Talk:Glossary of American terms not widely used in the United Kingdom/Archive 1

message: Given that my idea is endorsed by authoritative West London Dweller, this article has been renamed as List of words mainly used in American English (link updated to List of American words not widely used in the United Kingdom because of proposed deletion of redirect page - TrevorD 19:23, 9 May 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  MOVE ('''To Those Who Contribute to This Article, Part Two''')

message: Why is "sports" not Brit English? We have "sports days", "sports cars", "sports jackets" and "sports bras" (although not all at once). Why is "sport" not US English? Do Americans say "boxing is a contact sports?". Removed it. Andy G 22:09 23 Jun 2003 (UTC)
:I'm a couple of years and a week late on this, but I understand that in the U.S. they have "sports pages" of a newspaper, whereas in Commonwealth English we have "sport pages". Ben Arnold 30 June 2005 05:05 (UTC)
::Not in most of the newspapers I'm looking at, and even if this were true, "sport" (the concept) and "sports" (all kinds of...) are both used universally, with slightly different meanings, so this would indicate a stylistic preference, rather than a different word with the same meaning. ProhibitOnions 10:32:00, 2005-08-18 (UTC)
:::And at the risk of beating a dead horse, I think in the US it tends to be all singular or all plural: "Can you hand me the sport page?" or "It was in the sports pages."  Now...I'm confuddled.--Esprit15d 16:03, 31 January 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Sports

message: Do Brits use the word "bullhorn" for "hailer"? And is it "hailer" or "loud hailer" TIA -- Viajero 09:04, 19 Nov 2003 (UTC)
replies: text: As a Brit, I use never "bullhorn" nor "hailer".  "loud hailer" is okay. Stewart Adcock 18:49, 19 Nov 2003 (UTC)
thread_title:  query 

message: Should this really be in the list?  The two are not really equivalent, although they serve equivalent functions; the zone improvement plan differs from the postal code. --Daniel C. Boyer 20:43, 13 Feb 2004 (UTC)
replies: text: They're the closest match we have, really. violet/riga 23:25, 17 Aug 2004 (UTC)
thread_title: ZIP Code vs. postal code

message: These I really don't think should be in:
*truck - lorry (interchangable in the UK)
*elevator - lift (we do use that word but it means a different thing - should be in List of words having different meanings in British and American English
*deck (of cards) - pack (interchangable in the UK)
*closet - cupboard, wardrobe (interchangable in the UK)
*apartment - flat (interchangable in the UK)
*cookie - biscuit (should be in the other list instead)
violet/riga 23:25, 17 Aug 2004 (UTC)
thread_title: Remove these?

message: Is a vegetable marrow a particular kind of squash, or a generic term for all of the vegetables Americans call squash?  Is "squash" used in Britain at all?  RickK 00:48, Nov 24, 2004 (UTC)
A marrow is a large member of the squash family, which is very large and also includes courgettes (zucchini), cucumbers, melons and pumpkins. The word "squash" is not in colloquial use in Britain. --Minority Report (IT or PR enormity) 01:00, 24 Nov 2004 (UTC)
thread_title: Vegetable marrow

message: Should the following be added:
* limey
* redneck
* yankee
* wetback
and other similar words?  People for whom English of any form is not their primary language may well not be familiar with these terms, even though some are used extensively in Hollywood films and in newspapers.  It took me a while to find out that 'yankee' meant something different inside the USA than outside, which was quite confusing.  If they shoudn't be added here, where should they go? -- WLD 23:29, 13 Dec 2004 (UTC)
thread_title:  Slang and/or pejorative terms 

message: American  	British
underpants	pants (some regions), knickers (usually female), underpants, cacks
I'm American, so I'm not sure if this is a mistake. If Britons do, in fact, use the word "underpants", then it should be removed from the list (?) -- Jacottier 23:54, Jan 22, 2005 (UTC)
:Yup. Now removed. Commonly used and well understood in Britain (although "pants" is possibly commoner). -- Necrothesp 00:07, 26 Jan 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Underpants 

