What Words Do Americans British Say Differently?

Here are 40 words that Americans say ‘wrong’ and their ‘proper’ British English equivalent:

• Resume (CV)
• Cell phone (mobile)
• Call someone (ring someone)
• Trash can (bin)
• ATM (cash point)
• High school (secondary school)
• College (university)
• TV (telly)

What words do Americans and Brits pronounce differently?

17 Words That Brits and Americans Pronounce Differently

• Zebra.
• Vitamin.
• Aluminum.
• Privacy.
• Garage.
• Herb.
• Laboratory.
• Tomato.

What words do British pronounce differently?

“Both also can”

What words are different in America to England?

18 Words That Have Completely Different Meanings in England and America

• Chips.
• Biscuit.
• Football.
• Jumper.
• Fancy dress.
• Bird.
• Braces.
• Trainer(s)

What words are said differently in America?

60 Words People Pronounce Differently Across America

• Water.
• Been.
• Egg.
• Picture.
• Downtown.
• Oil.
• Drawer.
• Bag.

How do the British say Taco?

Break ‘taco’ down into sounds: [TAK] + [OH] – say it out loud and exaggerate the sounds until you can consistently produce them.
Below is the UK transcription for ‘taco’:

1. Modern IPA: tákəw.
2. Traditional IPA: ˈtækəʊ
3. 2 syllables: “TAK” + “oh”

Why do British say ET ate?

Young people in Britain are increasingly likely to call the eighth letter of the alphabet “haitch,” rather than “aitch,” and pronounce the past tense of “to eat” as “ate” instead of the old-fashioned “et.” “There is no right or wrong,” Walshe said.

Why do British say Zed?

The British and others pronounce “z”, “zed”, owing to the origin of the letter “z”, the Greek letter “Zeta”. This gave rise to the Old French “zede”, which resulted in the English “zed” around the 15th century.

What words do British people use that Americans don t?

10 British Words That Don’t Make Sense in America

• Bagsy. According to BBC America, this slang word is the British version of “dibs.” In the U.K., you would just proclaim “bagsy” instead.
• Chinwag.
• Cashpoint.
• Chav.
• Kip.
• Doddle.
• Plonk.
• Rashers.

Is British spelling S or Z?

Many American words replace the “s” used in British spelling with a “z” for words such as “realize,” “apologize” and “cozy.” Using a “z” instead of an “s” makes more sense because we pronounce these words with a “z” sound. Besides, “z” is much more fun to use than “s”! Thus, “cozy” is the more logical spelling.

What are French fries called in the UK?

chips
We call French fries just fries, and thicker-cut fries that come from a chip shop are called chips. Then you’ve got thick, triangular chunks which we call potato wedges, which aren’t the same as circular fried slices (otherwise known as chips in other countries) which we call crisps.

How do British people say filet?

For the McDonald’s Filet-o-Fish, there is some question about how it should be pronounced in the UK, but the official McDonald’s answer is ‘“Filet-o-Fish” can be pronounced any way you wish. Most people say “Filay”. ‘

Why do British add R to words?

Where words like saw and idea come before a vowel, there’s an increasing tendency among speakers of British English to insert an ‘r’ sound, so that law and order becomes law-r and order and china animals becomes china-r animals. Linguists call this ‘intrusive r’ because the ‘r’ was never historically part of the word.

How do you pronounce scone in England?

Promoted Stories
Following etiquette, the correct pronunciation of scone is ‘skon’, to rhyme with ‘gone’, rather than ‘skone’ to rhyme with ‘bone’. The ‘posh’ pronunciation of scone really isn’t so posh after all.

How does a British person say Tuesday?

In other words, the British pronounce “Tuesday” as TYOOZday ( tj u:zdeɪ) or CHOOZday (tʃu:zdeɪ), while the Americans opt for TOOZday (tu:zdeɪ).

Why do British say aluminium?

Aluminum = The British pronunciation is a tongue twister.
It comes easier after a few tries. But, then you’re in danger of forgetting how to say it in American-English. Sounding it out may help, al-loo-MIN-ee-um … There’s a second “i” in the British form of the word, aluminium, hence the extra syllable.

Why do Americans say aluminum?

The American Chemical Society adopted “aluminum” because of how widely it was used by the public, but the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry officially designated the metal as “aluminium” as recently as 1990.

Do British say mum?

One word in particular that stands out in English dialects is the word we use for our mothers. The British typically use ‘mum’, and the Americans, ‘mom’.

Why do British spell color Colour?

Difference Between Color and Colour
Color is the spelling used in the United States. Colour is used in other English-speaking countries. The word color has its roots (unsurprisingly) in the Latin word color. It entered Middle English through the Anglo-Norman colur, which was a version of the Old French colour.

Why do Americans say period?

In 19th-century texts, both British English and American English were consistent in their usage of the terms period and full stop. The word period was used as a name for what printers often called the “full point”, the punctuation mark that was a dot on the baseline and used in several situations.

What is the most British thing to say?

11 Bloody Brilliant British English Phrases

1. “Fancy a cuppa?” meaning: “Would you like a cup of tea?”
2. “Alright?” meaning: “Hey, how are you?”
3. “I’m knackered!” meaning: “I’m tired.”
4. Cheeky. meaning: playful; mischievous.
5. “I’m chuffed to bits!” meaning “I’m very pleased.”
6. Bloody. meaning: very.
7. To bodge something.
8. “I’m pissed.”