HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

This is a list of American words not widely used in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
. In
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...
and
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
, some of the American terms listed are widespread; however, in some cases, another usage is preferred. * Words with specific American meanings that have different meanings in British English and/or additional meanings common to both dialects (e.g., ''pants'', ''crib'') are to be found at
List of words having different meanings in British and American English This list has been split between: * List of words having different meanings in American and British English (A–L) *List of words having different meanings in American and British English (M–Z) See also * List of English homographs * Lists o ...
. When such words are herein used or referenced, they are marked with the flag M(different meaning). * Asterisks (*) denote words and meanings having appreciable (that is, not occasional) currency in British English, but nonetheless distinctive of American English for their relatively greater frequency in American speech and writing. Americanisms are increasingly common in British English, and many that were not widely used some decades ago, are now so (e.g., ''regular'' in the sense of "regular coffee"). * American spelling is consistently used throughout this article, except when explicitly referencing British terms.


0–9

; 101: (pronounced 'one o one') used to indicate basic knowledge; e.g., "Didn't you learn to sweep the floor in housework 101?" (from the numbering scheme of educational courses where 101 would be the first course in a sequence on the subject). ;
401(k) In the United States, a 401(k) plan is an employer-sponsored, defined-contribution, personal pension (savings) account, as defined in subsection 401(k) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. Periodical employee contributions come directly out of the ...
: (pronounced 'four o one kay') an employer-sponsored retirement plan in the United States. Derived from the section of the United States
Internal Revenue Code The Internal Revenue Code (IRC), formally the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, is the domestic portion of federal statutory tax law in the United States, published in various volumes of the United States Statutes at Large, and separately as Title 2 ...
authorizing such plans. ; 40: (pronounced 'forty') a 40-
ounce The ounce () is any of several different units of mass, weight or volume and is derived almost unchanged from the , an Ancient Roman unit of measurement. The avoirdupois ounce (exactly ) is avoirdupois pound; this is the United States customa ...
(1.183L) bottle of
malt liquor Malt liquor is a type of mass market beer with high alcohol content, most closely associated with North America. Legally, it often includes any alcoholic beverage with 5% or more alcohol by volume made with malted barley. In common usage, i ...
, commonly drunk by American youths. ; 411: (pronounced 'four one one') colloquial, information about something (from
4-1-1 4-1-1 is a telephone number for local directory assistance in Canada and the United States. Until the early 1980s, 4-1-1 and the related 1-1-3 number were free to call in most states. In the United States, the service is common known as “info ...
,
directory assistance In telecommunications, directory assistance or directory inquiries is a phone service used to find out a specific telephone number and/or address of a residence, business, or government entity. Technology Directory assistance systems incorporate ...
number) (''UK: 118xxx or 192'') ; 5-0: (pronounced 'five o') colloquial, the police (from '' Hawaii Five-O'', an American television series) ;
501(c) A 501(c) organization is a nonprofit organization in the federal law of the United States according to Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. § 501(c)) and is one of over 29 types of nonprofit organizations exempt from some federal income taxes. ...
: (pronounced 'five o one cee') a legally recognized non-profit organization in the United States, roughly equivalent to a
Company Limited by Guarantee In British, Australian, Bermudian, Hong Kong and Irish company law (and previously New Zealand), a company limited by guarantee (CLG) is a type of corporation used primarily (but not exclusively) for non-profit organisations that require legal pe ...
recognized by the
Charity Commission , type = Non-ministerial government department , seal = , seal_caption = , logo = Charity Commission for England and Wales logo.svg , logo_caption = , formed = , preceding1 = , ...
as having
charitable status A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definition of a ch ...
in the United Kingdom. Derived from the relevant section of the Internal Revenue Code. ;
529 __NOTOC__ Year 529 ( DXXIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Decius without colleague (or, less frequently, year 1282 ' ...
: (pronounced 'five twenty-nine') a tax-advantaged savings plan in the United States, similar to a 401(k), but instead used to fund the higher education expenses of the plan's beneficiary (usually the donors' child or grandchild). Derived from the relevant section of the Internal Revenue Code. ; 86: (pronounced 'eighty six') colloquial, to abandon, reject, or kill something or someone; e.g., "Let's eighty-six the whole thing." Similar to "Deep Six", although unlikely to have been derived from nautical terms as is "Deep Six". "86ing" someone can also mean ordering them to leave, as a bartender or bouncer to a rowdy or intoxicated patron. ;
911 911 or 9/11 may refer to: Dates * AD 911 * 911 BC * September 11 ** 9/11, the September 11 attacks of 2001 ** 11 de Septiembre, Chilean coup d'état in 1973 that outed the democratically elected Salvador Allende * November 9 Numbers * 911 ...
: (pronounced 'nine one one') the US
emergency telephone number Most public switched telephone networks have a single emergency telephone number (sometimes known as the universal emergency telephone number or the emergency services number) that allows a caller to contact local emergency services for assis ...
(''UK: 999'', US and UK: '' 112'')


A

; acclimate: (verb) (UK usually: ''acclimatise'') ;
acetaminophen Paracetamol, also known as acetaminophen, is a medication used to treat fever and mild to moderate pain. Common brand names include Tylenol and Panadol. At a standard dose, paracetamol only slightly decreases body temperature; it is inferior ...
(or the brand name
Tylenol Tylenol may refer to: * Paracetamol Paracetamol, also known as acetaminophen, is a medication used to treat fever and mild to moderate pain. Common brand names include Tylenol and Panadol. At a standard dose, paracetamol only slightly decr ...
) : (UK: ''paracetamol'') ; affirmative action : providing opportunities in education or work based on race or gender (UK: ''positive discrimination'') ;
airplane An airplane or aeroplane (informally plane) is a fixed-wing aircraft that is propelled forward by thrust from a jet engine, propeller, or rocket engine. Airplanes come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and wing configurations. The broad ...
: a powered
fixed-wing aircraft A fixed-wing aircraft is a heavier-than-air flying machine, such as an airplane, which is capable of flight using wings that generate lift caused by the aircraft's forward airspeed and the shape of the wings. Fixed-wing aircraft are dist ...
. Alteration of UK ''aeroplane'', probably influenced by ''aircraft'' ;
aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It ha ...
: (UK: ''aluminium'') ; amtrac:
Landing Vehicle Tracked The Amphibious Vehicle, Tracked (LVT) is an amphibious warfare vehicle and amphibious landing craft, introduced by the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps. (The USN and USMC use "L" to designate Amphibious vessels, also call ...
, military vehicle used in
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
(not to be confused with
Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada. ...
, the passenger railroad corporation) ; arroyo: a usually dry creek. Spanish in origin. ;
arugula Arugula (American English) or rocket (Commonwealth English) (''Eruca vesicaria''; syns. ''Eruca sativa'' Mill., ''E. vesicaria'' subsp. ''sativa'' (Miller) Thell., ''Brassica eruca'' L.) is an edible annual plant in the family Brassicaceae used ...
, rugola: the herb also known as rocket or garden rocket. Borrowed from southern Italian dialect in the early 1960s ("Ask Italian greengrocers for arugula, rucola or ruccoli; ask other markets for rouquette, rocket salad or, simply, rocket." — ''The New York Times'', May 24, 1960, in OED). ;
automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded ...
: a car