message: I changed this list to a definition list format because it's a list of words with their definitions. This allows search engines like Google to figure out the semantic relation between the words and their definitions and provide more valuable content when searching for meanings of words. If you don't like the way the definition lists appear, then I would lobby to change the CSS formatting for definition lists. The markup, however, is semantically optimal. It's a list of definitions, so the appropriate markup is a definition list. It's not tabular data, so a table is inappropriate. Nohat 00:13, 18 Feb 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: Fmt change

message: There is really no place for Life Savers on this page. You'll note that brand names are not generally listed here. Are we going to start listing all brands that have a presence in only one of these countries? I'm sure there are innumerable sweets that could be listed under those conditions. --Yath 22:47, 2 Apr 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: "Are we going to start listing all brands that have a presence in only one of these countries?" Why not?  That's actually a Very Good Idea, as it acts as an aid to understanding media from America.  I had no idea what 'Life Savers' were until I visited the USA and found out, by accident, that they were a form of candy.  That clarified the meaning of a particular sentence in a novel I had puzzled over for quite some time.  I happen to know what 'Mountain Dew' and 'Gatorade' are, but those brands do not exist in the UK.  Neither do 'Burma Shave' or '66' gasoline.  There are other brands dotted around, such as Kleenex and Hoover, which are used generically in one area but not the other.  I would say that if the information is useful, it should be included. WLD 01:56, 3 Apr 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: It definitely sounds like a job for a separate list, though, as such a list would be in the hundreds or thousands. Also, there are so many regional variances within the US alone, I can't imagine the task being easy.  --Darksasami 07:19, 3 Apr 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: If there get to be too many, then we'll move them to a separate list. For now, since there are just a few, we should just tolerate them, rather than delete them. They only cause harm in theory, and we should only do something about them when they are actually causing problems. Nohat 07:50, 3 Apr 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Life Savers 

message: I dispute that the term movie - found on this list -  is never used in British English in 2005.  Certainly its use comes from hearing it in American media, but it is nonetheless an understood and used term in the UK today.  Do others dispute this?  Unless I receive comments to the contrary, I'm going to remove "movie" from this list.  Moncrief 17:37, Apr 14, 2005 (UTC)
: I agree; not all Americanisms belong on this page. Joestynes 06:49, 18 Apr 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Movie 

message: I've just stumbled upon this article. Shouldn't the title be List of American English words not used in Commonwealth English?
The British English article says that the term British English isn't used much in the United Kingdom, where English English, Scots English and Welsh English are preferred. Besides, most of the differences in this article are just as applicable to other English-speaking Commonwealth countries as they are to the U.K. I can speak for Australia and New Zealand, at least. Canada may be different, but the term Commonwealth English is known to be limited in its application to Canada, which has strong U.S. influence.
Ben Arnold 30 June 2005 04:21 (UTC)
:I think you're right. --Yath 1 July 2005 22:57 (UTC)
Done. Ben Arnold 9 July 2005 05:30 (UTC)
Just came in now. I think it was a bit premature, but it's done. You may wish to move the article back and revert my changes now... Felix the Cassowary 9 July 2005 12:42 (UTC)
:Done, I'm afraid. A lot of useful work has just been deleted. Let's discuss this first. If you want to note that words are used in Australian English but not British English then fine, but don't just delete them. It should also have been discussed more fully before this article was renamed. -- Necrothesp 18:38, 12 July 2005 (UTC)
replies: text:  I've fixed the title in light of your reversion. The thing is, there's two sorts of words on the list: Those that aren't a part of British English (but are otherwise World English), and those that are a part of American English (and not World English). Personally I'm not really sure why this list finds its way into an Encyclopedia, surely it'd make more sense to use categories (or similar) in Wiktionary to automatically generate the list, which could then be used for any pair (or triplet, etc) of English dialects. Felix the Cassowary 23:47, 12 July 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Commonwealth English 

