Amerilish

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kelebek

Active member
Having gone to an International school when i was a nipper, I am pretty clued up on Amerilish and the differences between English and American.

I thought it would be fun (ok, maybe not fun..but interesting?) to start a thread on the differences incase i've missed some.

There is the obvious ones...

American: chips
English: crisps. (Chips in England are fries.)

American: Movie theatre
English: Cinema or pictures

American: Bathroom
English: Toilet/loo/bog

American: Eraser
English: Rubber

American: Cigarette
English: Fag (although that does have more than one meaning in both countries)

American: Trash/Garbage
English: Rubbish

American: Cellphone
English: Mobile phone

American: Pacifier
English: Dummy

American: Sidewalk
English: Pavement

American: Sneakers
English: Trainers (Irish: runners)

American: Faucet
English: Tap

American: Vacation
English: Holiday

American: Soccer
English: Football

and so on.....

Pants in England are worn underneath your trousers, just like American panties. While the British may understand what you mean if you speak of 'my baggy pants,' they will likely find the mental image this conjures amusing.

The funniest one I find is American: fanny which means bum (i believe?) but fanny in English is the female reproductive organ. I still giggle when I hear American tourists talking about their fanny packs.

Anyone got any other weird or wondrous ones?
 
lol I came across a member of one of my sites mentioning a 'dummy' and I had no clue what it meant until now.

American: diaper
English: nappy
 
Nevermind 'Amerilish' I think I need to read up on Internet talk...I sat here for a good 5 minutes (don't know why as Google is my second brain) trying to figure out what AFAIK meant. :cool:

I once worked in Tourism on a resort on the coast of Turkey, we got lots of American cruise ships in on a daily basis throughout the Summer months. I overheard this very American lady (think socks & sandels, fanny pack, map, broad NY accent...) say to a Turkish man 'DO...YOU...SPEAK...AMERICAN...?' he replied 'No, madam I speak English.' I wanted to take a picture of her face, it was priceless.
 
I'm mistaken...dummy has a lot of meanings in our English: http://www.google.com/search?q=defi...s=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
kelebek said:
Nevermind 'Amerilish' I think I need to read up on Internet talk...I sat here for a good 5 minutes (don't know why as Google is my second brain) trying to figure out what AFAIK meant. :cool:
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I had to look it up at one time, as well ;)

kelebek said:
I once worked in Tourism on a resort on the coast of Turkey, we got lots of American cruise ships in on a daily basis throughout the Summer months. I overheard this very American lady (think socks & sandels, fanny pack, map, broad NY accent...) say to a Turkish man 'DO...YOU...SPEAK...AMERICAN...?' he replied 'No, madam I speak English.' I wanted to take a picture of her face, it was priceless.
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LMFAO...that's hilarious. As if saying it slower like that would make a difference anyway :D
 
It's interesting to note however that some of the "English" terms are more common depending on what region of the States you are in and/or to whom you are speaking. Tap, toilet, cinema... all quite common in my experience.
 
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