B

;
baby carriage Various methods of transporting children have been used in different cultures and times. These methods include baby carriages (prams in British English), infant car seats, portable bassinets (carrycots), strollers (pushchairs), slings, backpacks ...
: pushable vehicle for transporting babies, also called ''stroller'', ''buggy'' or regionally ''baby coach'' (UK: ''perambulator'' (very old-fashioned or formal), ''pram'', or, for the type that an older baby sits rather than lies in, ''pushchair'') ;
baby shower A baby shower is a party of gift-giving, drinking beers or a ceremony that has different names in different cultures. It celebrates the delivery or expected birth of a child or the transformation of a woman into a mother. Etymology The term ''s ...
(or just "shower") : party with gifts to celebrate an impending birth (less common in the UK) ;
bachelor party A bachelor party (in the United States and sometimes in Canada), also known as a stag weekend, stag do or stag party (in the United Kingdom, Commonwealth countries, and Ireland), or a buck's night (in Australia), is a party held/arranged by th ...
/
bachelorette party A bachelorette party ( United States and Canada) or hen night ( UK, Ireland and Australia) is a party held for a woman (the bride or bride-to-be) who will soon be married. While Beth Montemurro concludes that the bachelorette party is modelled ...
:a party held for a man (bachelor) or woman (bachelorette) soon to be married (UK: ''stag night''/''hen night'') ;
bachelorette ''Bachelorette'' (/ˌbætʃələˈrɛt/) is a term used in American English for a single, unmarried woman. The term is derived from the word '' bachelor'', and is often used by journalists, editors of popular magazines, and some individuals ...
: a young, single woman who has never married ;
backhoe A backhoe—also called rear actor or back actor—is a type of excavating equipment, or digger, consisting of a digging bucket on the end of a two-part articulated arm. It is typically mounted on the back of a tractor or front loader, the latt ...
: a piece of excavating equipment (UK usually digger, mechanical digger, excavator, or '' JCB'',
genericized trademark A generic trademark, also known as a genericized trademark or proprietary eponym, is a trademark or brand name that, because of its popularity or significance, has become the generic term for, or synonymous with, a general class of products ...
) ;
ballpark A ballpark, or baseball park, is a type of sports venue where baseball is played. The playing field is divided into the infield, an area whose dimensions are rigidly defined, and the outfield, where dimensions can vary widely from place to pla ...
: a
baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...
stadium A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...
; used to mean an approximation ("in the ballpark"; "a ballpark figure") ; Band-Aid *: (trademark) bandage for minor wounds, (UK: ''plaster'' M ''Elastoplast'' (trademark)); also, a makeshift solution ; bangs: front part of the hair cut to hang over the forehead (UK: a fringe) ; barrette: hair slide ;
baseboard In architecture, a baseboard (also called skirting board, skirting, wainscoting, mopboard, trim, floor molding, or base molding) is usually wooden or vinyl board covering the lowest part of an interior wall. Its purpose is to cover the joint ...
: skirting board ;
bayou In usage in the Southern United States, a bayou () is a body of water typically found in a flat, low-lying area. It may refer to an extremely slow-moving stream, river (often with a poorly defined shoreline), marshy lake, wetland, or creek. They ...
: (from Louisiana French) an often marshy slow-moving minor watercourse, usually located in a low-lying area (as in the
Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest Drainage system (geomorphology), drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson B ...
delta region of the
southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...
) ;
bedroom community A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...
: a commuter town or suburb (UK: ''dormitory town'' M ;
bear claw A bear claw is a sweet, yeast-raised pastry, a type of Danish, originating in the United States during the mid-1910's. In Denmark, a bear claw is referred to as ''kamme''.Roufs, Timothy G., and Kathleen Smyth Roufs''Sweet Treats around the Worl ...
: A kind of sweet pastry served throughout the United States, named for its large, clawlike shape. ;
bell pepper The bell pepper (also known as paprika, sweet pepper, pepper, or capsicum ) is the fruit of plants in the Grossum Group of the species ''Capsicum annuum''. Cultivars of the plant produce fruits in different colors, including red, yellow, orange ...
: a mild (not spicy) red or green pepper or
capsicum ''Capsicum'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae, native to the Americas, cultivated worldwide for their chili pepper or bell pepper fruit. Etymology and names The generic name may come from Latin , me ...
in Australian English and Indian English ;
bellhop A bellhop (North America), or hotel porter (carrier), porter (international), is a hotel employee who helps patrons with their luggage while check-in, checking in or out. Bellhops often wear a uniform (see bell-boy hat), like certain other Page (a ...
: a hotel porter ;
beltway A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop, bypass or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city, or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist i ...
: a ring road, or orbital motorway found around or within many cities. ;
big-box store A big-box store (also hyperstore, supercenter, superstore, or megastore) is a physically large retail establishment, usually part of a chain of stores. The term sometimes also refers, by extension, to the company that operates the store. The te ...
: a large retail establishment built on one level, typically with few, if any, windows. ;
blacktop Asphalt concrete (commonly called asphalt, blacktop, or pavement in North America, and tarmac, bitumen macadam, or rolled asphalt in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland) is a composite material commonly used to surface roads, parkin ...
: a road surface Mcomposed of
asphalt concrete Asphalt concrete (commonly called asphalt, blacktop, or pavement in North America, and tarmac, bitumen macadam, or rolled asphalt in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland) is a composite material commonly used to surface roads, parki ...
; also a verb ("to blacktop a parking lot") (UK: compare ''
tarmac Tarmac may refer to: Engineered surfaces * Tarmacadam, a mainly historical tar-based material for macadamising road surfaces, patented in 1902 * Asphalt concrete, a macadamising material using asphalt instead of tar which has largely superseded tar ...
'') ;
bleachers Bleachers (North American English), or stands, are raised, tiered rows of benches found at sports fields and other spectator events. Stairways provide access to the horizontal rows of seats, often with every other step gaining access to a row ...
: the raised open air tiered rows of seats (stands) found at sports fields or at other spectator events ; blinders : (on a horse) (UK: ''blinkers'') ; blood sausage :
black pudding , type = , course = , place_of_origin = Great Britain and Ireland , region =England, Ireland, Scotland , associated_cuisine = United Kingdom and Ireland , creator = , year = , mintime = , maxtime = , served = Hot, occasionally ...
;
boardwalk A boardwalk (alternatively board walk, boarded path, or promenade) is an elevated footpath, walkway, or causeway built with wooden planks that enables pedestrians to cross wet, fragile, or marshy land. They are also in effect a low type of br ...
: a walkway usually made of planking, typically along a beach (as that of
Atlantic City Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020, the city had a population of 38,497.
) (UK: ''promenade'') ; bobby pin : hair grip, Kirby grip ; bodega : a
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
term for a
winery A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feature warehouses, ...
. A
convenience store A convenience store, convenience shop, corner store or corner shop is a small retail business that stocks a range of everyday items such as coffee, groceries, snack foods, confectionery, soft drinks, ice creams, tobacco products, lottery ti ...
, especially in a Spanish-speaking neighborhood. ; booger : (slang) a piece of coagulated nasal mucus (UK: ''bogey'') ;
bookmobile A bookmobile or mobile library is a vehicle designed for use as a library. They have been known by many names throughout history, including traveling library, library wagon, book wagon, book truck, library-on-wheels, and book auto service. Bookm ...
: a large vehicle housing a mobile lending library (UK: mobile library) ;
boombox A boombox is a transistorized portable music player featuring one or two cassette tape recorder/players and AM/FM radio, generally with a carrying handle. Beginning in the mid 1980s, a CD player was often included. Sound is delivered throu ...
: a large portable stereo, syn. with ''ghettoblaster'', which is also American in origin but is common in the UK. ;
boondocks The boondocks is an American expression from the Tagalog (Filipino) word ''bundók'' ("mountain"). It originally referred to a remote rural area, but now, is often applied to an out-of-the-way area considered backward and unsophisticated by c ...
: (also ''the boonies'') rough country; a very rural location or town; backwoods; the "sticks". Sometimes refers to rough, poor neighborhoods in a city. From
Tagalog Tagalog may refer to: Language * Tagalog language, a language spoken in the Philippines ** Old Tagalog, an archaic form of the language ** Batangas Tagalog, a dialect of the language * Tagalog script, the writing system historically used for Taga ...
. ;
boondoggle A boondoggle is a project that is considered a waste of both time and money, yet is often continued due to extraneous policy or political motivations. Etymology "Boondoggle" was the name of the newspaper of the Roosevelt Troop of the Boy Sc ...
: slang term for a scheme that wastes time and money; originally a braided ornamental cord or leather strap ; Botts' dot : see '' raised pavement marker'' ; breadbox : a box for storing bread (UK: ''bread bin'') ; broil : to cook food with high heat with the heat applied directly to the food from above (UK: ''grill'') M ;
brownstone Brownstone is a brown Triassic–Jurassic sandstone that was historically a popular building material. The term is also used in the United States and Canada to refer to a townhouse clad in this or any other aesthetically similar material. Type ...
: a type of residential building found in
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
,
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, and other large cities ;
bullhorn A megaphone, speaking-trumpet, bullhorn, blowhorn, or loudhailer is usually a portable or hand-held, cone-shaped acoustic horn used to amplify a person's voice or other sounds and direct it in a given direction. The sound is introduced into ...
: a
megaphone A megaphone, speaking-trumpet, bullhorn, blowhorn, or loudhailer is usually a portable or hand-held, cone-shaped acoustic horn used to amplify a person's voice or other sounds and direct it in a given direction. The sound is introduced int ...
, sometimes used to refer to a portable
airhorn An air horn is a pneumatic device designed to create an extremely loud noise for signaling purposes. It usually consists of a source which produces compressed air, which passes into a horn through a reed or diaphragm. The stream of air cause ...
; burglarize : to carry out a
burglary Burglary, also called breaking and entering and sometimes housebreaking, is the act of entering a building or other areas without permission, with the intention of committing a criminal offence. Usually that offence is theft, robbery or murd ...
(UK: ''burgle''; ''burgle'' is very rare in US, and ''burglarize'' virtually nonexistent in UK) ;
burlap Hessian (, ), burlap in the United States and Canada, or crocus in Jamaica and the wider Caribbean, is a woven fabric usually made from skin of the jute plant or sisal fibres, which may be combined with other vegetable fibres to make rope, nets, ...
: cloth made from jute or sisal, traditionally rough and used to make rope and sacks (UK: ''hessian'') ;
busboy In North America, a busser, more commonly known as a busboy or busgirl, is a person who works in the restaurant and catering industry clearing tables, taking dirty dishes to the dishwasher, setting tables, refilling and otherwise assisting the ...
: junior restaurant worker assisting waiting staff, table clearer, water pourer etc. ;
butte __NOTOC__ In geomorphology, a butte () is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and tablelands. The word ''butte'' comes from a French word me ...
: an isolated hill with steep sides and a small flat top