message: If "wall jack" is American usage, it must be confined to particular regions. I've lived in Southern California most of my life and I've never heard it. With regard to "plug," the entry is definitely correct: many Americans will (inaccurately) say "Where is the plug?" when they actually mean outlet, which, insofar as I know, is the proper American term, if one can be so presumtuous as to make such a claim. "Jack" refers only to outlets for telephone lines, although nowadays it may be coming into use for LAN or ISDN lines as well, which closely resemble those used for the telephone. --bamjd3d
:I live on the US East Coast, and jack here is telephone, LAN, etc... here as well.  Something you stick the electrical prongs into is an outlet or a plug.--Esprit15d 15:53, 31 January 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Wall jack 

message: should this really be here? There is no British equivalent to this word because the UK does not have the same amount of immigration from Latin America as the USA does. It is not like station wagon/estate car or windsheild/windscreen - meaning  two seperate words for things that are both very common in both countries.
:They'd be very wet if they immigrated from Latin America to the UK in the same way! -- Necrothesp 01:47, 6 August 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Agree, delete for the reasons you gave. --jrleighton 12:52, 18 August 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Guys, your comments don't seem to make sense to me.  I put this entry in, because it is a word not used in British English - your comments seem appropriate if I had put it in the article List of words having different meanings in British and American English - for this article I don't understand your comments.  Perhaps I'm just being thick? Could you clarify why you think it shouldn't be in this article? -- WLD 17:44, 18 August 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: The reason Brits don't use the word 'wetback' is because Brits don't have the concept. It's like saying that 'kangaroo' is an Australian word not used in British English because kangaroos only exist in Australia. — Felix the Cassowary 02:36, 19 August 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  "Wetback" 

message: I'm British and have never run across anyone who didn't understand what I meant by duct tape. The same conclusion seems to have been reached at Talk:List of British English words not used in American English a few months ago, but it wasn't deleted from this page.
:Yeah, duct tape is as American as apple pie (and British as scones apparently).--Esprit15d 15:51, 31 January 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Duct Tape 

message: What exactly is "British English". Does it include all British Countries, eg, South Africa? I really hate the way that the British (ie English) change the meaning to suit themselves of the word "British". It always means English, but the term can be changed to mean/not mean Scottish, Canadian etc. I presume by British English, it means English as spoken in England only. Many of the terms listed would not be spoken anywhere else. Wallie 08:58, 2 October 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Well, I would hazard a guess that British English is English spoken in Britain, wouldn't you? Not England, but Britain. Scotland is part of Britain, you know! -- Necrothesp 12:50, 2 October 2005 (UTC)

text: This issue is addressed in the main article, American and British English differences, Wallie.  You might to look it up.--Esprit15d 15:50, 31 January 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  British English 

message: Perhaps this should be moved to List of American English words rarely used in British English as 'not' is perhaps too inflexible a term. exolon 03:16, 1 November 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Page Name 

message: "Mom" and its diminutive "mommy" are used in the Birminbham dialect of British English, and almose always spelt that way too. TharkunColl 12:23, 21 February 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Mom

message: UK: (changed to) loud hailer (Tannoy is a fixed public-address system, not a portable megaphone) -- Picapica 23:11, 1 March 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Bullhorn 

message: I've got a really simple question, do British people ever say the word "eraser"?
: Yes, rubber is also used at times (but may be being deprecated due to its use in slang for condom's) Sfnhltb 20:43, 28 March 2006 (UTC)
replies: text:  No, Britons (like myself) rarely use "eraser": we always use rubber. Most Britons have never heard of it being a condom. --Celestianpower háblame 18:37, 2 April 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Eraser 

