Do you knw any others?
2006-09-29 23:17:14 · 19 answers · asked by Anonymous in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
Try asking for a f.a.g in America, or even better ask someone to lay the table pmsl It's Hilarious. It's just colloquialisms. It's like in west Yorkshire, a fishcake is a layer of potato, a layer of fish and a layer of potato in batter, fried. In East Yorkshire it is fish and potato mix in batter or breadcrumbs.
2006-09-29 23:29:07 · answer #1 · answered by tradcobdriver 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Many differences in words between UK English and US English can be traced back to the language spoken by the particular group of immigrants to the US and the language they spoke at the time - so 'fall' for autumn was actually common English usage amongst the Pilgrim fathers.
An unputdownable book on this subject and many other cultural differences (and their origins) is Bill Bryson's 'Made in America.' It is quite fascinating and one of those books I often find myself going to for reference and then two hours later I'm still reading it ... again. Also, a long time ago the BBC made a long documentary called The Story of English, which they have not got round to publishing on DVD (at least they hadn't the last time I looked) - the interviewer would go to (say) Cornwall, pick out the salient factors in usage or accent, and then go to those places in the USA or elsewhere in the world where the Cornish had emigrated. The series sometimes gets repeated on minor satellite channels and is well worth keeping an eye open in case you encounter it.
Get the Bryson. Sue me if you don't like it.
2006-09-30 07:38:38 · answer #2 · answered by mrsgavanrossem 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
So that Americans (English speaking ones, not the tens of millions of Hispanics) can distance themselves from the motherland of their language.
It goes deeper; many years ago when I was on a tour of the USA, I asked many times, to educated Americans: 'How far is A from B?'
The answer always came in hours when I wanted to know the distance. The person answering the question always presumed that I was going to drive from A to B. But what if I wanted to walk/cycle/spacehop from Chicago to New York?
There are too many examples of word changing to contemplate listing them. Be careful though. Some seemingly Americanised words are actually old English words that have fallen out of use in the UK.
2006-09-30 07:30:19 · answer #3 · answered by forgemonkey 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
American english and UK english are becoming diferent languages in certain areas yet the media of Film, Music and TV keep the core of the language sufficiently sohesive that we have little difficulty undestanding each other.
More so than individual names for objects most of which have many different names within the English language is the American tendency to introduce awkward breaks in the flow of speech, as in leaving out the word "and" in "nineteen hunderd fifty six" when UK folk would say "nineteen hundred and fifty six" stand out as Hundred has to change to Hunderd to make the phrase pronouncable. Anonther Americanisationalistic tendency is to create huge long composite words where as short one would suffice, Fenestrational Treatent, instead of Windows, although you cannot call "Fenestration" Windows in the States because Bill Gates owns the name.
In many ways it is good that English evolves, I remember a Monty Python Sketch where a WW2 pilot landed at the wrong airfield and no one culd understand his banter "Bally Jerry "etc
However and I am deadly serious here , we should have an examination for school kids in "English as a Foreign Language" so that they can learn to speak in a plain unembroidered dialect free form of engish which foreigners who hve learned a foreign language can readily understand, and keep the dialect for confusing them when we want a laugh
2006-09-30 06:47:09 · answer #4 · answered by "Call me Dave" 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
People move to another country and develop their own dialects. This is done to distinguish themselves from other people from elsewhere.
US dialects have been developing in their own right as have UK dialects. The same is true of accents.
Language develops over time, (eg. once the word "gay" just meant "happy" - I'm sure you can think of others) The US and UK languages developed with some separation from one another and that is why they developed separate words for the same meaning.
2006-09-30 06:32:11 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm American and I live in England. Our languages are the same only the culutural differences have to be taken into consideration. The US has many different cultures and as many dialects and people. The term slang comes from (s) subsitite (lang) language.
2006-09-30 06:35:07 · answer #6 · answered by bobbi 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
US= subway UK= underground
US=sidewalk UK= pavement
The US speak a different language, even their spelling is strange.
2006-09-30 06:23:06 · answer #7 · answered by bob 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Bonnet / Hood
Boot / Trunk
Holiday / Vacation
Lovely / Beautiful
Hooligan / Bully
Brilliant / Great (as in idea)
2006-09-30 06:31:35 · answer #8 · answered by froggie 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sidewalk/pathway Taxi/cab Butt/ar.se the list goes on.We as brits invented a desent dialect for everyone else to try and copy,Sadly no one has yet to emulate this only fcuk it up..
2006-09-30 06:23:26 · answer #9 · answered by martinsbits2000 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Biscuit - Cookie
Jelly - Jello
Jam - Jelly
pavement - sidewalk
underground - subway
2006-09-30 06:28:56 · answer #10 · answered by Debs112 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