C

;
caboose A caboose is a crewed North American railroad car coupled at the end of a freight train. Cabooses provide shelter for crew at the end of a train, who were formerly required in switching and shunting, keeping a lookout for load shifting, dam ...
: a railroad car attached usually to the rear mainly for the crew's use (UK: ''guard's van'' or ''brake van'') ; Canadian bacon :
Back bacon Back bacon is a cut of bacon that includes the pork loin from the back of the pig. It may also include a portion of the pork belly in the same cut. It is much leaner than side bacon made only from the pork belly. Back bacon is derived from the ...
(bacon made from center-cut boneless pork loin). Also ham, usually pressed and sliced like bacon. ; candy apple, candied apple : toffee apple ;
canola Close-up of canola blooms Canola flower Rapeseed oil is one of the oldest known vegetable oils. There are both edible and industrial forms produced from rapeseed, the seed of several cultivars of the plant family Brassicaceae. Historically, ...
: a type of
rapeseed Rapeseed (''Brassica napus ''subsp.'' napus''), also known as rape, or oilseed rape, is a bright-yellow flowering member of the family Brassicaceae (mustard or cabbage family), cultivated mainly for its oil-rich seed, which naturally contains a ...
that produces an edible oil (originally a trademark, of Canadian origin (from Canada and oleum 'oil')) ; careen : (of a vehicle) to travel fast and out of control, usually swerving or cornering (UK: ''career'') ;
carhop A carhop is a waiter or waitress who brings fast food to people in their cars at drive-in restaurants. Carhops usually work on foot but sometimes use roller skates, as depicted in movies such as ''American Graffiti'' and television shows such as ...
: someone serving food at a
drive-in A drive-in is a facility (such as a restaurant or movie theater) where one can drive in with an automobile for service. At a drive-in restaurant, for example, customers park their vehicles and are usually served by staff who walk or rollerskat ...
, often on rollerskates ; catercorner : (or ''catercornered'', ''catacorner'', ''kitty-corner'', ''catty-corner'', etc.) (adverb) diagonally, diagonally opposite ("The house looks catercorner to mine"). ''Cater corner'' is the original form (from the French ''quatre'' and English ''corner'' = four + corner), but the forms ''kitty corner'' and ''catty corner'' (
folk etymology Folk etymology (also known as popular etymology, analogical reformation, reanalysis, morphological reanalysis or etymological reinterpretation) is a change in a word or phrase resulting from the replacement of an unfamiliar form by a more famili ...
) are usual in speech, ''catty corner'' especially in the North and West, while the former in the Midland and South. Sometimes (dialectal, regional) also ''kitty/catty wampus/wumpus'' (unclearly derived), which can also mean "awry", or " skew-whiff". ; catsup : alternative spelling of ketchup that rarely sees use in the UK. ; cell phone, cellphone, cell : (short for ''cellular telephone'') a portable telephone; UK: ''mobile phone'', often abbreviated to ''mobile'' Used in the UK in the early years of mobile telephony. ; certified mail : recorded delivery ; ChapStick *: (
trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from ot ...
, sometimes used generically) a lip balm ; charge account : in a store or shop (UK: ''credit account'') ; checkers : a popular
board game Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures games as well. Many board games feature a co ...
(UK: ''
draughts Checkers (American English), also known as draughts (; British English), is a group of strategy board games for two players which involve diagonal moves of uniform game pieces and mandatory captures by jumping over opponent pieces. Checker ...
'') ;
checking account A transaction account, also called a checking account, chequing account, current account, demand deposit account, or share draft account at credit unions, is a deposit account held at a bank or other financial institution. It is available to the ...
: the type of
bank account A bank account is a financial account maintained by a bank or other financial institution in which the financial transactions between the bank and a customer are recorded. Each financial institution sets the terms and conditions for each type of ...
used for drawing checks; distinguished from ''savings account''. (UK: ''current account'' or ''cheque account''; use of cheques is now much less common in the UK) ;
cilantro Coriander (;
: (from Spanish "cilantro")
coriander Coriander (;
leaf, while in the US, ''coriander'' refers only to the seed. ; cleats: in the context of field sports, athletic shoes with studded soles used for football or soccer (UK: ''Football boots, rugby boots'') ;
cloture Cloture (, also ), closure or, informally, a guillotine, is a motion or process in parliamentary procedure aimed at bringing debate to a quick end. The cloture procedure originated in the French National Assembly, from which the name is taken. ' ...
: a motion in legislative or parliamentary procedure that brings debate to a quick end; especially used by and in the
United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and po ...
(UK: ''closure'') ; conniption (fit) : (slang) temper tantrum. ; co-ed, coed : female student at a
coeducational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...
college (e.g., "He saw the party as an opportunity to meet co-eds."); any group of people with members from both genders (e.g., "My soccer team is co-ed.") ; comfort station : a public toilet ; condo : colloquially, any owned (as opposed to rented)
apartment An apartment (American English), or flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that occupies part of a building, generally on a single story. There are ma ...
(UK: ''flat''); more strictly such an apartment or house with common areas controlled by and charged for by a
homeowner association A homeowner association (or homeowners' association, abbreviated HOA, sometimes referred to as a property owners' association or POA), or a homeowner community, is a private association-like entity often formed either ''ipso jure'' in a building ...
; short for
condominium A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership structure whereby a building is divided into several units that are each separately owned, surrounded by common areas that are jointly owned. The term can be applied to the building or complex ...
(England and Wales: ''
commonhold Commonhold is a system of property ownership in England and Wales. It involves the indefinite freehold tenure of part of a multi-occupancy building (typically a flat) with shared ownership of and responsibility for common areas and services. It ...
'') ; cookout : informal meal cooked and eaten outdoors, a cross between a picnic and a barbecue or a cooking competition taking place outdoors ;
cooties Cooties is a fictitious childhood disease, commonly represented as childlore. It is used in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the Philippines as a rejection term and an infection tag game (such as Humans vs. Zombies). I ...
: fictional disease, a term used by children (UK: '' germs'', '' lurgy''); also a term for
lice Louse ( : lice) is the common name for any member of the clade Phthiraptera, which contains nearly 5,000 species of wingless parasitic insects. Phthiraptera has variously been recognized as an order, infraorder, or a parvorder, as a resul ...
; copacetic : fine and dandy; good; well; A-OK; cool. Creole, perhaps from the French "Comme c'est sympathique" ; costume party : party where costumes are worn (UK: ''fancy-dress party'') ;
cotton candy Cotton candy, also known as fairy floss and candy floss, is a spun sugar confection that resembles cotton. It usually contains small amounts of flavoring or food coloring. It is made by heating and liquefying sugar, and spinning it centrif ...
: spun sugar often sold at fairs (UK: ''candy floss'') ;
counterclockwise Two-dimensional rotation can occur in two possible directions. Clockwise motion (abbreviated CW) proceeds in the same direction as a clock's hands: from the top to the right, then down and then to the left, and back up to the top. The opposite ...
: (UK: ''anti-clockwise'') ; coveralls : a one-piece outer protective garment (UK: ''
overall Overalls, also called bib-and-brace overalls or dungarees, are a type of garment usually used as protective clothing when working. The garments are commonly referred to as a "pair of overalls" by analogy with "pair of trousers". Overalls were ...
'', ''boiler suit'') ; crapshoot : risky and uncertain venture; from
craps Craps is a dice game in which players bet on the outcomes of the roll of a pair of dice. Players can wager money against each other (playing "street craps") or against a bank ("casino craps"). Because it requires little equipment, "street ...
, a dice game ; cremains : the remains of a dead body after cremation (UK: ''remains'', ''ashes'') ; criminy, crimony : a mild oath or to express surprise; perhaps alteration of jiminy, gemini; probably euphemism for
Late Latin Late Latin ( la, Latinitas serior) is the scholarly name for the form of Literary Latin of late antiquity.Roberts (1996), p. 537. English dictionary definitions of Late Latin date this period from the , and continuing into the 7th century in t ...
''Jesu domine'' ("Jesus Lord!") (UK: ''crumbs'', etc.), of ''Christ'' or from
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...
''crimine'' (crime) ; critter : (informal) a creature; sometimes a term of endearment


