Talk:Comparison of American and British English
Talk:American and British English Differences (Archive 1)
Am I right in thinking that Canadians, perhaps in an attempt to preserve some differences from their southern neighbours, also use tap rather than faucet? jimfbleak
I've just thought of one difference. In Europe, we say 'two thousand and three' for 2003 (I to be alkward say 20-0-3!) whereas americans say 'two thousand three' not using the 'and'. Is this widespread or just a phenomenon associated with news anchors? JTD 07:52 Feb 19, 2003 (UTC)
- That's pretty widespread. Here in Canada I even had someone try to "correct" me when I wrote "one hundred and twenty dollars" on a cheque, with the claim that meant $100.20, which I thought was ridiculous. Bagpuss
(There's another one: US - news anchors. UK + Irl: newscasters or newsreaders) JTD 07:52 Feb 19, 2003 (UTC)
- (newscasters is not unheard of, though rare, newsreaders is unknown to me) I think most Americans would just two-thousand-three -- I would, anyway. Tuf-Kat
Newsreaders is an old term from the time when actors rather than journalists 'read' the news, becoming professional newsreaders. (Kenneth Kendel in the UK and Charles Mitchell in Ireland spring to mind.) By the 1980s, most stations used professional journalists, who to show their journalistic cred insisted on being called newscasters to show they weren't mere actors reading someone else's script. Call a newscaster a newsreader is a bit like calling Rev. Jerry Falwell a catholic: you better duck before you get a punch!!! (But the term still is used, to the fury of journalists. JTD 08:03 Feb 19, 2003 (UTC)
Could someone say how an American would interpret "Highly Inflammable"? - in the UK, contrary to appearances it normally appears in warning signs, meaning "very likely to catch fire". Arwel 22:02 Feb 19, 2003 (UTC)
- "Wait, inflammable means the same as flammable? What a crazy language!" - Dr. Nick Riviera
- Taking, as I do, the Simpsons as my guide to America, they have the same thing there. Bagpuss
The word inflammable is not used in American English. I suspect that many Americans would be highly confused by it. They might guess that it means "fireproof", the opposite of flammable, which is what warning signs in the US say. However, if an American saw inflammable on a warning sign, they could possibly figure the correct meaning out from context. (fireproof would be an advertising claim, not a warning)
According to my dictionary, flammable and inflammable mean the same thing. Flammable is always used on warning signs in the US. The use of inflammable, though technically correct, is considered too confusing.
The terms combustible, flammable, highly flammable, explosive etc., used on warning signs in the US, have precise meanings which depend on characteristics, such as flash point, of the material involved. Bluelion 23:38 Feb 19, 2003 (UTC)
- I've seen inflammable used in writing, but warning signs here in the NE US all seem to say flammable. Perhaps because the ones saying inflammable all have burned down? <g> Mkweise
- IIRC, "inflammable" was still common in USA English into the 1960s, but "flammable" became more common and started replacing it in the 1970s. -- Infrogmation
- Damn, you must be even older than I am! Mkweise
- Many fireproof signs have burned down as well. Bluelion 23:47 Feb 19, 2003 (UTC)
The reason "flammable" and "inflammable" have the same meaning is that children and illiterates get confused by the "in-" and think that "inflammable" means "not combustible" when it means "combustible". -- 65.57.137.165 04:22 Feb 20, 2003 (UTC)
The fact that tea refers to a meal (as well as a beverage) in British English should be added, but I'm not sure where exactly. Mkweise
Errr... I don't think there's a North/South divide on tea being an evening meal, it's more of a class thing. Mintguy
- Well, when I was a kid on our north Wales farm in the 60s, we had breakfast, dinner (about noon), tea (about 3p.m., or after we got back from school), and supper (about 6p.m.). Oh, and a snack before bedtime. And people were surprised when we put on weight... Arwel 02:14 Feb 20, 2003 (UTC)
Mintguy is correct. It is a matter of class. In Ireland too, we called the midday meal dinner, and the evening meal tea, largely because the meal was based around tea. However upper middle class and upper people tend to have a light 'lunch' in the middle of the day, and a large dinner for the evening meal.
- Oh. Well pretty much everyone I've met from the south has lunch and dinner. I'll agree that in the north the posh types will probably use the same, but I'm not sure about the lower classes in the south. Bagpuss
If a Briton said - "My brother is a vet". Everyone would understand that his brother is a veterinarian. If an American said the same thing, would people automatically assume that he is a war veteran, or might there be some confusion as to whether he is a veterinarian or a war veteran? Mintguy
- "Vet" does have both meanings in the U.S. and, in abscence of solid context, it can sometimes cause confusion, but usually the intended meaning can be easily determined by context. nknight 12:53 Mar 14, 2003 (UTC)
Q: I am British, and for the noun-form of admonish I say admonishment.
