Differences between British and American English

[emileg]

The British Phrasebook (published by Lonely Planet) is a cute little book for Americans heading for the UK (or a Cunard ship, for that matter). It is a bit tounge-in-cheek and quite adorable. A British Airways flight attendant saw me reading it and asked if she could look at it. She said it was quite accurate. It gets beyond the boot and the bonnet.

 

I suppose Brits could read it in reverse for some clues about American English (oxymoron not intended:rolleyes: ).

 

Here is a link to to the book at Amazon:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Lonely-Planet-British-Phrasebook-Phrasebooks/dp/0864424841/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/105-4360363-8178066?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1190345740&sr=8-1

 

Enjoy

[travel-to-go]

Hmm,

Just learned something new from "Bum bags and Fanny packs"

 

"ackers" [Egyptian akka one piastre] n. pound notes or money in general

 

See it here!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0786717025/ref=sib_dp_pt/105-4114615-2250047#reader-link

 

Karie,

who needs to do some more book buying!

[NoPiratesPlease]

The problem with Brits and Yanks understanding each other despite a common language isn't new.

 

One Brit wrote a funny little song quite derogatory about Americans and how rustic and silly they were.

 

But the Americans didn't get the joke, loved the song and played it everywhere, not realizing it was making fun of them.

 

Of course, that little ditty was "Yankee Doodle Dandy" and became the anthem of the American War for Independence.

[Toffeegirl68]

My Father calls lunch 'dinner' and dinner 'tea'

 

So breakfast, dinner & tea, occasionally supper instead of tea. So if you invite him over for dinner - he comes at noon, or if you invite him for tea - meaning a cup, he expects supper.

 

I notice we say chesterfield where Americans say sofa.

 

I love the way my English husband pronouces garage, urinal and half & half. It's why I fell in love with him. :)

 

Just catching up with this thread over my lunch-time "butty"....

 

Casshew, you fell in love with your husband because of the way he said "urinal" ??!!!

[calikak]

The same tip-of-the-day e-mail service had another interesting distinction between British and American English today, about the phrase "hark back":

 

 

Part B: Wrongly Written "harp back."

 

This odd mistake seems not to have spread beyond British English -- e.g.: "It makes interesting reading for those who harp [read 'hark'] back to a golden age of childish [read 'childlike'] innocence, and condemn the horrors and 'new sexuality' of modern children." Euan Ferguson, "Reclaiming the Streets: Full of Woe or Far to Go?" Observer, 9 June 1996, at 16. Curiously, most British dictionaries say nothing about this error."

[dak]

The same tip-of-the-day e-mail service had another interesting distinction between British and American English today, about the phrase "hark back":

 

 

Part B: Wrongly Written "harp back."

 

This odd mistake seems not to have spread beyond British English -- e.g.: "It makes interesting reading for those who harp [read 'hark'] back to a golden age of childish [read 'childlike'] innocence, and condemn the horrors and 'new sexuality' of modern children." Euan Ferguson, "Reclaiming the Streets: Full of Woe or Far to Go?" Observer, 9 June 1996, at 16. Curiously, most British dictionaries say nothing about this error."

 

Harp: to dwell tediously on a subject (Collins Oxford Dictionary)

 

David

[Casshew]

 

Casshew, you fell in love with your husband because of the way he said "urinal" ??!!!

 

Of course! any man that can make something nasty sound wonderful, is a keeper. :D