D

; deplane : to disembark from an aeroplane ;
deputy Deputy or depute may refer to: * Steward (office) * Khalifa, an Arabic title that can signify "deputy" * Deputy (legislator), a legislator in many countries and regions, including: ** A member of a Chamber of Deputies, for example in Italy, Spain, ...
or ''sheriff's deputy'': A paid county law enforcement official working for an elected sheriff; roughly equivalent to a police
constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other peop ...
in the UK. ; derby : historically, a hat worn by men (UK: ''bowler'') ;
diaper A diaper /ˈdaɪpə(r)/ (American and Canadian English) or a nappy (Australian English, British English, and Hiberno-English) is a type of underwear that allows the wearer to urinate or defecate without using a toilet, by absorbing or cont ...
: An absorbent undergarment (UK: ''nappy'') ; dime : a 10-cent coin. Derived from the Old
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
word ''disme'' (the original spelling), meaning a tenth part or
tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash or cheques or more ...
, and ultimately from the
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
''decima''. Can also mean a ten dollar quantity of an illegal drug (or ''dime bag''). ''
Five-and-dime A variety store (also five and dime (historic), pound shop, or dollar store) is a retail store that sells general merchandise, such as apparel, automotive parts, dry goods, toys, hardware, home furnishings, and a selection of groceries. It u ...
'', ''dime store'', a store selling cheap merchandise; '' a dime a dozen'', so abundant as to be worth little (UK: ''ten a penny''); '' on a dime'', in a small space (" turn on a dime", UK: ''turn on a sixpence'') or immediately (" stop on a dime", UK: ''stop on a sixpence''); ''nickel-and-dime'', originally an adjective meaning "involving small amounts of money" and then "insignificant", also a verb meaning "to rip-off by many seemingly insignificant charges" (the ''nickel'' Mis the 5-cent coin). In Britain, the old sixpence, a small coin of a comparable size and value ( new pence), is still used in similar expressions despite being replaced when a
decimal currency Decimalisation or decimalization (see spelling differences) is the conversion of a system of currency or of weights and measures to units related by powers of 10. Most countries have decimalised their currencies, converting them from non-decimal ...
was introduced in 1971. ; direct deposit : a method of payment by bank transfer, similar to European giro, almost exclusively used for deposits of pay checks or government benefits ; discombobulated: to be confused or disconcerted; (UK and US: ''discomposed'') Sometimes now used with conscious, self-mocking irony by generally more formal British speakers. ; dishrag : a
cloth Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...
for washing dishes (UK and US: ''dishcloth'') ;
dishwashing liquid Dishwashing liquid (or washing-up liquid in British English), also known as dishwashing soap, dish detergent, and dish soap is a detergent used to assist in dishwashing. It is usually a highly-foaming mixture of surfactants with low skin irr ...
: a liquid soap used for washing dishes (''dishsoap'') (UK: ''washing-up liquid'') ; dish towel : a
towel A towel is a piece of absorbent cloth or paper used for drying or wiping a surface. Towels draw moisture through direct contact. In households, several types of towels are used, such as hand towels, bath towels, and kitchen towels. Paper towels ...
for drying dishes (UK: ''tea towel'') ; district attorney: state or city public prosecutor (UK: Crown Prosecutor (England and Wales); Procurator Fiscal (Scotland)) ;
divided highway A dual carriageway ( BE) or divided highway ( AE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are ...
: a road with a
highway median The median strip, central reservation, roadway median, or traffic median is the reserved area that separates opposing lanes of traffic on divided roadways such as divided highways, dual carriageways, freeways, and motorways. The term also ap ...
/central reservation (UK) (UK: ''dual carriageway'') ;
docent The title of docent is conferred by some European universities to denote a specific academic appointment within a set structure of academic ranks at or below the full professor rank, similar to a British readership, a French " ''maître de conf ...
: a university lecturer; also a volunteer guide in a museum or similar institution ; doohickey : word used for an unknown item. (a ''thingamajig'', ''thingamabob'', or just a ''thingy'') (UK: ''wotsit'') ; douche or douchebag * : an insult for a contemptible person (from the device for rinsing the vagina or anus) ; downspout : pipe for carrying rainwater from a gutter to the ground (UK & US: ''drainpipe'') ; downtown* : (noun, adv., adj.) (in, to, toward, or related to) either the lower section or the business center of a city or town—(used in UK but more common expression would be ''
city centre A city centre is the commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely equivalent terms exist in other languages, such as "" in Fren ...
'' or '' CBD'') ; drape, drapes : (UK and US: ''
curtain A curtain is a piece of cloth Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fa ...
'') ; driver license,
driver's license A driver's license is a legal authorization, or the official document confirming such an authorization, for a specific individual to operate one or more types of motorized vehicles—such as motorcycles, cars, trucks, or buses—on a publi ...
: (UK: ''driving licence'') ;
drugstore A pharmacy (also called "drugstore" in American English or "community pharmacy" or "chemist" in Commonwealth English, or rarely, apothecary) is a retail shop which provides pharmaceutical drugs, among other products. At the pharmacy, a pharmaci ...
: a pharmacy, or a store selling candy, magazines, etc. along with medicines (UK approx.: ''chemist'' or "corner shop" M ; druthers : preference of one thing over another derived from a contraction of "I would rather" or "I'd rather" (e.g., "if I had my druthers, I'd...") ;
drywall Drywall (also called plasterboard, dry lining, wallboard, sheet rock, gypsum board, buster board, custard board, and gypsum panel) is a panel made of calcium sulfate dihydrate (gypsum), with or without additives, typically extruded between thic ...
: gypsum board, plasterboard, or any process that builds interior walls without the use of water (UK: ''plasterboard'') ; dude * : A man; a dandy; a city-dweller visiting a ranch. Often used to address a man. ;
Dumpster A dumpster is a movable waste container designed to be brought and taken away by a special collection vehicle, or to a bin that a specially designed garbage truck lifts, empties into its hopper, and lowers, on the spot. The word is a generic t ...
: (trademark: might be becoming genericized) large trash receptacle (UK approx.: ''skip'' M; to '' dumpster-dive'', to rummage through a Dumpster ;dweeb : a boring, studious or socially inept person (a nerd, a geek or a ''"drip"'' an old-fashioned mild pejorative for someone exceptionally eccentric or lacking in social skills)


