List of American English words not used in British English
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See Also
- See also main article: American and British English differences
- list of British English words not used in American English
- list of words having different meanings in British and American English
If a word appears to be missing from this list, it is advisable to check the list of words having different meanings in British and American English, as it is possible that the word is used in both dialects.
A
- Arugula
- rocket or roquett
B
- backhoe
- JCB
- barnyard
- farmyard
- bedroom community
- dormitory town
- bill (paper money)
- note
- blinders (on a horse)
- blinkers
- booger (slang)
- bogey, piece of snot (slang)
- broil
- grill (cooking)
- Bronx cheer
- blow a raspberry
- brownstone
- a type of residential building found in New York and other large cities.
- bullhorn
- loudhailer / megaphone (occasionally bullhorn)
- burglarize
- burgle
- busboy
- (no equivalent) junior restaurant worker assisting waiting staff, table clearer, water pourer etc.
- busy signal
- engaged tone
C
- candy
- sweets
- canola
- (oilseed) rape
- carriage (for baby)
- pram
- cart (for shopping)
- (shopping) trolley
- check (meal payment)
- bill
- checkers
- draughts
- checking account
- current account
- cilantro
- coriander
- collect call
- reverse charge call
- condominium (or condo)
- commonhold
- cookie
- biscuit
- cookout
- informal meal cooked and eaten outdoors - a cross between a picnic and a barbecue
- cotton candy
- candy floss
- crapshoot
- risky and uncertain venture
- cuss
- swear
D
- diaper
- nappy
- diner
- cafe
- drug store
- chemist, chemist's shop
- drywall
- plasterboard, or any process that builds interior walls without the use of water
- duct tape
- like gaffer tape, but silver
- Dumpster (TM)
- skip (Note: Many Americans do not realize "Dumpster" is a trademark)
- duplex (house)
- semi-detached
E
- eggplant
- aubergine
- "El"
- elevated railway used in urban transport
- envision
- envisage
F
- fall
- autumn
- fanny pack
- bum bag (Notes: fanny is British slang for vagina, and bum is American for a lazy person or a vagrant.)
- faucet
- tap
- flack
- publicist, PR
- flashlight
- torch (battery powered)
- flatware
- cutlery
G
- gasoline
- petrol
- gopher
- native North American rodent; or junior (office or political) worker willing to do minor tasks for little reward ("go for")
- gotten ("got" preferred in careful usage)
- got (gotten is used in some British dialects)
- green thumb
- green fingers
- gridiron
- field of play for American football
- grifter
- transient swindler (or professional gambler)
H
- hard liquor
- spirits
- hickey
- love bite (sometimes used in UK)
- hobo
- tramp, vagrant
- (hominy) grits
- coarsely ground maize boiled for breakfast, especially in the Southern USA
I
- intern
- temporarily employed trainee; junior hospital doctor (UK: house officer)
- irregardless (considered incorrect)
- regardless
J
K
- Kleenex (TM)
- generic term for facial tissue (from the brand name, which is known in Britain but not used generically)
L
- life preserver
- lifejacket
- Life-Savers (TM)
- sweets in a shape reminiscent of a life-belt, usually packaged in a roll, roughly equivalent to Polo Mints (TM)
- lightning storm
- thunder storm
- liquor
- alcoholic beverage (also the formal term in the UK, but rarely used in normal speech)
- liquor store
- off-licence or offie
- lumber
- timber
M
- math
- maths (mathematics)
- maven
- expert
- meet with/meet up with
- meet (meet with is also used)
N
- named for
- named after
- narc
- law enforcement narcotics agent, not a 'nark' (police informant)
- newscaster
- news reader
- normalcy (sometimes considered incorrect)
- normality
O
- oftentimes
- often (oftentimes is archaic in Britain but colloquial in America, especially clause-initially)
P
- pantyhose
- tights (Note: The term, originally a trademark, refers to sheer nylon tights. Non-sheer tights (of cotton, wool, or thick nylon) are also called tights, not pantyhose, in the U.S.)
- parking lot
- car park
- Popsicle (TM)
- ice lolly (Note: Many Americans do not realize "Popsicle" is a trademark)
- pre-authorized payment/withdrawal
- direct debit (variable amount)/standing order (fixed amount)
R
- railroad
- railway (both terms used)
- rain check
- document that authorizes one to purchase goods at a discounted price after a sale has ended (issued when an advertised item has sold out), colloquially used to request a delay to something, sometimes an indefinite delay
- rappel
- abseil (to descend on a rope)
- Realtor (TM)
- estate agent (Note: Many Americans are not aware that Realtor is a registered trademark)
- restroom
- toilet(s), ladies' / gents', loo, lavatory, specifically one in a public facility (as opposed to in a home)
- rutabaga
- swede (see turnip)
S
- scallion
- spring onion
- Scotch tape (TM)
- Sellotape (TM) (brand name used generically), sticky tape, sticky-backed plastic
- sedan (car)
- saloon (car)
- semi (truck)
- artic (for articulated lorry)
- sidewalk
- pavement (unlike US, always refers to sidewalk, never to road), footpath
- skillet
- frying pan
- sneakers
- trainers
- sophomore
- second (particularly second-year students)
- spyglass
- (terrestrial) telescope
- squash
- (vegetable) marrow
- station wagon
- estate car
- steam shovel
- mechanical excavator
- stickshift
- manual gearbox (not often used, since it is the default. The opposite is "an automatic")
- stool pigeon
- informer
- streetcar
- tram
- stroller
- pushchair, buggy
- sweater
- jumper
- switchback
- hairpin bend or bends
T
- teeter-totter, teeterboard
- see-saw
- tenderloin
- fillet steak (note in Britain, the final 't' is pronounced)
- theater (movie)
- cinema
- thumb tack
- drawing pin
- tic-tac-toe
- noughts and crosses
- trackless trolley
- trolleybus
- traffic circle, rotary
- (traffic) roundabout
- triplex (house)
- no direct equivalent, more than two houses joined together "terraced" houses
- trolley car
- tram
- truck stop
- transport cafe
- turn signal, directionals
- indicators
- tuxedo
- dinner jacket, 'DJ', 'black tie' (sometimes used in UK)
- two cents
- fourpenn'orth/tuppenn'orth
U
- undershirt
- vest, singlet
V
W
- wall jack
- electricity outlet, plug socket, plug point, phone socket, power socket, or even "plug", despite being exactly the same term as the thing that fits into it.
- wetback
- pejorative term for an illegal immigrant from Mexico/Latin America. So called as they are presumed to have swum the Rio Grande river to have entered the USA.
- wonk
- single minded topic specialist (boffin)
X
Y
Z
- ZIP code
- postcode (name derived from Zoning Improvement Plan-- Many Americans do not realize that ZIP Code is a registered trade mark.)
- zucchini
- courgette
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