US vs UK English

Next we'll be moving on to "Oh my giddy aunt"!

I don't think so, it's just that Americans don't use the term very often, preferring (I think) "line" for the noun and "wait in line" for the verb (although I think most people in the US would have no trouble knowing what "queue" means). Of course, in the UK we talk about queues all the time: it's probably top topic after the weather...

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Great thread!

I haven't yet seen mentioned:

US/UK

Billion/Thousand million
Broken/wonky ("Are you the lady what's got the wonky telly?")
Correct/Spot on

And I am not quite sure of the US equivalent of: tickety-boo. "OK," I think.


Also, there is the different syllabification of words. I am no linguist so I can't type the differences, but it's fun to listen to the BBC and hear words like these below pronounced *very* differently from what we are used to in the US:

pentagon
hurricane
aluminum
vitamin
secretary

And the ultimate in the difference in UK vs. US English was the day I heard the report on the BBC about the "Miracle on the Hudson" air mishap:

"An airliner has crashed landed in the river Hudson."

A US report would be more likely to be: "An airplane has crashed in the Hudson River."

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We do tend to say river before the actual name. :P

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Another:

In the US old TVs and radios had tubes in them. In the UK they had valves.

The word is spelt "aluminium" in British English, with an extra "i", which accounts for the difference in pronuncation there, but how/why the difference in spelling between the two versions of the language came about I do not know.

Some people in the UK say "vitamin" with the first syllable to rhyme with "height", others say it with the first syllable to rhyme with "hit". There is a similar division with the word "migraine".

I'm not sure how Americans pronounce "pentagon" that is different form the British way.

One word that I can never, ever even begin to pronounce the American way is "New Orleans". Consequently I have given up even trying to, and I now say it unashamedly as four distinct syllables!

Yes, this is a difference that I have observed too. I suppose the British way is analogous to the way "Mount" is usually put before the name of a mountain (but I don't know that).

In Australia the US way of naming rivers is generally followed except (very often) in the state of Tasmania ("Hobart is on the River Derwent") and (sometimes) for the River Murray/Murray River and (occasionally) for the River Darling/Darling River.

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Quite a few differences in emphasis of pronunciation. For example......

I heard an American talking about "Stonehenge" a couple of weeks ago with big emphasis on "Stone", whereas the British pronunciation puts the emphasis on the "henge". Interesting American pronunciation of the nearby town of Salisbury also - Americans pronouncing the word as spelt, whereas British pronunciation being closer to "Sollsbry".

Also, when pronouncing French words such as Café most Americans seem to place a much greater emphasis on the last syllable than the French do. Yes, the French emphasise the é but Americans double the emphasis. Whereas, British would say "Caf".

Or, simply "café" with two syllables but the emphasis on the first. "Ballet" is another word these different trends can be heard: Americans tend to say "ballAY" whereas the British tend to say "BALLay".

I've noticed too that Americans often pronounce some two-syllable surnames with the emphasis on the second syllable: "MonROE", "RandELL", whereas British people would say "MONroe" "RANDell" (as if it were spelt "Randle").

Americans routinely seem to say the name of the current Australian prime minister, Julia Gillard, with the emphasis on the second syllable of her surname ("GillARD") whereas everyone in Australia, and everyone in the UK too (most of whom would not have heard her name said out loud) pronounce it "GILLard" – as she herself says it.

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Or in Liverpool, they'd just say Bally or Caffy. :P

Gollyy gosh I do hope so

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tdw7kxD8eUc

Jolly Dee, what?!

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Here's Prince Chaz readin the weather in his own inimitable, English accent. ;)

Another one:

Dereliction of Duty (US) = Negligence (UK)

He did a nice job of it too! He sounds like my father!

If you want to catch the wave that is going to change your life you have to swim outside of your comfort zone.

Please Read The Rules!

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^ Nudey's an aristo! :P

One that gets me, is the UK is a metric country, but many insist on still using stone as a body weight measurement, but they give yanks grief over using pounds.

Has anyone mentioned Pram vs baby carriage? How about a spot of bother v in trouble?

And isn't the markoff for a free kick in football/soccer :) still ten yards