{"id":3527,"date":"2020-05-26T23:00:41","date_gmt":"2020-05-27T05:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/?p=3527"},"modified":"2022-02-21T17:16:48","modified_gmt":"2022-02-21T23:16:48","slug":"exchanging-english-over-the-pond-u-s-and-u-k-part-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/definitions\/exchanging-english-over-the-pond-u-s-and-u-k-part-ii\/","title":{"rendered":"American vs. British English: Vocabulary"},"content":{"rendered":"

Our last discussion<\/a> of U.S. and Commonwealth English focused on word spellings between the dialects. We\u2019ll next review variances in vocabulary.<\/p>\n

Understanding how the U.S. and the U.K. approach the naming of words is a great opportunity to embrace the richness of our shared language. Stateside, we enjoy and appreciate how Commonwealth writers and speakers refer to some of the thoughts that are common to us all.<\/p>\n

Soccer<\/em> vs. Football<\/em><\/strong>
\nMany conversations about American and British vocabulary might often start here. In America, watching local, college, and professional football teams is immensely popular. Playing tackle with pads and a pigskin is also the pursuit of millions of fans nationwide.<\/p>\n

That being said, the word football<\/em> has its colossal cultural use in the U.S. However, particularly in America, one may still wonder why we use soccer<\/em> for a game called football<\/em> in many parts of the world.<\/p>\n

Some might be enlightened to learn that soccer<\/em> has its origin in the U.K. During the 1800s, British universities started playing variants of a medieval game known as \u201cfootball.\u201d One such version was referred to as \u201cassociation football,\u201d which the English called \u201csoccer\u201d for short.<\/p>\n

When the modern game reached America in the mid-1800s, the name \u201csoccer\u201d followed from the U.K. Back in Britain, soccer <\/em>and football <\/em>remained interchangeable for a time. Although steadily decreasing, references to soccer <\/em>might still be heard until the 1980s, when football <\/em>became more fortified as the singular term.<\/p>\n

Dual Ways with Words<\/strong><\/p>\n

The following partial list offers a look at how American and British writers and speakers express several of the same things differently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
U.S. <\/strong><\/td>\nU.K. <\/strong><\/td>\n\u00a0<\/strong><\/td>\nU.S. <\/strong><\/td>\nU.K. <\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
apartment<\/td>\nflat<\/td>\n<\/td>\ncookie<\/td>\nbiscuit<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
adhesive bandage<\/td>\nplaster<\/td>\n<\/td>\ndiaper<\/td>\nnappy<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
bathroom, restroom<\/td>\ntoilet, WC, loo<\/td>\n<\/td>\ndrugstore<\/td>\nchemist\u2019s<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
bike, bicycle<\/td>\nbicycle, push bike<\/td>\n<\/td>\ndrunk<\/td>\npissed<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
candy<\/td>\nsweets<\/td>\n<\/td>\nelementary school<\/td>\nprimary school<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
cart<\/td>\ntrolley, trolly<\/td>\n<\/td>\nelevator<\/td>\nlift<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
cash register<\/td>\ntill<\/td>\n<\/td>\neraser<\/td>\nrubber<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
cell (phone)<\/td>\nmobile<\/td>\n<\/td>\nflashlight<\/td>\ntorch<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
chips<\/td>\ncrisps<\/td>\n<\/td>\nfries<\/td>\nchips<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
college<\/td>\nuniversity<\/td>\n<\/td>\ngarbage (trash) can<\/td>\n(dust)bin<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
U.S. <\/strong><\/td>\nU.K. <\/strong><\/td>\n\u00a0<\/strong><\/td>\nU.S. <\/strong><\/td>\nU.K. <\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
gas<\/td>\npetrol<\/td>\n<\/td>\nstroller<\/td>\npram<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
high school<\/td>\nsecondary school<\/td>\n<\/td>\n(to) study<\/td>\nrevise<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
(car) hood<\/td>\nbonnet<\/td>\n<\/td>\nsubway<\/td>\ntube<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
mail<\/td>\npost<\/td>\n<\/td>\nsweater<\/td>\njumper<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
(the) movies<\/td>\ncinema<\/td>\n<\/td>\ntrash<\/td>\nrubbish<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
pants<\/td>\ntrousers<\/td>\n<\/td>\ntruck<\/td>\nlorry<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
parking lot<\/td>\ncar park<\/td>\n<\/td>\n(car) trunk<\/td>\nboot<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
period (.)<\/td>\nfull stop<\/td>\n<\/td>\nvacation<\/td>\nholiday<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
purse<\/td>\nhandbag<\/td>\n<\/td>\nvacuum<\/td>\nHoover<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
sidewalk<\/td>\npavement<\/td>\n<\/td>\nwallet, change purse (women)<\/td>\npurse<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
sneakers (tennis shoes)<\/td>\ntrainers<\/td>\n<\/td>\nzit\/pimple<\/td>\nspot<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

American and British English also appear to differ in the treatment of further\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0farther.\u00a0<\/em>Although current American use has blurred the line and made the words more interchangeable, prescriptivists will typically maintain farther\u00a0<\/em>to describe physical distance and further\u00a0<\/em>to indicate “more” or “to a greater degree or extent.” To our understanding, U.K. English uses\u00a0further\u00a0<\/em>to depict both distance and extent, and farther\u00a0<\/em>has become antiquated.<\/p>\n

What are some of your favorite words over the pond? Stay tuned when our series continues by exploring variations in grammar between the U.S. and the U.K.<\/p>\n

(Special thanks to Anglophiles Megan C., Emma C., and Rachel M. of Illinois, USA, for their contributions to this discussion.)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our last discussion of U.S. and Commonwealth English focused on word spellings between the dialects. We\u2019ll next review variances in vocabulary. Understanding how the U.S. and the U.K. approach the naming of words is a great opportunity to embrace the richness of our shared language. Stateside, we enjoy and appreciate how Commonwealth writers and speakers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,51],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-definitions","category-vocabulary"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3527"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3527"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3527\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5844,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3527\/revisions\/5844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}