American vs. British

Today, the division into American and British versions of the English language can largely be considered conditional. Americanisms can be actively used in British speech and subsequently take root in British speech, so sometimes when editing a new article in the ABBYY Lingvo dictionary, you have to abandon the marks “Amer.” (American English) or limit it to a compromise. Amer. "(used primarily in American English). For example, not so long ago, a user on the Lingvo forum reproached us with the fact that we still consider the word awesome (in its well-known meaning) Americanism, although this has not been the case for a long time . There is nothing to object, the user is right. Regional boundaries are erased, fashionable American buzzwords become an attribute of the speech of British youth, etc.

But there are constant differences between American and British English in the names of certain objects and phenomena. Here are some of them.

The fact that the British call the reception , the Americans will call the front desk (reception desk - at the hotel, for example).
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What is Band-aid for American, for British - (sticking) plaster .

British cinema - cinema - Americans name movie theater .

Do not look for TOILET at American gas stations (and in other public places), look for RESTROOMS (and on a visit it is better to ask where the bathroom is or simply a bath ).

American-style " taxi stand " will be taxi stand , in British English - taxi rank .

By the way, Americans eat cotton candy and call eggplant eggplant , while the British prefer candyfloss (cotton candy), and eggplant, as it should be for Europeans, is beautiful, French-style, called aubergine .

You should not confuse potato chips in the British and American versions of the English language, where this expression means two completely different dishes - Americans are so called ordinary potato chips in a bag (which, by the way, the British will call crisps), and English-speaking Europeans - fried thin long slices of potatoes served hot as a side dish.

American downtown = British city ​​center .

American tourists hide their cash, tickets and credit cards in the fanny pack , the British - only in the bumbag (well, or in the bum bag - as you like).

The elevator is he and in England lift , and only in America is he the elevator .

In American restaurants, the waiter brings a check , although every self-respecting Englishman knows that the bill at the restaurant is called a bill (and the rest of Europe has nothing against it).

The American queue is simply called line , the beautiful word queue is predominantly the British version of queued sausage.

God forbid a headache? Ask in American pharmacies acetaminophen , in Europe - paracetamol .

American sneakers — sneakers (by the way, in Russian, the terrible word snickers have already begun to take root) in British English are called trainers .

Incredibly, but the fact is that the American bookstore is called a bookstore , and not a bookshop at all, as you might think.

And if you suddenly forgot, we remind you that the American gasoline (or simply gas ) is just a European petrol familiar to us all.

Based on the blog of the team ABBYY Lingvo .

If you recall other examples from the American vs. series. British, write them in the comments :)

Natalya Frolova

Department of Linguistic Products

Update: please love and favor: lotta , the author of the post.