I Say, Old Chap!

​Mark Twain is quoted as saying about Britain and America, “[They are] two countries separated by a common language.” Well, for the most part we can understand each other, especially when British regional dialects are not involved. But it’s also true that, pronunciation aside, we have different words between us for the same ideas or things. Now this phenomenon is common when a language leaves its mother country with a body of immigrants and develops separately in the new area over time. For one thing, the transplanted version tends to be more conservative in the sense of holding on to older words, pronunciations, or locutions vis a vis usage in the old country...

For example, the American English in the back woods of Appalachia is considered closer to Elizabethan English, Shakespeare’s language, than English spoken anywhere else in the world today. In terms of vocabulary, let’s compare the Spanish used in Spain versus that in Latin America. For example, in Latin America olivas is the common word for olives while in Spain it’s aceitunas, from the Arabic zaitun, meaning the same thing. Or the term in Spain for a public restroom is servicios while in Latin America it’s baño (bath). Also, new things in the second country require new terms. Think “kangaroo” Down Under. So let’s look now at some vocabulary differences between U.S. English and that of Great Britain.
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For chap or bloke, we in the States (and Canada) say “buddy” or “pal.” And when we’re hungry or tired, the Brits say peckish and nackered, respectively. Where we live in apartments or studio apartments, our counterparts in the U.K. have flats and bedsits or bedsitters. And here, thanks to www.confusedwords.org, are some more differences by categories:

American women named “Lorrie” beware! Their name in England, spelled differently, means truck. And a female friend Randy had a hard time in London, where her name means “horny”! There are many more such examples. So best check with ​www.confusedwords.org before your first trip to the U.K.