E

;
eggplant Eggplant ( US, Canada), aubergine ( UK, Ireland) or brinjal (Indian subcontinent, Singapore, Malaysia, South Africa) is a plant species in the nightshade family Solanaceae. ''Solanum melongena'' is grown worldwide for its edible fruit. Mo ...
: the plant ''
Solanum melongena Eggplant ( US, Canada), aubergine ( UK, Ireland) or brinjal (Indian subcontinent, Singapore, Malaysia, South Africa) is a plant species in the nightshade family Solanaceae. ''Solanum melongena'' is grown worldwide for its edible fruit. Mo ...
'' (UK: ''aubergine''); ; elephant ear : Deep fried dough covered with cinnamon-sugar. Commonly found at fairs and carnivals. ; emergency brake : brake in motor vehicle operated by a lever used to keep it stationary. Also referred to as an "E-brake". (UK and US: ''handbrake'') ;
eminent domain Eminent domain (United States, Philippines), land acquisition (India, Malaysia, Singapore), compulsory purchase/acquisition (Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, United Kingdom), resumption (Hong Kong, Uganda), resumption/compulsory acquisition (Austr ...
: the power of the government to take private property for public use (similar to UK ''compulsory purchase'') ; English muffin : (UK: "''muffin''", "''hot muffin''") ; envision *: to envisage ; eraser *: (UK: ''rubber'' M ; exclamation point *: (UK: ''
exclamation mark The exclamation mark, , or exclamation point (American English), is a punctuation mark usually used after an interjection or exclamation to indicate strong feelings or to show emphasis. The exclamation mark often marks the end of a sentence, f ...
'') ; expressway : a type of
limited-access road A limited-access road, known by various terms worldwide, including limited-access highway, dual-carriageway, expressway, limited access freeway, and partial controlled access highway, is a highway or arterial road for high-speed traffic which ...
(UK: ''motorway'') ; exurb : the ring of prosperous rural communities beyond the suburbs, see
commuter town A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many ...


F

;
fanny pack A waist bag, or fanny pack (American English), belt bag, moon bag, belly bag (American English), or bumbag (British English) is a small fabric pouch worn like a belt around the waist by use of a strap above the hips that is secured usually with ...
: pouch-like bag that ties or snaps around the wearer's waist (UK: ''bum bag''). In the UK 'fanny' is a vulgar slang term for the
vulva The vulva (plural: vulvas or vulvae; derived from Latin for wrapper or covering) consists of the external female sex organs. The vulva includes the mons pubis (or mons veneris), labia majora, labia minora, clitoris, vestibular bulbs, vulv ...
and thus this word could cause offence. ; faucet : a valve for controlling the flow of a liquid (UK and US: ''tap'' M ;
FICA The Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA ) is a United States federal payroll (or employment) contribution directed towards both employees and employers to fund Social Security and Medicare—federal programs that provide benefits for re ...
: (rhymes with "Micah") payroll tax used to fund
Social Security Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...
and Medicare (similar to UK ''
National Insurance National Insurance (NI) is a fundamental component of the welfare state in the United Kingdom. It acts as a form of social security, since payment of NI contributions establishes entitlement to certain state benefits for workers and their fami ...
''). Derived from the law authorizing such taxation, the Federal Insurance Contributions Act. ; flack : a publicist or press agent; sometimes also an alternate spelling of ''flak'' "negative commentary", which is used in the UK. Although ''flack'' "press agent" was first recorded just one year after ''
flak Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based ...
'' "anti-aircraft fire" (from German ''Fliegerabwehrkanone'' "aircraft defence cannon"), the two are likely unrelated. ;
flashlight A flashlight (American English, US, Canadian English, Canada) or torch (British English, UK, Australian English, Australia) is a portable hand-held electric lamp. Formerly, the light source typically was a miniature incandescent light bulb, b ...
* : portable battery-powered electric lamp (UK: usually ''torch'') ; flatware : knives, spoons, and forks (as opposed to ''
holloware Holloware (hollowware, or hollow-ware ) is metal tableware such as sugar bowls, creamers, coffee pots, teapots, soup tureens, hot food covers, water jugs, platters, butter pat plates, and other items that accompany dishware on a table. It d ...
''); (UK usually ''
cutlery Cutlery (also referred to as silverware, flatware, or tableware), includes any hand implement used in preparing, serving, and especially eating food in Western culture. A person who makes or sells cutlery is called a cutler. The city of Sheffie ...
'' M;
freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...
: (see article) (UK: ''
motorway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...
'') ;
French press A French press, also known as a cafetière, ''cafetière à piston'', ''caffettiera a stantuffo'', press pot, coffee press, or coffee plunger, is a coffee brewing device, although it can also be used for other tasks. In 1923 Ugo Paolini, an Ital ...
: Device for making coffee (UK: ''cafetière'') ;
freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...
: a first-year student in college or high school (''fresher'' in UK) ;
French fries French fries (North American English), chips (British English), finger chips (Indian English), french-fried potatoes, or simply fries, are '' batonnet'' or ''allumette''-cut deep-fried potatoes of disputed origin from Belgium and France. Th ...
(or fries) * : pieces of potato that have been deep-fried. (UK: ''chips'' M "French fries" is known via American fast food chains, due to which it usually refers to the thin, crispy variety of chips served there) ; frosting : A confection applied to cakes (US and UK: '' icing'') ;
front desk A receptionist is an employee taking an office or administrative support position. The work is usually performed in a waiting area such as a lobby or front office desk of an organization or business. The title ''receptionist'' is attributed t ...
: (UK: ''reception'') ;
frosh A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...
, see ''freshman''


