An incomplete list of words having different primary meanings in British English and American English. Note: Many of the definitions are recognized by the other as "Britishisms" (sic) or Americanisms respectively.
Many American phrases (and their meanings) are now increasingly used in the UK, thanks to the ubiquity of US-made movies and television programes.
''See also:
- Main article: American and British English differences
- list of British English words not used in American English
- list of American English words not used in British English''
| Word | most common British meaning | most common American meaning |
| alternately | every other one | as an alternative |
| ass | donkey or burro | arse (buttocks) also donkey |
| Asian | coming from India, Pakistan etc.; South Asian | East Asian, continental Southeast Asian see also "oriental" |
| band | a strap | a jewelry ring for the finger (wedding band) less commonly used in the context of a strap |
| billion | thousand million million million (earlier meaning; now less common) |
thousand million |
| bird | usually an avian but can also be a slang term for a female | almost always an avian |
| biscuit | cracker (or cookie) | similar to a scone or Welsh cake, except without any fruits or nuts |
| boob tube | tube top | slang term for television |
| bugger | someone who engages in buggery, or in non-polite company as a form of address (e.g. ..he's a generous bugger anyway) | Term of endearment, often used for children. Appears to have no vulgar or insulting connotation. |
| bum | butt (buttocks) | hobo, homeless person. sometimes buttocks (understood as Britishism) |
| brew (noun) | a cup of tea | a beer, or coffee drink |
| café | diner | coffee shop |
| chemist | pharmacist, pharmacy also a practitioner of chemistry |
a person whose profession is chemistry |
| chips | french fries | crisps |
| chippy | carpenter or fish and chip shop | loose woman (rare) |
| chum | buddy (usually ironic) | a friend waste products from fish processing (heads, tails, blood etc.) often used for shark fishing.d |
| dead beat, deadbeat | exhausted | a welsher, someone who does not pay their debts |
| drop (of liquid) | several ounces (of tea, for example) | a droplet (less than a milliliter) |
| dummy | pacifier fool |
mannequin, esp. for automobile crash tests fake fool |
| entrée | starter (first course) of a meal | main course of a meal |
| fag | cigarette, a young public school boy who acts as a servant for older pupils | short for faggot, an insulting term for a male homosexual (also British) |
| fanny | vagina | buttocks (not obscene) |
| first floor (of a building) | the floor above ground level | the floor at ground level |
| flashlight | Device that emits a flashing light | Device that emits a continuous light (British lantern) |
| fly-over | Elevated road section, i.e. long road bridge. | Ceremonial aircraft flight (British fly-past). Higher-level road bridge that goes above both a lower bridge and a road below the lower bridge. |
| garage | parking lot | mechanic shop parking space at home |
| gas | Natural gas | Gasoline |
| geezer | gangster, man | old person (derogatory) |
| ground floor (of a building) | The floor at ground level. | Sometimes used thus, but American English prefers 'first floor'. Lower of two floors that are each at a different ground level due to sloping terrain. |
| homely | (Of a house) Comfortable, cozy, rustic. (Of a person) Home-loving, domesticated, house-proud. |
(Only used of a person) Plain, Ugly. |
| hunting | pursuing animals on horseback | pursuing animals on foot (Btitish shooting or stalking) |
| indicator | turn signal in a car | a gauge or measure |
| jock | Slang term for a Scotsman or a Scots dog. | Slang term for an athlete |
| jumper | sweater | pinafore dress |
| knock up | manufacture hastily practise before tennis wake up by knocking make pregnant |
make pregnant |
| lantern | device that emits a continuous light (American flashlight) | device that burns liquid to produce light |
| let | allow rent (an apartment) |
allow rent (rarely) |
| line | a line | a queue |
| lounge | living room | noun: a bar (pub); verb: to laze about, to relax (also British) |
| lush (of a person) | attractive (usually used by women in reference to men) | an alcoholic |
| mad | insane occasionally used to mean angry |
angry occasionally used to mean insane |
| mate | friend | spouse |
| mean | stingy, miserly, selfish | angry, cruel, vicious |
| momentarily | for a moment | in a moment; very soon |
| muffler | scarf | silencer on automobile/car/gramophone |