message: This is used fairly commonly in British English as well, if someone else agrees I guess they might want to remove it. Rucksack is also used here, but not as frequently. Sfnhltb 20:43, 28 March 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: If you want... but please be aware that backpack was born in the USA, and the OED in 1989 flagged it as "Chiefly U.S."--JackLumber 12:08, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

text: Sorry - I don't agree with you Sfnhltb. In my experience, 'rucksack' is/was used far more frequently than 'backpack' in the UK.  I won't be tempted to generalise from the single example of my own experience, but I would be inclined to go with the OED. Obviously, your experience differs, which demonstrates the situation is at best, confused. WLD 09:14, 30 March 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Sometimes it feels like regional differences are kind of overpowering us—they wouldn't let us give an account of "standard" American or British usage (maybe because there is no such thing!) By the way, what about knapsack? -- JackLumber 11:56, 30 March 2006 (UTC)

text: The usage I am familar with is that a rucksack is a large bag with straps allowing it to be carried on the back, approximately equivalent in volume to a suitcase, whereas a knapsack is a small bag with straps allowing it to be carried on the back, approximately equivalent in volume to a briefcase.  These days, knapsacks are increasingly referred to as day-packs, although, if anything, knapsacks in my recollection are smaller than what is called a day-pack. I don't know if 'day-pack' is an Americanism. WLD 12:29, 30 March 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Neither do I—as weird as it may seem ;-) Anymore recent coinages (like daypack) are hard to backtrack—globalized communication systems, information superhighways, the whole kit and caboodle. Interestingly, my perception slightly disagrees with yours, WLD—I would basically treat "knapsack" and "backpack" as synonyms, with minor distinctions—"backpack" is way more recent; the original knapsack was carried by soldiers, the original backpack had possibly an aluminum frame (or a parachute in it); since then both terms have gone beyond military or camping/hiking backdrops. A daypack in this context would be a light and/or small backpack.--JackLumber 13:36, 30 March 2006 (UTC)

text:  Ok - our experience differs, which is completely normal. It looks like backpack, daypack, rucksack, knapsack, bergen, etc. are rough synonyms, with exact usages varying. Knapsack looks to be the oldest term, with the Shorter OED giving early 17th century for knapsack, and mid-19th century for rucksack. It gives backpack as "Chiefly N. American" for both noun and verb, and no date. A Bergen is a rucksack supported by an external frame, and is probably a corrupted brand name. Bergen is used extensively by UK ex-army types, no date given, but probably a mid-20th century usage. Daypack isn't listed in my fifth edition (2002). I would suggest an American backpacker using a backpack is a UK walker (or possibly a rambler) using a rucksack or knapsack. WLD 14:54, 30 March 2006 (UTC)
replies: text:  Got some dates. The first recorded occurrence of "backpack" is from a 1914 American magazine (By folding a blanket..it is convenient as a back-pack); as you see, it was originally the load in a knapsack, rather than the knapsack itself [Webster's 3rd (1961) doesn't allow for backpack=knapsack, but weirdly enough talks about fire extinguishers to be carried on the back]. But the verb showed just 2 years later (Back-packing is the cheapest possible way to spend one's vacation in the wilderness). The trademark Bergen (from Bergen, Norway) was apparently registered in 1923. CALD & OALD both agree with your description of "knapsack" and both regard it as either American or UK old-fashioned. And yes, you gave me raw material for the List of words having different meanings in British and American English—a rambler to me is primarily something like this...--JackLumber 12:27, 31 March 2006 (UTC)
replies: text:  WLD (and everyone else), you keeping an eye on this one yet? While rewriting the "backpack" entry to factor in this very discussion, I found out that the backpack article says the word packsack is used especially in Britain. Too bad all sources flag it as "now Chiefly North America" or plain "North America." In my own idiolect it would come third after "backpack" and "knapsack"; googling "packsack" yields 410,000 matches, "site:uk packsack" only 183. I suspect it was the usual "I-don't-use-that-word-and-therefore-it-must-be-British" fellow American...--JackLumber 13:02, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Backpack 