G

;
garbage Garbage, trash, rubbish, or refuse is waste material that is discarded by humans, usually due to a perceived lack of utility. The term generally does not encompass bodily waste products, purely liquid or gaseous wastes, or toxic waste produ ...
: (UK: ''rubbish'') ; garbage can : (UK: ''dustbin'' or simply ''bin'') ;
gasoline Gasoline (; ) or petrol (; ) (see ) is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines (also known as petrol engines). It consists mostly of organic c ...
: (abbreviated ''gas''; esp. in the past also spelled ''gasolene'') (UK: ''petrol'') ; gee whiz *: as an interjection, an old-fashioned expression of admiration, surprise or enthusiasm (a euphemism for "Jesus"); as an adjective, denotes something characterized by or meant to cause excitement or sensation ("gee-whiz technology"; "a gee-whiz attitude") ;
general delivery ''Poste restante'' (, "remainder post"), also known as general delivery in North American English, is a service where the post office holds the mail until the recipient calls for it. It is a common destination for mail for people who are visiting ...
: (UK: ''poste restante'') ; get-go (git-go) : the very beginning (of something); e.g. "I warned them right from the get-go." ;
GFCI A residual-current device (RCD), residual-current circuit breaker (RCCB) or ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) is an electrical safety device that quickly breaks an electrical circuit with leakage current to ground. It is to protect equi ...
(Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter) : (UK: ''Residual-current device (RCD)'', or colloquially, ''breaker'' or ''circuit breaker'') A safety device attached to consumer mains power supplies to prevent accidental electrocution and/or damage to connected equipment. ; green thumb : (UK: ''green fingers'') ; grifter : a con artist, transient swindler, or professional gambler (US and UK: ''con man''); also ''grift'' can mean an act of thievery or trickery ; gotten : Past participle of "get" (''got'' in most of the UK); "gotten" is however of British origin, still retained in some older dialects, and is sometimes now used again under US influence. In American English there is a distinction in usage: "gotten" is used to refer to the process of acquisition, obtainment or to having entered a state over a matter of time, whereas "got" signifies possession. ;
grits Grits are a type of porridge made from boiled cornmeal. Hominy grits are a type of grits made from hominy – corn that has been treated with an alkali in a process called nixtamalization, with the pericarp (ovary wall) removed. Grits are of ...
: A
maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American English, North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous ...
(sweetcorn) porridge common in the southern U.S. and relatively unknown in the UK ; ground beef : (UK)
minced beef Ground beef, minced beef or beef mince is beef that has been finely chopped with a knife, meat grinder (American English), mincer or mincing machine (British English). It is used in many recipes including hamburgers, bolognese sauce, meatloaf, m ...
, or just mince ; grunt : Slang for
infantryman Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marin ...
: (UK: ''
squaddie The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkhas ...
'')


H

; half bath : a room for personal hygiene that lacks a
shower A shower is a place in which a person bathes under a spray of typically warm or hot water. Indoors, there is a drain in the floor. Most showers have temperature, spray pressure and adjustable showerhead nozzle. The simplest showers have a ...
or
bathtub A bathtub, also known simply as a bath or tub, is a container for holding water in which a person or animal may bathe. Most modern bathtubs are made of thermoformed acrylic, porcelain-enameled steel or cast iron, or fiberglass-reinforced pol ...
(i.e. a
bathroom A bathroom or washroom is a room, typically in a home or other residential building, that contains either a bathtub or a shower (or both). The inclusion of a wash basin is common. In some parts of the world e.g. India, a toilet is typically ...
M in the American sense of the term, which lacks a place to actually bathe). Equivalent to a British '' W.C.''. ; hard candy : (UK: ''boiled sweets'') ; heavy cream : double cream (UK) ;
hickey A hickey, hickie or love bite in British English, is a bruise or bruise-like mark caused by kissing or sucking skin, usually on the neck, arm, or earlobe. While biting may be part of giving a hickey, sucking is sufficient to burst small superfici ...
: a bruise on one's skin resulting from kissing or sucking (UK: ''love bite'') ;
highball A highball is a mixed alcoholic drink composed of an alcoholic base spirit and a larger proportion of a non-alcoholic mixer, often a carbonated beverage. Examples include the Seven and Seven, Scotch and soda, gin and tonic, screwdriver (a.k.a ...
: an alcoholic drink made with a spirit, particularly whisky, and water, soda water or any carbonated beverage, served in a tall glass with ice ; ho : The word "
whore Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-penet ...
", also used as a derogatory term for any woman. The pronunciation and spelling is from
African-American Vernacular English African-American Vernacular English (AAVE, ), also referred to as Black (Vernacular) English, Black English Vernacular, or occasionally Ebonics (a colloquial, controversial term), is the variety of English natively spoken, particularly in urb ...
. ;
hobo A hobo is a migrant worker in the United States. Hoboes, tramps and bums are generally regarded as related, but distinct: a hobo travels and is willing to work; a tramp travels, but avoids work if possible; and a bum neither travels nor works. ...
: tramp; homeless, unskilled, itinerant worker; subculture of wandering homeless people, particularly those who make a habit of hopping freight trains. ; hoecake : A coarse cake of maize flour. ;
hominy Hominy (Spanish: maíz molido; literally meaning "milled corn") is a food produced from dried maize (corn) kernels that have been treated with an alkali, in a process called nixtamalization ( is the Nahuatl word for "hominy"). "Lye hominy" is a ...
: maize kernels that have been soaked in a caustic solution then coarsely ground; see also
grits Grits are a type of porridge made from boiled cornmeal. Hominy grits are a type of grits made from hominy – corn that has been treated with an alkali in a process called nixtamalization, with the pericarp (ovary wall) removed. Grits are of ...
; play hooky : to play truant from school; to cut class (UK also: ''skive, bunk off'' or ''playing wag'' or ''wagging off'' or ''mooching'') ; horseback riding : simply "riding" or ''horse riding'' in the UK ; howdy : (short for ''how do you do'') casual greeting that originated in the Southern States. (UK ''How do?'') ; hush puppy: a bite-sized ball of deep-fried cornmeal batter commonly eaten in southern America. (Non-existent in the UK, where "Hush Puppies" denotes the international brand of shoes of that name) ;
HVAC Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) is the use of various technologies to control the temperature, humidity, and purity of the air in an enclosed space. Its goal is to provide thermal comfort and acceptable indoor air quality. ...
: Heating + Ventilating (or Ventilation) + Air Conditioning; often pronounced "H-vack". (used in technical circles in the UK, where such systems are less common than in the US due to differences in climate)


I

; intimate apparel : lingerie; used mainly in advertisements.


J

; jack off, jerk off * : (slang) to masturbate; UK usage would be "to wank". If used as a disparaging noun, as in "that guy is such a jackoff r jerkoff, the UK equivalent would be "wanker" or "tosser". In this sense, sometimes written "jagoff", though this probably has a different derivation. ; jackhammer: (UK: ''pneumatic drill'') ; Jane Doe (pseudonym), Jane Doe : See ''John Doe.'' ; jaywalking: crossing or walking in the street or road unlawfully. There is no equivalent concept in UK law. ; jeez : minced oath for "Jesus", sometimes spelled ''geez'' ; jerk someone around: to unfairly delay, stymie, thwart or cause confusion, sometimes with the intent to defraud. ; Jell-o : (trademark) gelatin dessert (UK: ''jelly'' M ; john : (slang) a toilet; also, the client of a prostitute ; johnson : (slang) penis (US and UK : ''willy'') ; John Doe : unnamed defendant or victim (as in a lawsuit), or a person whose identity is unknown or is intended to be anonymous; also, an average man; compare ''John Q. Public'' (UK equivalent is Joe Bloggs, or John Smith). The female equivalent is ''Jane Doe,'' or less frequently "Jane Roe" as in Roe v. Wade. Also ''Baby Doe''. ; John Hancock : a signature (from the name of the President of the Second Continental Congress, who was the first signer of the United States Declaration of Independence and wrote his signature the largest)—"put your John Hancock here". "John Henry" is also seen, using Hancock as a perceived homophone of "Hank", a common nickname of Henry. (UK: ''monicker''.) ; John Q. Public : the common people, common man, typical member of the general public. Also stated as Joe Public, Joe Blow, Joe Schmoe, Joe Six-Pack, Eddie Punchclock, or Joe Lunchbucket. (UK: ''Joe Bloggs'', ''Joe Public'')


