American English has brought into England by the colonists in the seventeenth century. It was the language spoken in England at that time, i.e. Elizabethan English. Now different dialects and accents found in the different parts of North America. This was because America has been peopled from different parts of England and Ireland.
Differences between British English and American English One of the main differences between the British and the American English is off course the spellings. There was an effort to simplify and rationalize English spelling from the time of Benjamin Franklin and Webster, who makes the spellings more compatible with its phonetics. Here are some common examples in which American spellings are differ from that used in Britain.
Illustration by Vikram Roy © 2012.
|
British English |
American English |
|
-our |
-or |
|
Colour |
Color |
|
Honour |
Honor |
|
Behaviour |
Behavior |
|
-re |
-er |
|
Theatre |
Theater |
|
Centre |
Center |
|
Metre |
Meter |
|
Fibre |
Fiber |
|
-ce |
-se |
|
Licence |
License |
|
Offence |
Offense |
|
-se |
-ze |
|
Analyse |
Analyze |
|
Realise |
Realize |
|
Recognise |
Recognize |
|
Double Consonant |
Single Consonant |
|
Travelling |
Traveling |
|
Cancelled |
Canceled |
|
Woollen |
Woolen |
| Others | |
|
Story |
Storey |
|
Cheque |
Check |
|
Motor |
Moped |
Words connected with cars and driving are often cited as examples of such differences, probably because so many differences are found in them.
|
British English |
American English |
|
Side-light |
Parking-light |
|
Number plate |
License plate |
|
Indicator |
Turn signal |
|
Hand brake |
Emergency brake |
|
Aerial |
Antenna |
|
Driving licence |
Driver’s license |
|
Petrol |
Gasoline |
|
Lorry |
Truck |
|
Motor car |
Automobile |
| Others | |
|
Lift |
Elevator |
|
Post |
|
|
Mobile phone |
Cellular phone |
|
Underground |
Subway |
|
Biscuits |
Cookies |
|
Trousers |
Pants |
|
Underwear |
Shorts |
|
Wearing |
Changing |
|
Toffee |
Candy |
|
Photographing |
Mugging |
|
Friend |
Pal |
|
All right |
O.K. |
|
Boy |
Guy |
|
Autumn |
Fall |
|
Holiday |
Vacation |
|
Rubber |
Eraser |
Noah Webster’s Dictionary, published in 1806 A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language, the first truly American dictionary. He learns 26 languages including, Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-European, Sanskrit, in order to research the origin of American tongue. His dictionary An American Dictionary of the English Language is published in 1828, had 70,000 entries. He alters many of these entries, ‘musick’ to ‘music’, ‘centre’, to ‘center’ etc.
American and British English are actually more similar than differ; both came from the same tongue. The greatest differences between these two variants are noted in colloquial speech. In fact many American words are used in Britain that decreases the difference between the British and the American lexicon.
There are lakhs of different words and phrases. I can’t put the entire dictionary in this post!
Thanks!
boot – trunk
humour – humor
tyre – tire
there are a million others – it’s just those damned Yanks trying to make themselves better than the rest…
America and the UK two nations divided by one tongue!
you have OR and Our well in English English they mean two different things:eg: “this OR that.” and “this is OUR place not yours.” …the meanings of word differ a lot and can cause great confusion! Great article thanks for sharing!
In British English:
1) “metre” is a unit of measurement and “meter” is a device that measures and records something.
2) “licence” is a noun and “license” is a verb.
Vikram, thanks for the reminder on the differences between the language of English, from the British and American angle. Very informative and enlightening.
Quite refreshing.
I had a feeling Firefox and LibreOffice’s spelling checkers have been screwing with me. They’ve been offering me American English corrections though I’m certain they’re set to British. 😦
Have about 2 dozen subscribers to my blog from mostly England but other English speaking as well i.e. India, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. What I have found startling is that how many of these non American English speakers are hip to so many slang and what I thought were uniquely American phrases. Must be sharing rock and roll music and TV episodes has spread awareness. Also seems Canadian and US pretty much identical. Many Jamaican and Trinidad here in Miami, Florida but their English is quite different and the children often do not do well in US school as a result. Seems Caribbean English does not include objective or possessive case for pronouns as nominative or subject case used for other two. Vocab different too. I remember one student from Trinidad who got the question about what a wrench was wrong as he did not know the term. Back home a wrench is a spinner.
Its right Carl, even I have noticed that slangs are growing like pop-corns in Indian mouth. Even people can’t speak fluent English communicating through a couple of slangs!
Great article. It’s kind of funny to read it from the other side of the Atlantic, but it’s really interesting to see the European equivalents of all these words and phrases.
Happy Birthday. And I had one question. Photographing and mugging? Really? I hadn’t heard that one, though my husband who is from India, learned British English.
Hi Holly! Mugging is an informal and obsolete journalistic use for photographing! I am not sure but I read something like that… you should confirm it! If possible please help me to update this information here too! 🙂
In India, education system is based on British English only! But now the popularity of Hollywood films mixing both American and British pronunciation! Even Hinglish, a blending of the words “Hindi” and “English” is getting live in modern youths!
Thanks!
Looking over the list you provided it seems Canadian English is yet a hybrid of the two. Just more confusion for me 😉
Thanks, Vikram. Much appreciated.
Ron Kozloff
Interesting post. And interesting comments too. Wow, Webster learned 26 languages. Including Sanskrit! That’s impressive.
Excellent recap of our common language. There are also variances of American-English as spoken in the USA. For example, soda (meaning a carbonated beverage) is often referred to as pop. And a bag (as in something in which you put your groceries) is in certain parts called a sack. America has produced its very own Tower of Babel (or is that babble)?
I’m fairly well travelled, and have experienced many of these differences. A fun time!
Vikram, love this post–it explains why my friends think I am living in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean! You see, I get a HUGH kick out of mixing the American English and British English spellings and terms up together! I love words like “lorry” and “petrol”, for they hint to me of scenic drives, rather than madly dashing rush hour traffic!
I have to say (even though I am a born & bred Brit), the American versions are far easier & sensible. I use a whole mixture in my writing!
Hehe my excuse is watching a lot of Hollywood movie is the reason of my mixture! 🙂 And my computer makes me confused too!
I’ve kept this post saved in my lappy. Its a great confusion solution for me. Thanks. Till now I’ve missed up a lot of times in both British-American English.
The car thing is probably because automobiles were invented after US English had already evolved and diverged from Britain’s.
wow. this is really helpful as a CIE student who gets the marks deducted for using American spelling!!! thank you for this post.
That was a very informative piece! Nice read 😀
Interesting to read, thanks. Appreciate your visit to my blog, and for liking “What’s That I See”. Hope you stop back by soon.
Excellent! Thanks Vikram.
Thanks for this interesting post, Vikram.
When I stayed in England on a scholarship grant by the British Council,
I had to adjust to such spellings (and phonetics), having been used to
the ‘American English’.
You have a fascinating blog. I must express my appreciation for your likes
on my posts, “Light” and “Pieta”, which led me to discover your site.
See you around. 😉
See the Scottish movie, ‘Angels Share’, it needs subtitles. Though they claim to speak English.