| on the telephone (on the phone) | to be talking on the telephone or (rare) to possess a working telephone | to be talking on the telephone |
| oriental | East Asian, continental Southeast Asian | East Asian. increasingly considered slightly condescending or politically incorrect. |
| outside lane | the lane closest to the median or central reservation. | the lane furthest from the median or central reservation. In both cases this will be the rightmost lane. |
| pants | underpants (usu y-fronts) (slang) bad or undesired |
trousers |
| paraffin | kerosene | a waxy fraction of petroleum commonly used to make candles (British "paraffin wax") |
| pavement | sidewalk | asphalt; the road surface |
| period | menstruation section of time |
full stop section of time menstruation |
| pint, quart, gallon | Approx. 1.2 times US measure (mnemonic: "a pint of water weighs a pound and a quarter") | Approx. 5/6 British (imperial) measure (mnemonic: "a pint's a pound the world around", which it plainly isn't) |
| pissed (of a person) | drunk | angry (British use pissed off for this) (pissed off is common for Americans too) |
| public school | fee-paying private school | state-supported school |
| pud | short for pudding, as in "Christmas Pud" (rhymes with good) | penis (rhymes with mud) (rare slang, usually used with "pulling") |
| quite good | mediocre, acceptable, good, well done (ironic, according to subtle voice intonation) | excellent |
| (to) ring | to call (someone) by telephone | to make a bell-like sound; you cannot ring people unless they are wearing a bell. (Note: "To give someone a ring" is to call someone in British English, while in American English it's to give an ornamental band to someone). Also understood as "to call on the telephone" when said as "here's my number, give me a ring when you can" or similarly. |
| a rubber | a pencil eraser can also mean condom |
a condom |
| rubbish | garbage; trash | understood by Americans as a Britishism unless referring to arguments, where bad arguments are called rubbish |
| shag | to copulate, or copulate with | a type of carpet a kind of a dance to copulate (understood as Britishism; popularized by Austin Powers movies) |
| shattered | exhausted broken |
broken |
| shop | store (retail) | workshop also store |
| silencer | silences car/automobile (muffler) silences a gun (rare) |
silences a firearm |
| skillet | (regional dialect) a frying pan a type of stir-fried food item |
a frying pan, often cast iron a long-handled stewing pan or saucepan, often having short legs or feet |
| (to) slate | to disparage | to schedule, such as "slated for demolition" |
| solicitor | lawyer | door-to-door salesman (rarely) in the context of Solicitor General, the person who represents the United States before the Supreme Court |
| spunk | semen (though also sometimes used for courage, sauciness) | courage, sauciness (though also sometimes used for semen) |
| squash | fruit cordial drink (squash (drink)) a sport (squash (sport)) (rarely) (squash (vegetable)) |
vegetable to crush, as a bug (rarely) the sport |
| subway | pedestrian underpass | underground rail system |
| suspenders | elasticated support for stockings | elasticated support for trousers (i.e. braces) |
| (to) table (parliamentary procedure) |
to raise for consideration (i.e. to bring to or put on the table) | to suspend from consideration (to shelve) (i.e. to leave on the table) |
| tailgater | a motorist who follows another vehicle too closely | someone who picnics from the rear of a vehicle (also British meaning) |
| tap | faucet | device for dispensing beer from a keg (equal use as faucet) Also used in "a phone tap" |
| tea | A beverage, usually taken hot with milk variously an afternoon snack or an evening meal |
a beverage, hot or in some regions taken cold with lemon and/or sugar |
| tights | nylons which also cover the groin (American pantyhose) | skin-tight pants or pants and top, such as worn by gymnasts |
| torch | flashlight or burning stick | burning stick, such as a tiki torch |
| tramp | a homeless person | a loose woman sometimes a homeless person, as in the movie Lady and the Tramp |
| tyke | an insulting term for someone from Yorkshire. | term of endearment for a child, like "little rascal" |
| valve | tube or vacuum tube | device to start, stop or regulate flow |
| vest | equivalent of an undershirt in US | equivalent of waistcoat in the UK (kevlar vest) |
| wash up | wash the dishes (more generally, to clean after eating food) | wash your hands (more generally, to clean before eating food) |
| way out | exit (on a sign) | extreme (as in "way out there") |
