What words and phrases do Brits and others see as 'American'? (page 5)

MidwichCuckoo

Loo = Bathroom

yes - loo, lav, khazi, bog.

dorayakii

dorayakii: Nasalisation means the closing of the nasal tract while pronouning vowels

sonnyboy: It seems to me that the nasal tract would have to be open to allow nasal sounds to come through.

Yes, sorry, the statement i made was incorrect. It's the opening of the nasal tract, and most British accents close the nasal passage producing their vowels only through their mouths... Nasal vowels (like french "en", "on" and "an") and nasal consonents (m, n and ng) are produced by the opening of the nasal tract...

I seem to be getting rather confused

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasalization

"In phonetics, nasalization is the production of a sound while the velum is lowered, so that air escapes partially or wholly through the nose during the production of the sound."

sonnyboy: Have you ever heard Fran Drescher from The Nanny? That's how I'd define nasal pronunciations.

I'm not familiar with that, is it a series or a film?

Mulan: It took me several days when I was there to get used to "air con" (air conditioning), "car park" isn't abbreviated, but I hadn't heard it before and thought it sounded funny, like a park for cars, "biz ad" (business administration), "gen man" (general manager).

This is very interesting, the Japanese also say eakon (air-con), apaato (apartment), depaato (department store), nega (photo negative), terebi (television), nooto (notebook), baito (work, 'arbeit' in german), radi-kase (radio-cassette player).

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If a British school-kid asks you for a "rubber" don't get offended (or excited), they mean an "eraser"...

If an American doctor asks you to take off your "pants" don't get offended (or excited) he only means your "trousers"...

dorayakii

Sorry about the wacky formatting in my last post, i think its ok now. Just keeps on adding spaces for no reason.

Other common British / American differences:

nappy - diaper

bloke - guy

petrol - gas

plaster - band-aid

biscuit - cookie

jam - jelly

jelly - jello

crisps -potato chips

chips - fries

pavement - sidewalk

holiday - vacation

lift - elevator

football - soccar

RichieRich

PRESTON

I so agree with you about the Git R done thing.

People say it all the time. It ain't funny anymore.

GentlyFeral

MidwichCuckoo,

Candy? Is that all types of confectionery?

Yes. In the US, "sweets" refers to everything that has sugar in it - both confectionery and sweet pastries.

edited to add:

Doriyakii,

jam - jelly

But we use both words in the US. "Jelly" is jam in which the fruit has been puréed smooth and the seeds removed. "Jam" is, well, jam. In the US, "preserves" means jam with whole fruit in it. Come to think of it, I never see what we call "preserves" in supermarkets any more; that's all strictly homemade now.

g ently f eral

greendawn

Pants = trousers
Diapers = nappies
Sweater = jumper, pullover
Sneakers = trainers
Freeway = motorway
Drug store = chemist
Biscuit = scone
Check = bill (eg at restaurant)
Trash can = dustbin
Fall = autumn
Crazy (person) = nutter
Jelly = jam
Jello = jelly
Duplex = Semi detached house
Tail pipe = exhaust pipe
Steal = nick

FMZ

A biscuit is sooo not a scone. Similar shape and it is a pastry, but completely different, a scone is much denser, dryer, and sweeter. :P

KJ

Soledad

let us not forget the bastardized broken English spoken in the Caribbean colonies! In a class by itself I must tell you!

typical conversation with my mother (she is Trinidadian):

"hi mom! how are you doing?"

"good. yah lookin craf now?"

"I've been jogging"

"don oerdoit. me 'eard dat basil get yuh blokes dat exerize too much"

"what's for dinner ma?"

"pelau wid sweet plantains. What doh kill does fatten!"

"what the hell are you saying ma?"

"whappen? who is you? don be a neemacaram an jus lick up yer kiss-me-arse roti before it get col' like dog nose! and don ferget de sweet drink!"

to that I can only say it's a wonder I can master any kind of English at all!

FlyingHighNow

I find the American pronunciation of "route" hilarious, and in complete disregard for the etymological roots of the word.

Do you know that we Americans, depending on where we live, pronounce "route" differently?

I say ROOT with a long U sound as in boot or scoot. Some people pronounce it ROWT as in POUT. Others pronounce it RUT as in BUTT. So, just which pronunciation are you referring to?

Not all southerners add syllables to words. I pronounce box as bocks. Personally, I think it sounds very charming when syllables are added. My very posh, socialite southern grandma-ma used to say yay-isss for yes and say-ix for sex. She said lay-inkth for length and stray-inkth for strength. Her accent was a southern Alabama accent. I was born there and moved away at nearly 7. Sadly, I don't retain much of that accent. It's a very coy and flirtatious, yet genteel sound.

talesin

Well day-yum, flyin', that was a purdy lil piece-a writin' y'all did, hun!

oh, here's few more ...

the boonies (boondocks) - country

baby got back - not quite sure what this means .. lol

keep your shiny side up and rubber side down - trucker talk for travel safe

freedom fries - french fries :(

t

What words and phrases do Brits and others see as 'American'?

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