Mark Williamson wrote:
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.
A bill is something demanding payment.
"maths" vs "math" -- any good
encyclopaedia should always say
"mathematics" rather than abbreviating it so lazily.
Agreed.
"autumn" vs "fall" -- we use them
both as synonyms on this side of the
pond. You guys don't?
Nope. Fall is something that hurts.
"bank holiday" vs "legal holiday"
-- I've lived in the US my entire
life, and I've never even heard of the latter
Never heard of a "legal holiday", and I don't think we have "bank
holidays" either.
"tick" vs "check" -- not the same
thing. a check is a distinct symbol,
as is a tick, and they are two different symbols.
Never heard of a check in that context...
"pissed off" vs "pissed" -- WTF!?
first of all, this won't be found in
most encyclopaedia articles. second of all, we say both here.
Also use both.
"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.
Trousers are more formal than any old pants :)
"pedestrian crossing" vs
"crosswalk" -- we use both here.
Never heard of a "crosswalk".
"store" vs "shop" -- this is
probably the lamest one on there.
Agreed, but you can always buy things at a shop :)
"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.
Chemist and Pharmacy all the way...
"bill" vs "check" -- uhh... we use
both.
You can make out a cheque to pay a bill...
".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)
Agreed, that's a historical difference - UK decided on .co.uk, NZ
decided on .co.nz, Australia decided on .com.au, and US got .com because
they could.
"car" vs "automobile" -- we
usually just say "car" here. only people
like you say "automobile".
I say good sir, that's a horseless carriage, and I shall dual any many
who should say otherwise!
"jug" vs "pitcher" -- absolut
rediculos~!
Except of course for a Pitcher Plant...
I could go on. But I'm getting bored. You're
mad. End of story.
And I'm Australian.
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