K

; kitty-corner, caddy-corner, also catty-corner : see ''catercorner''


L

; Coccinellidae, ladybug: a red, black-spotted beetle (UK: ''ladybird'') ; laundromat: a public place to wash laundry (UK: ''laundrette'' or ''launderette'') ; layer cake: (UK: ''sandwich cake'' or (in the context of cakes) ''sandwich'' ; learner's permit : a restricted license for a person learning to drive, who has not yet passed the necessary driver's test (rules vary from state to state); also called ''driver's permit'' (UK: ''provisional driving licence'') ; Out of left field, left field *: a notional source of unexpected or illogical questions, ideas, etc. ("that proposal came out of left field") Defined by the Merriam-Webster online American dictionary as having American baseball-related origins ; Outside (Alaska), (the) Lower 48: used mainly by Alaskans, this is a colloquialism for the 48 Contiguous United States. The more general term ''Outside'' may be used for any part of US territory outside Alaska, such as Hawaii or Puerto Rico as well. ; license plate*, license tag : vehicle registration plate (UK: ''number plate'') ; lumber : wood used for commercial purposes (UK ''timber'') ; lunch meat : another term for luncheon meat (UK and US)


M

; mail carrier, mailman : a person who delivers mail to residences and businesses; also ''letter carrier'' (UK and US: ''postman, postwoman'', although the term "postal worker" is encouraged so as to remain gender-neutral) ; Main Street#American cultural usage, main street : The principal street of a small town or city, on which most of its retail businesses are situated, or a metaphor for smaller cities and/or small businesses in general. The phrase "Wall Street vs. Main Street" (or variants thereof) is sometimes used to make the distinction between big and small business (UK: usually ''high street'', although ''main street'' is commonly used in Scotland). ; mass transit : (UK: no equivalent, but the broader ''public transport'' comes close) ; math : mathematics (UK: ''maths''). ; maven : expert, guru; from Yiddish. ; midsize : medium size ; Miranda : (Miranda warning) the warning (usually "You have the right to remain silent. If you give up that right, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law." etc.) given to criminal suspects before interrogation; (Miranda rights) the rights stated in the warning, as established in the United States Supreme Court case ''Miranda v. Arizona''; hence ''mirandize'', to recite the Miranda warning to (a criminal suspect). In the UK this is referred to as "reading rights" or "cautioned as to his rights" (not to be confused with a police caution). ; mohawk : a type of haircut (UK: ''mohican'') ; mom, momma, mommy, ''also'' mama*, mamma : mother (UK often: ''mum[my], mam, ma'') ; mom-and-pop : single-family operated small business ("a mom-and-pop store") (UK and US: family business) ; mono / mononucleosis : (UK: ''glandular fever'') ; mortician : (UK and US: ''undertaker, funeral director'') ; moxie : courage, daring, and energy as in "This guy's got moxie!" (from an advertisement for an American soft drink from Northern New England)


N

; narc / nark : law enforcement narcotics agent; but 'to narc on' someone is to inform on them to an authority figure, used also as a noun labeling a person who does such (UK and New Zealand: ''grass'') ; New York minute : ''(colloquial)'' an instant, a very short time period ; night crawler : earthworm or worm ; nightstand : encompassed by bedside table ; nightstick : historically, a police officer's weapon (UK: ''truncheon'') ; nix: nothing; to cancel or disallow ; normalcy : normality. Used, although not coined, by President Warren G. Harding ("a return to normalcy", Harding's 1920 presidential campaign slogan)


O

; obligated : (archaic or dated in UK; UK and US: ''obliged'') ; obstruction of justice : (England and Wales: ''perverting the course of justice''; Scotland: ''defeating the ends of justice'') ; off-the-rack : clothes bought straight from a store (UK: ''off-the-peg'') ; oftentimes *: often (archaic in Britain but colloquial in America, especially clause-initially) ; ornery : irritable, crotchety, cranky, troublemaking (from ''ordinary''); very mild and may situationally be used affectionately ; overpass *: (UK and US: ''flyover'')


P

; pantyhose : (UK: ''Sheer fabric, sheer tights'') In the U.S. "tights" is used for similar non-sheer garments; "pantyhose" refers only to sheer or semi-sheer nylon-based tights ; paper route : a regular series of newspaper deliveries (UK: ''paper round'') ; parking garage : multi-storey car park ; parking lot : a usually outside area for the parking of automobiles (UK: ''car park'') ; penitentiary : prison; gaol/jail. ; penny-ante : (adj.) petty, insignificant—from ''penny ante'', poker played for a very low ante ; person of color : a person who is not white people, white. See also colored. ; plastic wrap : thin, clear plastic used for covering or wrapping food (UK: ''cling-film'') ; Plexiglas : Trade name for Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), a transparent thermoplastic sometimes called "acrylic glass" (UK: ''Perspex'') ; plumber's butt or plumber's crack : buttock cleavage, also called ''the working man's smile'' (UK: ''builder's bum'', ''brickie's bum'' or ''builder's cleavage'') ; plushie, plush toy : soft toy (UK: ''cuddly toy''). Also in the U.S.: ''stuffed animal'', not to be confused with a dead animal mounted by a taxidermist. ; Popsicle (brand), Popsicle : A trademarked brand of frozen juice, or flavored ice on a stick. The term is widely used to describe all such confections without regard to brand. (UK: ''ice lolly'') ; porch pirate : Person who steals packages from unsuspecting customers' porches or front door areas. ; powdered sugar : (UK: ''icing sugar'')


R

; English language idioms derived from baseball#R, rain check : used metaphorically to indicate that the person cannot accept the current invitation but would like to be invited to a future event. Stores may give a coupon to purchase the item later at the advertised price. Originated in the US as a coupon given to a baseball ticket-holder when a game was cancelled because of rain; it would entitle the holder to attend a replacement game for no charge. ; railroad : (UK and US: ''railway''). Also, to send someone to prison without a fair trial. ; raised pavement marker : commonly called ''reflector'', ''Botts' dot'' or ''cat's eye'' (UK: ''cat's eye (road), cat's eye'') ; rambunctious : excessively boisterous ; rappel : to descend on a rope (UK: ''abseil'') ; Realtor (trademark): member of the National Association of Realtors; as a
genericized trademark A generic trademark, also known as a genericized trademark or proprietary eponym, is a trademark or brand name that, because of its popularity or significance, has become the generic term for, or synonymous with, a general class of products ...
, any real estate broker or real estate agent (UK: ''estate agent'') ; restroom : a toilet, particularly a public one. ; RIF, RIF'd : abbreviation for Reduction In Force; i.e. to be honorably discharged from employment (UK: ''redundancy'', ''made redundant'', ''laid off'' *, ''paid off'') ; roil : to render muddy by stirring up the dregs of; as, to roil wine, cider, etc., in casks or bottles; to roil a spring; also, to disquiet or disturb (also ''rile'' in the sense of "to anger", ''riled up'' for "angry") ; roustabout : an unskilled laborer, especially at an oil field, at a circus, or on a ship. Used in the oil industry in the UK. ; rowhouse : (UK: ''terraced house'') ; Rube Goldberg machine, Rube Goldberg device : Absurdly complex machine (UK: ''Heath Robinson device'') ; rutabaga : the turnip ''Brassica napus napobrassica'' (UK: ''swede'') ; RV (recreational vehicle) : see article for usage of the terms ''RV'', ''motor home'', and the British ''camper'' Mand ''caravan'' M; RV park : (UK: ''caravan site'' or less usually ''caravan park'')