- Fred received an admonishment from his teacher for untidy work.
My American wife says admonition.
- Fred received an admonition from his teacher for untidy work.
Is this a UK/US difference, are they just alternative words, or is one of us plain wrong! -- Chris Q 09:24 Mar 3, 2003 (UTC)
- For what it's worth, I'd say the first, but I wouldn't think the second was wrong. Bagpuss
"This can result either with some variations becoming extinct (as, for instance, apartment has been gradually displacing flat in much of the world) or that wide variations are accepted as "perfectly good English" everywhere. "
I'd have thought that "flat" was more an example of the latter. It's certainly not extinct in the UK. The main reason new buildings contain "apartments" is that "flat" sounds downmarket, due to council flats. A decent example of a now extinct word or phrase required. Bagpuss
In Ireland, an apartment is usually a new development, largely middle class. A flat is usually either council owned or a converted part of an older building, which may have been subdivided. Apartments usually are larger, more modern and almost invariably less well built than older buildings that have been converted into flats. STÓD/ÉÍRE 20:40 Mar 14, 2003 (UTC)
Similar. Either way "flat" is not extinct. Bagpuss
On an old NOVA production on visual agnosia, one English guy describes another guy's apartment as "an upside down". What does that mean?Arthur 19:30 Mar 14, 2003 (UTC)
- Possibly meant that there were two floors and the entrance was on the top one. Not certain on this. Bagpuss
Discussion about the use of double-hyphens for em-dashes and the suggestion to automatically transform them into appropriate markup moved to meta:Automatic transformation of hyphens and dashes
I removed the following claim, on the grounds that there is no body authorized to designate official spellings, and that American dictionaries typically give the -er spellings as standard. (This is regarding words like center/centre.)
"The official American spellings end in -re, but the American people use the -er spelling almost exclusively."
Mark Foskey 03:38 Mar 15, 2003 (UTC)
- I like that change. Meant to do it myself on same grounds but forgot. Arthur 21:39 Mar 16, 2003 (UTC)
Does "lounge" really mean "bar" in the States? Bagpuss 23:45 Mar 16, 2003 (UTC)
- I think of a specific kind of bar, a relatively quiet place with some sort of generally unobtrusive live music (i.e. a lounge singer, lounge music). Tuf-Kat
- Okay, it's not one I'd heard of. UK pubs sometimes have a lounge, a large room with couches (a small one would be the snug). Bagpuss
In the most common usage of "lounge" in the US, it does not mean a "bar". It could mean a bar, but it's much more likely that it simply means a place to relax.
Bagpuss. - You're probably too young to remember this, but most pubs used to have two or more bars, the "public bar" or "saloon bar" was for working men (in workman's clothes perhaps) and might have had lino (linoelium) or possibly even sawdust on the floor, whilst the other bar (the "lounge bar") would be for women in company and the more refined customer and would have had carpet and some soft chairs. A pub might have also had a "snug bar" which would have been a small room for a few people to enjoy their own company. Mintguy (Actually this should go in the the entry on pubs).
What is this idea implied in one of the tables that "flat" does not mean "apartment" in the US. It most certainly does! - especially in the case a apartments that are flats. As is stated in the text, "apartment" has been gradually displacing "flat" in much of the world. My experience is that the generation before mine used the word "flat" instead of the word "apartment". How is the status of the word 'flat' any different in the US than it is in much of the world? Bluelion 00:25 Mar 17, 2003 (UTC)
- Well if it's wrong it's a popular misconception in the UK. Bagpuss
- I think most Americans are aware of the word, but think it's a Britishism. I don't think I've ever heard an American use it. Tuf-Kat
Well, I've heard lots of Americans use the word "flat" to refer to an "apartment' although, admittedly, some were of a generation before mine. It is , perhaps, somewhat regional, but "Flat for Rent" signs are available at many hardware stores in the US. Believe me, that is a fact. I have current sign catalogs to prove it. Such signs are readily available even today in the US. I doubt sign companies would be selling signs using a word that isn't commonly understood. Bluelion
- As a fairly young'un on the US west coast, I've never in my life heard "flat" used to describe an apartment except as a Britishism. I have though managed to google up this page which seems to indicate that "flat" is current in upstate New York and that it's considered exceptional enough elsewhere for an expat to mention it as a regional peculiarity. --Brion 02:25 Mar 17, 2003 (UTC)
I'm not so young and, in my younger days, I heard LOTS of Americans refer to apartments as "flats". In fact, they were pretty disdainful of the word "apartment" - only people "putting on airs" used that word, according to them. That's my experience, growing up in the 'show-me' state of Missouri. And I've seen more "Flat for Rent" signs than I'd care to count. Bluelion 02:38 Mar 17, 2003 (UTC)