List of words having different meanings in British and American English
An incomplete list of words having different primary meanings in British English and American English. Note: Many of the definitions are recognized by the other as "Britishisms" (sic) or Americanisms respectively.Many American phrases (and their meanings) are now increasingly used in the UK, thanks to the ubiquity of US-made movies and television programmes.
''See also:
- Main article: American and British English differences
- list of British English words not used in American English
- list of American English words not used in British English''
| Word | most common British meaning | most common American meaning |
| alternately | every other one | as an alternative |
| ass | donkey | buttocks (UK: bum or arse) also donkey |
| Asian | coming from India, Pakistan etc.; South Asian | East Asian, continental Southeast Asian see also "oriental" |
| band | a strap | a jewelry ring for the finger (wedding band) (+ UK meaning, less commonly) |
| bathroom | a room containing a bath tub, and possibly other washing facilities, perhaps even a toilet. | a room containing a toilet, and related washing facilities, possibly including a shower or bath tub. |
| billion | thousand million; million million (earlier meaning; now less common) |
thousand million |
| bird | usually an avian but can also be a slang term for a female, or slang for a prison sentence. | almost always an avian |
| biscuit | cracker (or cookie) | similar to a scone or Welsh cake, except without any fruits or nuts, served with savory foods |
| blinkers | leather flaps on a bridle used to restrict a horse's lateral vision (US: blinders) | lights on a car that indicate the direction about to be taken (UK: indicators) (+ UK meaning) |
| boob tube | tube top | slang term for television |
| bonnet | hinged cover over the engine in a car (US: hood) (+ US meaning) |
a type of hat tied under the chin worn by women, or a type of man's hat, both worn in previous centuries |
| braces | over-the-shoulder straps to support trousers (US: suspenders) (+ US meaning) |
devices for straightening teeth |
| bugger | someone who engages in buggery, or in non-polite company as a form of address (e.g. ..he's a generous bugger anyway) | Term of endearment, often used for children. Appears to have no vulgar or insulting connotation. (In spoken English, a British "bugger" is sometimes misheard as "Booger".) |
| bum | buttocks (US: ass or butt) | hobo, homeless person. (+ UK sense as a Britishism) |
| brew (noun) | a cup of tea | a beer, or coffee drink |
| cafÃÂé | diner | coffee shop |
| Canfield | the patience card game Klondike | a somewhat different patience card game (UK: Demon) |
| care less | "I couldn't care less" Not to care at all |
"I could care less" Not to care at all |
| chemist | pharmacist, pharmacy also a practitioner of chemistry |
a person whose profession is chemistry |
| chips | french fries | crisps |
| chippy | carpenter fish and chip shop to have a grievance, chip on one's shoulder |
loose woman (rare) |
| chum | buddy (usually ironic) | a friend waste products from fish processing (heads, tails, blood etc.) often used for shark fishing. |
| cider | fermented alcoholic drink made from apples (US: hard cider) | a kind of apple juice |
| cot | baby's cradle | camp bed |
| dead beat, deadbeat | exhausted | a welsher, someone who does not pay their debts, often in construction "deadbeat dad" |
| drop (of liquid) | meiotic usage: several (fluid) ounces (for example, "just a drop of tea, please".) (primary meaning is as in the US) |
a droplet (less than a milliliter) |
| dummy | rubber teat for babies (US: pacifier) (+ US meanings) |
mannequin, esp. for automobile crash tests fake fool |
| entrÃÂée | starter (first course) of a meal | main course of a meal |
| fag | cigarette, a young public schoolboyboy who acts as a servant for older pupils. (+ US sense as an Americanism) | short for faggot, an insulting term for a male homosexual |
| fanny | vagina (obscene slang) | buttocks (not obscene) |
| first floor (of a building) | the floor above ground level | the floor at ground level |
| fly-over | Elevated road section, i.e. long road bridge. | Ceremonial aircraft flight (UK: fly-past). Higher-level road bridge that goes above both a lower bridge and a road below the lower bridge. |
| football | association football, soccer | American football |
| garage | fuel filling station, e.g. "a Texaco garage" (+ US meanings) |
parking building vehicle workshop |
| gas | Natural gas | Gasoline, air trapped in the stomach |
| geezer | gangster, man | old person (derogatory; UK: old geezer) |
| ground floor (of a building) | The floor at ground level. | Sometimes used thus, but American English prefers 'first floor'. Lower of two floors that are each at a different ground level due to sloping terrain. |
