Divided By A Common Language

Divided by a Common Language

by William

It s a common joke that America and Britain are two countries divided by a common language. We seem to speak the same language. Why do we misunderstand each other so often?

Vivacious Vocabulary

Brits understand soccer and Americans know what trousers are. But other vocabulary differences cause problems.

One British charity worker offended her Texan hosts by saying, I could murder a fag. In British slang, she really wanted a cigarette to the Texans it sounded like she wanted to kill a gay person.

If an American exclaims, Nice pants! Brits will think he is admiring their underpants rather than their trousers. A Brit asking to borrow a rubber will cause astonishment in the U.S., where rubbers are condoms, not erasers.

When my American teacher declared, I m totally pissed, she meant she was angry I thought she was drunk. Returning to Heathrow after a year in the States, I followed the SUBWAY signs, which led under the road and back up to the pavement. I went under that road four times before remembering it was the underground I needed.

Britons get disorientated and reacclimatised Americans disoriented and reacclimated. Brits beat someone up Americans beat up on someone. A mad American is angry a mad Brit is a lunatic.

When an American asks for the bathroom in England, they will show him a room with

a bath. He should instead ask for the toilet, loo or lavatory, or look for signs for Gents, Ladies, cloakroom, public convenience (UK) or restrooms (US).

Some differences date back to the early American settlers. British biscuits derive from French, American cookies from the Dutch of New Amsterdam (now New York). The Pilgrim Fathers used existing words to denote new things: corn for maize instead of wheat, lumber for logs instead of disused furniture. They also made new compounds, like bullfrog, and borrowed from native Indian languages to name raccoons and persimmons.

Pronunciation Nightmares

Even for native speakers, it s a shock to encounter incomprehensible accents. Californians visiting Glasgow and Londoners listening to Louisiana blues are equally mystified.

For learners, it s even tougher. Even the most experienced interpreters have difficulty understanding people who speak correct English with a strong regional accent, explains Diego Marani, interpreter and novelist. Anyone who studies English today must resign themselves to this. A more helpful goal is to understand and speak standard BBC English. Familiarity will do the rest. Even the most awkward Texan accent becomes identifiable with practice.

Vowels cause most difficulties. As the song says: You say tomato, I say tomato. Americans say either Brits can say either. Sinatra sings about New York Brits call it New York. Americans shorten the vowel in dance [/d :ns/] to dance [/d ns/] and lengthen the o in God to God.

As for consonants, Americans roll the t in fighter and writer. They pronounce the r in car and card in the Queen s English, car and card.

[There are, of course, exceptions. This divergent pronunciation has its origins in the regional accents of the British Isles. The first American colonists sailed from the south-west of England millions more came from Ireland. So it s no surprise that the Cornish and the Irish pronounce car and God rather like Americans.]

Word stress often changes, especially in words with foreign origins. Brits say garage, ballet and cafe, while Americans insist on garage, ballet and caf . Some words change spelling and pronunciation. British defence becomes defense aluminium becomes aluminum.

Spelling Reform

Most people imagine these spelling differences developed over centuries. Wrong. U.S. spelling derives almost entirely from Noah Webster s 1828 dictionary.

[A vigorous reformer, Webster wanted to bring spelling closer to Latin and to spoken English. He took the u out of colour, odour and honour. He moved the r in centre and metre. He took the e out of judgment, simplified jewellery to jewelry and removed an l from woolen, canceled and traveling. He changed cheque to check, gaol to jail and sulphur to sulfur. And he substituted z for s in words like realize, standardized and civilization.]

[Some variations have recently acquired extra nuances. Brits retain the original spelling of programme, dialogue and disc, but prefer the American variants program, dialog and disk for technological usage.]

Grammar Gap

[The Pilgrim Fathers used grammatical forms now obsolete in Britain: gotten instead of got, dove for dived, and fit for fitted. Americans prefer dreamed to the British dreamt, burned to burnt, and spilled to spilt. Americans often use a past simple where Brits prefer a present perfect: I already did it instead of I ve already done it. ]

There are innumerable differences of idiom. At American junctions you must YIELD on British roads you GIVE WAY . In the New York subway, they warn you to watch your step on the London Tube, to mind the gap .

The British study the American War of Independence in the U.S. it s celebrated as the Revolutionary War. The terms Liberal, Conservative and Republican have such complex meanings in both countries you need a history degree to understand them.

Key to Understanding

Consequently, native speakers who work both sides of the pond either side of the Atlantic have to be flexible, sensitive to their audience, and ready to learn. English, as we ve seen again and again, has no indisputable dictionary or authoritative academy.

British lexicographer Ernest Gowers considered British usage definitive, as English originated there. American journalist, H.L. Mencken, disagreed: When two-thirds of the people who use a language call it a freight train instead of a goods train, they are right the first is correct usage and the second a dialect.

So we remain divided by our common language. American editions of Harry Potter had to change football to soccer and video recorder to VCR. Meanwhile Scottish band Franz Ferdinand couldn t communicate in California.

Drummer Paul Thomson: Can I have the bill, please?

Los Angeles waitress: What?

Thomson: Can I pay?

Waitress: You want a canap ?

Thomson: (sighs) OK, a canap and the bill.

SIDE PANEL: American English British English

Here is a list of American English vocabulary and the British English equivalents. Cover one side of the list and test yourself.

TRANSPORT

cab - taxi

gas - petrol

truck - lorry

parking lot - car park

trunk - boot

hood - bonnet

VW Bug - VW Beetle

highway / freeway - motorway

rotary - roundabout

underpass - subway [sottopassaggio]

sidewalk - pavement

airplane - aeroplane

freight train - goods train

subway - underground / Tube [metro]

TIME

fall - autumn

vacation - holiday

two weeks - fortnight

MONEY NUMBERS

dollar bill __- pound note

cents __- pence

a penny __- a penny!

ATM - cashpoint, hole-in-the-wall

one billion (1,000,000,000) - one thousand million

HOMES

faucet - tap

garbage / trash - rubbish

bathroom - toilet, loo

closet - cupboard

BUILDINGS

apartment - flat

first floor - ground floor

elevator - lift

FOOD

cookies - biscuits

candy - sweets

French fries - chips

chips - crisps

jelly - jam [marmellata]

jello, Jell-O jelly [gelatina]

eggplant - aubergine

zucchini - courgette

soda - fizzy drink

cider - apple juice

cotton candy - candy floss

check - bill

CLOTHES

pants - trousers

vest - waistcoat [gil ]

suspenders - braces [bretelle]

garter - suspender [giarrettiera]

undershirt - vest

sneakers - trainers [scarpe da ginastica]

diaper - nappy

EDUCATION JOBS

junior school - primary school

high school - secondary school

public school - state school

prep school - public school

semester - term

college - university

solicitor - door-to-door salesman

attorney - lawyer

SPORT

football - American football

soccer - football

hockey - ice hockey

field hockey - hockey

bobsled - bobsleigh

MISCELLANEOUS

mom - mum

mail - post

parentheses - brackets

pissed - pissed off

drunk - pissed

mad - angry

smart - clever

elegant - smart

ass - bum, arse

bum - tramp

tramp - slut

cigarette - fag

PHRASES

Write me soon - Write to me soon

Stay home - Stay at home

Go watch TV - Go and watch TV

I just saw him - I ve just seen him

Did you hear the news? - Have you heard the news?

Your accent has gotten better - Your accent has got better