I shouldn't be adding to this stupid thread but:
Pissed is one of those words that causes transatlantic communications issues. Pissed = drunk (UK), pissed as short for pissed off (US). A bill is a request for payment - a £20 bill would be a request to pay the £20 you owe.
It's not bank holiday vs public holiday - it's holiday vs vacation.
Pants are underpants. Americans should never discuss their fannies in public.
Caroline/secretlondon
-----Original Message----- From: wikipedia-l-bounces@Wikimedia.org [mailto:wikipedia-l-bounces@Wikimedia.org] On Behalf Of Alphax Sent: 22 September 2005 06:21 To: wikipedia-l@Wikimedia.org Subject: Re: [Wikipedia-l] Re: Re: Wikipedia English English
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.