Glossary of British terms not widely used in the United States

List of British English words not used in American English

See also main article: American and British English differences

For phrases in Britain that have no equivalent in America see Britishisms.

British	American
abseil	rappel (to descend on a rope)
arse^*	ass^* (buttocks)
aubergine	eggplant (can also refer to an eggplant-like color in British English)
balls-up^*	fuckup^*
banger	sausage
barrister	a lawyer who appears in court (distinction in English law)
Belisha beacon	orange ball containing a flashing light, mounted on a post at each end of a pedestrian or (British English) zebra crossing
bespoke[n]	custom[-made], made-to-order
black pudding	blood sausage
bloke	guy
bollocks^*	balls^* (testicles)
bollocks^*	bullshit^* (nonsense, baloney)
bubble and squeak	dish of cooked cabbage fried with cooked potatoes
[to] bugger off^*	[to] fuck off^*
to bugger up^*	to fuck up^*
bum bag	fanny pack
to burgle	to burglarize
to busk	to cadge by entertaining the public (American English doesn't have an exact equivalent for the verb, but busker might be "street musician" or "street performer".)
butty (N England colloqualism)	sandwich
candy floss	cotton candy
car park	parking lot
chancer	shark (opportunist)
courgette	zucchini
coving	crown molding
[potato] crisps	[potato] chips
current account	checking account
dodgy	sketchy (Mid-Atlantic and Northeast)
dosh	money
"double #"	"##"
draughts	checkers
drawing pin	thumb tack
dustbin	trash can, wastebasket
duvet	comforter
engaged tone	busy signal
ex-directory	unlisted (phone number)
fairy cake	cupcake
fizzy drink	soda or pop
flat	apartment
fortnight	two weeks
fourpenn'orth	two cents
gaffer tape	duct tape
gearbox	[automobile] transmission
git	scumbag
go	try
gooseberry	third wheel (third person who intrudes on an intimate situation)
green fingers	green thumb
hassle	Noun: 1. unnecessary or onerous effort required to complete a task - I would be more hassle than it's worth to make a complaint to the air line 2. A fight. Verb 1. To get on someones case - You should hassle the air line also: hassling, hassled. 2. To fight - to give someone hassle.
helter-skelter	a helical slide found in fairgrounds
high street	main street
[to] hoover	vacuum [cleaner], to vacuum (In the US, Hoover is a brand name only.)
hosepipe	garden hose
inverted commas	quotation marks (Although the punctuation is different, the concept of quotation is analogous, especially since British English speakers sometimes refer to things formally (or ironically) by using the phrase "in inverted commas" in conversation.)
invigilator	proctor
launderette	laundromat
lift	elevator
loo	toilet
lorry	truck
loudhailer	bullhorn
mains power, the mains	house current, the main power, the wall
maths	math (The British put the "s" at the end of "maths" because "mathematics" itself is plural. But this pattern is also found among US English speakers when referring to the academic field of statistics as "stats".)
MD (managing director)	CEO (Chief Executive Officer)
minder	personal bodyguard (as of 2004 this has gained some usage in the US media)
minger	slob
motorway	freeway
naff	lame
[to] naff off (obscure slang Polari made popular by prison sitcom Porridge)	[to] shove it
oilseed rape	canola
to orientate	to orient (most often seen in its noun form, "orientation"; While an American in a new city would try to "orient" himself, a British English speaker would need to "orientate" himself.)
pelican crossing (PEdestrian LIght-CoNtrolled)	pedestrian crossing with traffic lights operated by pedestrians
petrol	gasoline
plonker	fool
ponce	pimp (mainly northern English usage), fop, or fruit, can also be used to refer to someone with airs and graces.
to ponce off	to mooch, to hit up
to ponce up	to pimp [out]
poof/poofter (derogatory)	fag/faggot (derogatory)
pram	stroller
pud	pudding
pushchair	stroller, baby carriage
queue	line (for waiting in)
randy (also horny)	horny
to ring someone (also to call someone)	to call someone
roundabout (fairground ride)	carousel, merry-go-round
roundabout (in the road)	traffic circle, rotary (roundabout is used in some parts of the US, including on signs.)
[to] rubbish	[to] trash
Sellotape	Scotch tape
serviette	napkin
settee (also couch)	couch
skip	dumpster
to skive [off]	to slink [away]
to slag off	to diss, to badmouth
slapper (possibly from flapper)	bitch, skank
to snog	to make out, to mac
spanner	wrench, idiot (colloqualism)
sticking plaster, Elastoplast	bandage, Band-Aid
ta	thanks (seemingly babytalk); TA also standing for thanks awfully (rare)
tannoy	loudspeaker, PA system
telly, tele (also TV)	TV
toad-in-the-hole	batter-baked sausages
to toss [off]^*	to jerk off^*
twopenn'orth/tuppenn'orth	two cents
waistcoat	vest
wally	baffoon, fool -milder form of idiot. (1980s slang that may now bestow more ridicule on the user than the accused)
to wank [off]^*	to yank off^*
wanker^*	jerk-off^* (masturbator; term of abuse)
whilst	while
your man\|woman (Irish)	whatshis\|hername
"zed" (Z)	"zee" (Z)
zebra crossing	pedestrian street crossing marked with broad white stripes

^*denotes vulgar expression

A number of these are used in American English. Randy is widespread. Dodgy is less common.