message: I know that the policy is for either but it strikes me that if this is going in a UK deifinition field then it should just be acclimatise as we would never use "acclimatize". --Celestianpower háblame 19:00, 2 April 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: No. It would cause confusion. In UK usage, "acclimatize" is accepted, but "prize" (meaning lever, force) and "analyze" are not. So writing just "acclimatise" could mislead a non-British reader. --JackLumber 14:18, 3 April 2006 (UTC)
replies: text:  No, it isn't. In Britain, we wouldn't ever use a "z" like that and I feel its more misleading to write acclimatize as if you wrote that here, you'd be wrong. --Celestianpower háblame 14:29, 3 April 2006 (UTC)
replies: text:  So why does Oxford University Press, for instance, endorse -ize spellings? Are the Oxford folks just a bunch of dorks? --JackLumber 19:51, 3 April 2006 (UTC)
replies: text:  In short, yes. The Oxford English Dictionary is wrong on this count. --Celestianpower háblame 20:18, 3 April 2006 (UTC)
replies: text:  But do you know why Oxford does that? --JackLumber 20:28, 3 April 2006 (UTC)
replies: text:  I don't know - you'll have to take that up with them. I blame Inspector Morse (okay, sorry, you probably won't understand this reference). --Celestianpower háblame 21:34, 3 April 2006 (UTC)
replies: text:  But I do know -- JackLumber 11:32, 4 April 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  acclimatise/acclimatize 

message: Marco79 - please see message here TrevorD 16:40, 4 May 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Done. I think I got them all. Marco79 23:47, 4 May 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Page move 

message: Jack, thanks for fixing "critter" & "learner's permit".  I found the spelling "crittur" in Chamber's, but agree that if it's unusual it's not worth including.  TrevorD 10:54, 5 May 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Misc. 

message: I have removed newsboy/newsgirl from the list, because the use of these words are almost nonexistent. It is almost always paperboy/papergirl. guy91 9:57, 18 May 2006
:Well... it depends... but you did the right thing anyways... more at Talk:List of British words not widely used in the United States#Newsboy/girl... --JackLumber, 12:10, 19 May 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  newsboy/girl 

message: Q. from JackL.: "Btw, do Brit have things like "2 3/4 bath homes"?"
:No.  What does it mean?
:"Bath" would always mean the tub, not a room.
:"Bathroom" MUST have a bath, or at least a shower, in it.
:"half bath" is not a UK term, but if I heard it (and didn't already know the Americanism) I would interprete it as a short bath, probably for sitting in rather than (half-)lying in.
:We would often refer to "bathroom en suite, or to a house having 2 (or more) bathrooms.
:And I think we'd probably say "house" rather than "home" when discussing the structure and facilities.
:TrevorD 11:37, 20 May 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Bath = bathroom, especially in real estate jargon (has an entry on D.M. list btw). 1/2 bath is as in the article; 3/4 bath means a bathroom with a sink and a toilet _and_ the shower stall, but _not_ the bathtub. So a 2 3/4 bath home (yes, house would be the "regular" term in AmE too, but home is widely used, again, especially by Realtors and in "technical" language) is a home with 2 "full" baths (i.e., with the bathtub) and a 3/4 bath. I personally know the phrase en suite, but it's not much used in the U.S. --JackLumber, 20:45, 20 May 2006 (UTC)
replies: text:  To my understanding, an en suite bathroom is one attatched to a bedroom, for sole use bythat bedroom. I've never heards the phrase "bathroom en suite" in that sense, or "2 3/4 bath homes" (I would probably respond to its use with "What on earth is a 2 3/4 bath home when it's at home?" --Celestianpower háblame 21:08, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

text: Yes, my mistake - I should have said "en suite bathroom", which is as Cel suggests.  It would often be used in Estate Agent (Realtor) literature, and describing guest accommodation (hotels, etc.). -- TrevorD 23:16, 20 May 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Bath 

