 to buy me some crumpets, but he trousered it” > > With “… pantsed…” No, US win. Trousers are pants, but not all pants are trousers. The pants I wear to work in the yard are not trousers. The pants I wear to church are. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2018, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-british-english-vs-us-english-playoff/821123/97 "2018-09-12T03:55:45Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > No, US win. Trousers are pants, but not all pants are trousers. The pants I wear to work in the yard are not trousers. The pants I wear to church are. Erm, in the U.K. they _are_ all trousers. Pants are underwear. > **[Work Trousers | Mens Workwear | Screwfix](https://www.screwfix.com/c/safety-workwear/work-trousers/cat850376)** > > Buy Work Trousers At Screwfix.com. Protective legwear keeps you safe. Convenient pockets for the right tools. Click & Collect in as little as 1 minute. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2018, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-british-english-vs-us-english-playoff/821123/98 "2018-09-12T05:56:14Z")
UK; abseil US; rappel Push. ---
**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 12, 2018, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-british-english-vs-us-english-playoff/821123/99 "2018-09-12T06:45:48Z")
Macaroni cheese is the name of a dish which is macaroni in cheese sauce. It’s not just macaroni and cheese. There’s more to it than that. Maybe americans don’t make it properly, either? 😃 ---
**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 12, 2018, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-british-english-vs-us-english-playoff/821123/100 "2018-09-12T07:08:52Z")
> [@blob](#): > > Maybe americans don’t make it properly, either? 😃 My mother’s recipe involved partly cooking the macaroni, then layering it with shredded cheese, flour and butter in a casserole pot, pouring milk over it, sprinkling bread crumbs on top (regular bread crumbs, not that fancy-ass panko crap) and baking. When we lived in the small town, there would be a horde of young’uns roaming the streets at lunchtime in search of who might be cooking up some macaroni (the “and cheese” was implied). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-british-english-vs-us-english-playoff/821123.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-british-english-vs-us-english-playoff/821123.md?page=6)