The Differences Between UK & USA English

The Differences in British and American English
Written for the BoilerRoom Group

When considering the differences between the English of America(AE) and that of Brittain(BE), there are so many things to consider that we could be here all day. For the purpose of this article, though, I have decided to concentrate on the more useful and interesting. Since this article is also specifically written to assist those interested in the SteamPunk genre, I will concentrate on words and word uses that could be of interest to writer of SteamPunk - in other words I will not highlight modern day differences.

Side-note: Please keep in mind that the author of this piece is probably confused than anyone else reading it. I live in South-Africa, watch American TV shows alongside SA and UK shows, read books by US, UK and SA authors and learned British English in school (as a second language). My country has eleven official languages and while we mostly speak a more British English, American terminology and language use has had an effect so that the English here resembles UK and US English in parts whilst still coming up with our own unique flavour. I have written this article and I have received a multitude of helpful reviews - I have tried to work all the suggestions into the piece, but if there is anything you pick up, please don't hesitate to let me know.

Here is a list of the more interesting differences between the two vocabularies:

Bill - In AE it means paper money and also an invoice; in BE it means an invoice.
Cookie, scone, biscuit - Used in both AE and BE but meaning different things in different instances. Biscuit in North America is usually something similar to a scone, whilst in England it refers to a hard baked sweet treat otherwise referred to as a cookie.
Fag - In AE it is short for the word faggot; in BE it means cigarette (whilst a faggot in BE is a type of meatball).
Trousers vs. Pants - In AE the word pants is used; in BE trousers are used (while pants refer to the AE word underwear).
Quite - In AE the word 'quite' when used as a qualifier means 'very'; in BE when using 'quite' in the same sentence it means 'somewhat'. Example: "I am quite hungry." When read with the different meanings from both AE and BE that sentence means completely different things.
Whilst - In BE the word is sometimes used as an alternative to 'while'; in AE only 'while' is used.
Shall - Mostly used in BE (also used almost exclusively in BE is the word shan't); rarely used in AE, though exceptions do exist and most Americans understand the word.
Fall - Used in AE as meaning "to take a tumble" or when referring to Autumn; never used in BE as a name for Autumn - England uses Autumn only.
First floor - In the UK it is the floor directly above the ground floor; in America it is used to refer to the ground floor.
Apartments - The term 'apartment building' is used in America; in the UK the term 'block of flats' is used.
Numbers - When talking numbers, it is good to notice that the Brittish insert the word 'and' before the tens and thousands, as in one thousand and fifty, as apposed to the American way of one thousand fifty.
Time - In the UK the 24-hour clock is commonly used, for example 1800 hours. It is used mostly for railway, bus or airline timetables; in the US it is mostly used inside a military application.
Weight - In Brittain human body weight is expressed by using stone (even in plural form it stays 'stone'). One stone equals 14 pounds.

Idioms

Both vocabularies have similar idioms, with only slight changes here and there. Here are some examples:

British English VS American English

not touch something with a bargepole; not touch something with a ten-foot pole
sweep under the carpet; sweep under the rug
touch wood; knock on wood
see the wood for the trees; see the forest for the trees
throw a spanner (in the works); throw a (monkey) wrench (into a situation)
to put your two penneth (or tuppence worth) in; to put your two cents (or two cents' worth) in
skeleton in the cupboard; skeleton in the closet
a home from home; a home away from home
blow one's trumpet; blow (or toot) one's horn
a drop in the ocean; a drop in the bucket
flogging a dead horse; beating a dead horse
haven't (got) a clue; don't have a clue or have no clue
a new lease of life; a new lease on life
lie of the land; lay of the land
to take something with a pinch of salt; to take something with a grain of salt

Differences in Spelling

The list goes on and on, but I will highlight some of the more common words.

British English VS American English

o vs ou
colour; color
flavour; flavor
honour; honor

Rule: when a word ends in an unstressed -our in BE it ends in a -or in AE.
Exception: AE in most cases retains the 'u' in the word glamour.

bre vs ber
calibre; caliber
centre; center
fibre; fiber
litre; liter
sabre; saber
saltpetre; saltpeter
sombre; somber

Rule: Words of French, Latin or Greek originin that end in a consonant followed by -re (unstressed), are spelled with the -re in BE and end in a -er in AE.
Exceptions include: chapter, December, diameter, disaster, enter, filter, letter, member, minister, monster, November, number, October, oyster, parameter, perimeter, powder, proper, September, sober and tender.

s vs z
organise; organize
realise; realize
recognise; recognise
analyse; analyze
hydrolyse; hydrolyze
paralyse; paralyze

Other differences
arse; ass
behove; behoove (The 19th century had the spelling behove pronounced to rhyme with move. Subsequently, a pronunciation spelling was adopted in America, while in Britain a spelling pronunciation was adopted.)

It should be noted that the authors of the Victorian Era had a very elaborate way of writing. In that time things were more fully explained and the literature takes on a very unique voice of its own. The words listed above are purely for the writer to familiarise themselves with the commonly used words and their spelling of Brittish English, but only reading literature from that age, and practicing to emulate the styles of those authors such as; HG Wells, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Dickens, the Bronte sisters etc.

Sources and further reading:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_and_British_English_differences
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_and_British_English_spelling_differences