message: I suggest that (see article) be used only when no equivalent term exists in the UK, and the word would not be readily understood. We have affirmative action here, but its called "positive discrimination".--Adzz 06:18, 29 May 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Affirmative Action

message: I think this is very well known, and oft used in the UK. The tabloids love this term.--Adzz 06:18, 29 May 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Sustained both. Hmmm.... affirmative action and positive discrimination? I'll let you decide which is the worse of the two :-) JackLumber, 12:18, 1 June 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Note: by "both" JackLumber is referring to Adzz's comments under "Affirmative Action" and "Ambulance Chaser".  Powers 12:48, 1 June 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Ambulance Chaser

message: Checkers is called draughts in Australia. A frozen dessert on a stick is an ice block. Sneakers and runners are interchangeable, though I think sneakers is more common. Sandshoes is also common, pumps is very old fashioned and not used. Pram and pusher are used in South Australia. Ozdaren 08:26, 18 July 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: You might want to improve the Popsicle article, then... Thanks so much for your note, Daren---this page and its siblings (List of British words etc., List of words having different meanings etc.) don't attempt to cover varieties of English other than British and American; the information about Australian English and other dialects is therefore obviously incomplete, and mostly added by occasional users. Best, JackLumber. 12:44, 19 July 2006 (UTC)
replies: text:  I like all the British words. They have an antique quality about them. I recently queried a gentleman in his mid 80's, his vocabulary was full of those uncommon words. I can understand how historical Australian figures such as Bob Menzies were British to their boot straps. Ozdaren 10:48, 21 July 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Australian Words 

message: Though perhaps it's coming from Americans, 'bro' is definitely in use here in the UK. I'm not sure how wide the usage is, though.
Say, you guys did way better on this page than the Brits. There were lots of mistakes on this page's counterpart, but that's the only one I found here! Cheers! 86.131.159.4 (talk) 20:12, 29 February 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: The point about 'snuck' is that the past perfect in BrE is 'sneaked'. (e.g. "He sneaked in by the back door.") 'Snuck' is almost never used these days. But I'm not sure whether words which are differently conjugated in the two languages belong here. Rachel Pearce (talk) 23:23, 25 March 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Minor Disputes

message: Strictly speaking, an anchor is not a synonym for a newsreader. Traditionally, a British newsreader could be, say, an actor, whereas a news anchor is not only the presenter of the news but theoretically the lead journalist behind it (hence the metaphor in the term). Not everyone reading the news on television is necessarily an anchor.
FWIW, German practice generally includes an anchor and a newsreader (the former introduces the show, composes his or her own introductions to out-of-studio pieces, and is allowed to exhibit a certain amount of personality, whereas the newsreader reads the news briefs in a formal tone on-camera), and Deutsche Welle TV news followed this practice in English, using both terms.
 ProhibitOnions  (T) 15:02, 26 July 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Objection sustained, entry fixed.  JackLumber. 15:08, 26 July 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Anchor

message: I'm from England and come across the term ATM fairly frequently - maybe it is just me. --Joshtek 15:05, 28 July 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Just good ole regional things, I guess.  Check out Talk:Automated teller machine, where some Brits say they never use this term. JackLumber.  19:25, 28 July 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: It's beginning to creep in, largely due to globalization (sic). I still think most people in Britain would call it a cashpoint. 64.236.80.62 15:43, 8 August 2007 (UTC)
replies: text:  ATM is common, at least in my experience. I prefer "hole in the wall", personally. Regards, —Celestianpower háblame 23:41, 30 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I had once thought that those who disappeared for a short time after drinking a good amount were peeing when they said they were using the "hole in the wall" but apparently is was getting money for the next round of drinks. FeatherPluma (talk) 05:26, 16 June 2012 (UTC)
thread_title: ATM Machine