| government | The executive (though this will include some of the legislature). Can take the indefinite article. See Parliamentary system. Corresponds to "administration" in American usage. | The combination of the executive, the entire legislature, and the judiciary. Always takes the definite article. See Presidential system. |
| hockey | field hockey (played with a ball on turf), hockey played on a hard surface (e.g. concrete) or indoors | hockey played on ice with a puck (UK: ice hockey) |
| hood | a covering for the head, often attached to overcoats, to protect the wearer from wind and rain | hinged cover over the engine in a car (UK: bonnet) a contraction of neighborhood (+ UK meaning) |
| homely | (Of a house) comfortable, cozy, rustic (US: homey) (Of a person) home-loving, domesticated, house-proud |
(Only used of a person) plain, ugly
|
| hunting | pursuing animals on horseback | pursuing animals on foot (UK: shooting or stalking) |
| indicator | turn signal in a car (+ US meaning) |
a gauge or measure |
| jam | a preserve made from fruits boiled in sugar and set with pectin (US: jelly) (+ US meaning) |
a blockage or obstruction, also a traffic jam (also certain kinds of jelly, esp. the kinds with pieces of fruit left in: you have strawberry jam, but grape jelly) |
| jelly | a fruit flavoured dessert set with gelatine (US: Jell-O) | a preserve made from fruits boiled in sugar and set with pectin (UK: jam) |
| jock | Slang term for a Scotsman or a Scots dog. | Slang term for an athlete, or for the undergarment called an athletic supporter. |
| joint | A piece of meat for roasting, typically on the bone A cigarette made with cannabis A connection or union |
A cigarette made with cannabis A connection or union An establisment, especially a disruptable one (a gin joint; let's case the joint) Prison (in the joint) |
| jumper | sweater | pinafore dress |
| knock up | manufacture hastily practise before tennis wake up by knocking make pregnant |
make pregnant |
| lantern | free-standing device that emits a continuous light (compare British torch) | device that burns liquid to produce light |
| lemonade | clear, carbonated lemon-flavoured drink related to but excluding Sprite or 7Up which are lemon and lime flavoured | non-carbonated drink made by mixing lemon juice, sugar, and water |
| let | allow rent (an apartment) |
allow, give permission rent (rarely) |
| line | a line | a queue |
| lounge (noun) | living room; part of a pub ("lounge bar") | a bar |
| lush (slang; of a person) | adjective: attractive (usually used by women in reference to men) (+ US meaning) |
noun: an alcoholic |
| majority | the greatest number of votes difference of votes between first and second place (US: plurality) |
more than half of all votes (UK: absolute majority) |
| marinara (sauce) | a sauce containing seafood, usually in a tomato base | a sauce containing tomatoes and herbs, with no seafood or meat (UK: napolitana sauce) |
| mate | friend | spouse |
| mean | stingy, miserly, selfish | angry, cruel, vicious |
| momentarily | for a moment | in a moment; very soon |
| muffler | scarf | silencer on automobile/car/gramophone |
| on the telephone (on the phone) | to be talking on the telephone or (rare) to possess a working telephone | to be talking on the telephone |
| oriental | East Asian, continental Southeast Asian | East Asian. increasingly considered slightly condescending or politically incorrect. |
| outside lane | the lane closest to the median or central reservation. | the lane furthest from the median or central reservation. In both cases this will be the rightmost lane. |
| pants | underpants (usu y-fronts) (slang) bad or undesired |
trousers |
| paraffin | kerosene | a waxy fraction of petroleum commonly used to make candles (UK: "paraffin wax") |
| pavement | sidewalk | asphalt; the road surface |
| pecker | chin (esp. in the phrase keep your pecker up) | penis (slang) |
| period | section of time menstruation |
punctuation mark (UK: full stop), (Internet:dot) section of time menstruation |
| pint, quart, gallon | Approx. 1.2 times US measure (mnemonic: "a pint of water weighs a pound and a quarter") | Approx. 5/6 British (imperial) measure (mnemonic: "a pint's a pound the world around", which it plainly isn't) |
| pissed (of a person) | drunk | angry (short for pissed off, which is used in both countries) |
| pound sign | symbol of the pound sterling (ÃÂã) | hash sign (#), symbol of a weight of one pound |
| public school | long-established and prestigious fee-paying private school; not all private schools are classed as public schools. | state-supported school |
| pud | short for pudding, as in "Christmas Pud" (rhymes with good) | penis (rhymes with mud) (rare slang, usually used with "pulling") |
