I'm sorry but there are not a "few" usage differences, there really are quite a lot. And this is more than just dialect we are talking about: I'm not arguing for "equal rights" for each dialect; but for "equal rights" for the two orthographies, in the same way as Scots, and the two forms of Norwegian. this is just an example: http://www.scit.wlv.ac.uk/~jphb/american.html http://www.krysstal.com/ukandusa.html
You really are barking mad, aren't you?
The vast majority of those aren't even real differences.
Some examples:
"note" vs "bill" -- "bill" would probably not be understood in the UK, but referring to them as notes would be understood in the US. "maths" vs "math" -- any good encyclopaedia should always say "mathematics" rather than abbreviating it so lazily. "autumn" vs "fall" -- we use them both as synonyms on this side of the pond. You guys don't? "bank holiday" vs "legal holiday" -- I've lived in the US my entire life, and I've never even heard of the latter "tick" vs "check" -- not the same thing. a check is a distinct symbol, as is a tick, and they are two different symbols. "pissed off" vs "pissed" -- WTF!? first of all, this won't be found in most encyclopaedia articles. second of all, we say both here. "trousers" vs "pants" -- although we consider "trousers" to be a bit old-fashioned, it will be widely understood here. I did used to think it meant shoes though. "pedestrian crossing" vs "crosswalk" -- we use both here. "store" vs "shop" -- this is probably the lamest one on there. "chemist" vs "drug store" -- "chemist" isn't common here, but it's better than "apothecary", which is probably less ambiguous than either of the other two. "bill" vs "check" -- uhh... we use both. ".co.uk" vs ".com" -- that's not a linguistic difference. There are plenty of UK companies that have a .com, as it's supposed to be international (as opposed to .us) "car" vs "automobile" -- we usually just say "car" here. only people like you say "automobile". "jug" vs "pitcher" -- absolut rediculos~!
I could go on. But I'm getting bored. You're mad. End of story.
Mark