| purse | money container | handbag |
| quite good | mediocre, acceptable, good, well done (ironic, according to subtle voice intonation) | excellent |
| (to) ring | to call (someone) by telephone | to make a bell-like sound; you cannot ring people unless they are wearing a bell. (Note: "To give someone a ring" is to call someone in British English, while in American English it's to give an ornamental band to someone). Also understood as "to call on the telephone" when said as "here's my number, give me a ring when you can" or similarly. |
| a rubber | a pencil eraser can also mean condom |
a condom |
| rubbish | garbage; trash | understood by Americans as a Britishism unless referring to arguments, where bad arguments are called rubbish |
| saloon | a car with a boot as a separate compartment (US: sedan) (saloon bar) a posh bar within a pub or hotel |
a bar; especially associated with the Wild West |
| seeded (grapes, etc.) | with the seeds left in | having had the seeds removed |
| shag | to copulate, or copulate with (+ US meanings) |
a type of carpet a kind of a dance to copulate (understood as Britishism; popularized by Austin Powers movies) |
| shattered | exhausted broken |
broken |
| sherbet | a fizzy powdered confectionery | a type of frozen dessert (also spelled sherbert) |
| shop | store (retail) | workshop also store |
| shingles | pebbles forming a beach, or the disease shingles. | roof tiles, or the disease shingles. |
| silencer | silences car/automobile (muffler) silences a gun (rare) |
silences a firearm |
| skillet | (regional dialect) a frying pan a type of stir-fried food item |
a frying pan, often cast iron a long-handled stewing pan or saucepan, often having short legs or feet |
| slash | the symbol '/' (used in internet addresses in Britain instead of 'stroke') | colloquialism for urinating (to have a slash) |
| (to) slate | to disparage | to schedule, such as "slated for demolition" |
| solicitor | lawyer | door-to-door salesman (rarely) in the context of Solicitor General, the person who represents the United States before the Supreme Court |
| solitaire | peg-jumping puzzle game (see peg solitaire) | any of a family of one-player card games (see solitaire) (UK: patience) |
| spunk | semen (though also sometimes used for courage, sauciness) | courage, sauciness (though also sometimes used for semen) |
| squash (noun) | fruit cordial drink (squash (drink)) a sport (squash (sport)) (rarely) the vegetable |
vegetable (squash (vegetable)) (rarely) the sport |
| subway | pedestrian underpass | underground rail system |
| suspenders | elasticated support for stockings | elasticated support for trousers (UK: braces) |
| (to) table (e.g. parliamentary procedure) |
to raise for consideration (i.e. to bring to or put on the table) | to suspend from consideration (to shelve) (i.e. to leave on the table) |
| tailgater | a motorist who follows another vehicle too closely | someone who picnics from the rear of a vehicle (+ British meaning) |
| tap | faucet (+ US meanings) |
device for dispensing beer from a keg (equal use as faucet) Also used in "a phone tap" |
| tea | A beverage, usually taken hot with milk variously an afternoon snack or an evening meal |
a beverage, hot or in some regions taken cold with lemon and/or sugar |
| theatre | playhouse Star Wars opened in theaters in 1977 would be understood as an Americanism |
(spelled theater) cinema (+ UK meaning, spelled theater or theatre) |
| tights | nylons, usually sheer, which also cover the groin (US: pantyhose) | skin-tight, often opaque, pants or pants and top, such as worn by gymnasts |
| torch | hand-held device that emits light (US: flashlight) (+ US meaning) |
burning stick, such as a tiki torch |
| tosser | someone who masturbates, a derogatory term similar to wanker | someone who throws objects (rare) |
| tramp | a homeless person | a loose woman sometimes a homeless person, as in the movie Lady and the Tramp |
| trapezium | a quadrilateral with one pair of parallel sides | a quadrilateral with no parallel sides |
| trapezoid | a quadrilateral with no parallel sides | a quadrilateral with one pair of parallel sides |
| tyke | an insulting term for someone from Yorkshire. | term of endearment for a child, like "little rascal" |
| valve | (vacuum) tube, as in pre-1960s electronics (+ US meanings) |
device to start, stop or regulate flow |
| vest | garment, usually sleeveless, worn under a shirt (US: undershirt) sleeveless garment worn as an only visible top |
sleeveless garment worn over a shirt (UK: waistcoat) (e.g. kevlar vest) |
| wash up | wash the dishes (more generally, to clean after eating food) | wash your hands (more generally, to clean before eating food) |
| way out | exit (on a sign) | extreme (as in "way out there") |