S

; Saran wrap : (trademark) plastic wrap. Increasingly genericized without regard to brand. (UK: ''cling film'') ; sawbuck : sawhorse; also a United States ten-dollar bill, ten dollar bill (so named because some designs incorporated the Roman number ten, or "X", which resembles a sawhorse) ; scads : great amounts ; scallion *: also used in Ireland; also known as ''spring onion'' in Great Britain and the US ; scalper : ticket tout ; Scotch-Irish Americans, Scotch-Irish : (North) Americans who are identified as having descended from Scottish people who settled in Northern Ireland and Irish Protestants; also ''Scots-Irish'' (UK: ''Ulster Scots people, Ulster Scots'') ; Scotch Tape : (trademark) sticky tape (UK: ''Sellotape'' [trademark]) ; scuttlebutt : gossip, rumor; originally meant water fountain (UK: ''rumour'') ; self-rising flour : self-raising flour ; shill *: a person pretending to a member of the general public to lend credibility or excitement to a confidence scheme; e.g., a person who claims to have received benefit from snake oil. Recently popularized in the UK by eBay ("shill bidding" or bidding to drum up excitement with no intention of buying). The UK equivalent to a shill would be a "plant", from having someone "planted" in an audience or amongst bystanders. The term "plant" is equally used and understood in the United States. ; shredded cheese : grated cheese ; shuck : the husk of an ear of maize, corn (maize), an oyster shell, etc.; used in plural to mean something worthless or as an interjection ("shucks!"); (verb) to remove the shuck; also, to discard, get rid of, remove ("I shucked my coat") ; shyster*: A lawyer or accountant of dubious ethical standards. This phrase commonly indicates a person with no ethical restraints. (From German Scheister) ; sidewalk : usually paved path for pedestrian traffic, often constructed of concrete or less usually of stone (UK: ''pavement'' M ''footpath'' M legally ''footway'') ; sidewalk superintendent : someone spectating a construction or demolition job (UK: ''bystander'' M ; skim milk : (UK: ''skimmed milk'') ; skosh : a little bit. See also List of English words of Japanese origin ; s'more : (usually pl.) A camp fire treat consisting of a roasted marshmallow and a slab of chocolate sandwiched between two pieces of graham cracker. Contraction from "some more" ; sneaker (footwear), sneaker : (usually pl.) a form of footwear, also called ''tennis shoe'' or "gym shoe"—see regional vocabularies of American English (UK: ''trainer'', ''plimsoll'', regional ''dap'', ''pump'', M ; snuck : colloquial past tense and past participle form of "sneak" (US standard and UK: ''sneaked'') ;soccer : used in the UK but the sport is mainly known as "football" (or fully as association football); historically most common among the middle and upper classes in the UK (i.e. outside the game's traditional core support base); more common in Ireland to avoid confusion with Gaelic football. In the US, an unqualified reference to "football" would normally be understood to mean American football. ; soda fountain : (see article) ; soda pop : (UK: ''soft/fizzy/carbonated drink'' [with CO2 e.g. Coca-Cola], ''pop'') ; sophomore : a second-year college or high school student (Trinity College Dublin has ''sophister'' in this sense); (adj.) the second in a series (as in, an athlete's "sophomore season", a band's "sophomore album") ; specialty *: (UK: ''speciality'', though ''specialty'' is used in law and medicine) ; special election : (UK: ''by-election'') ; spelunking : exploring caves for fun: (UK and US: ''caving'')(UK: ''potholing'') ; spring break : an extended holiday or party for students occurring during March and April (UK: ''Easter holiday'') ; spyglass : a telescope or set of lenses used to observe subjects at distance (once common in UK usage, but now only in dialect) ; station wagon : an automobile with extended rear cargo area (UK: ''estate (car)'') ; steam shovel : a large mechanical excavator (UK: ''digger'' or J. C. Bamford, ''JCB'' (genericized trademark)) ; stenography, steno (short for "stenographer") : (UK: ''shorthand typist'') ; stickshift, stick : (car with) manual transmission, as opposed to an automatic transmission, automatic (UK and US: ''gear stick'' or ''gear lever'' for the stick; ''manual'' for the car) ; stool pigeon, stoolie : police informer (UK: ''grass'') (from the use of captive birds as hunting decoys) ; stop light : (UK and US: ''traffic light'') ; streetcar : vehicle on rails for passenger ''transportation'' Musually within a city; also called ''trolley'' Mor ''trolley car'' if electrically powered by means of a trolley (UK and US: ''tram'') ; strep throat : a sore throat caused by ''Streptococcus'' ; stroller : vehicle for baby transportation featuring the child in a sitting position, usually facing forward (UK: ''pushchair'', ''buggy'' M ; SUV * : ''Sport-Utility Vehicle''. A 4×4 ("four by four") in the UK; in the US "4×4" usually refers to a four wheel drive pickup truck ; sweatpants: (UK: ''track bottoms'', ''tracksuit bottoms'')


T

; tailpipe : exhaust pipe ; takeout : (UK: ''takeaway''; Scotland and US also ''carry-out'') ; teeter(-totter), teeterboard : (UK and US: a seesaw) ; telecast : to broadcast by television ; teleprompter : (see article) (UK: compare ''autocue'') ; thru* : Through. An abbreviation mostly used in the fast food industry, as in ''Drive Thru.'' Also used in traffic signs ("Thru Traffic Keep Left"; i.e., traffic that is continuing through an interchange rather than exiting should keep to the left) and occasionally road names ("New York State Thruway") and sometimes in newspaper headlines. Seen in the UK at McDonald's, Burger King etc. ; thumbtack : short nail or pin with a large, rounded metal head suitable for driving in by hand (UK: ''drawing pin'') ; track and field meeting * (track meet): (UK usually ''athletics (sport), athletics meeting'' M; see also ''track'' M; trackless trolley : a trolleybus; see ''trolley'' in M; trash : rubbish, waste. Originating in Middle English and used by Shakespeare, the term fell from use in Britain. See also "garbage" ; trashcan : (UK: ''dustbin'', ''rubbish bin'', ''bin'') ; travel trailer : (UK: ''caravan'') ; turn signal : direction-indicator lights (UK usually ''indicators''; US and UK also ''blinkers'' M ; two-bits : literally, worth 25 cents or a Quarter (United States coin), quarter (a ''bit'' is an eighth of a dollar); figuratively, worth very little, insignificant (informal). (UK: ''Two shilling coin, two bob'', but almost obsolete and more common in London and the south-east; likewise Mickey mouse#Pejorative use of Mickey's name, ''Mickey Mouse''). ; two cents, two cents' worth: an opinion, a piece of one's mind (as in, "I'm gonna go down there and give him my two cents") - (UK similar: ''two pence'', ''two penneth'', ''two penn'orth'' or ''tuppence worth'')


U

; undershirt : an upper undergarment with no collar, and with short or no sleeves, worn next to the skin under a shirt (UK: ''vest'' M ''semmit'' in Scotland and Northern Ireland ) ; upscale : relating to goods targeted at high-income consumers (UK: ''upmarket'') ; uptown : (noun, adj., adv.) (in, to, toward, or related to) either the upper section or the residential district of a city; e.g., in Manhattan, New York City the term refers to the northern end of Manhattan, generally speaking, north of 59th Street; see also Uptown, Minneapolis; Uptown, Chicago; Uptown New Orleans; compare ''downtown''. Often has implications of being a desirable or upscale neighborhood. However, in Butte, Montana and Charlotte, North Carolina, Uptown Charlotte, "Uptown" refers to what would be called "downtown" in most other cities.


V

; vacationer : someone taking a vacation M(UK: ''holidaymaker'') ; vacay : informal shortening of ''vacation'' (comparable to UK ''hols'') ; vajayjay : (slang) vagina ; variety meats: offal ; vermin, varmint or varmit : (UK and US: ''vermin'')


W

; washcloth : (UK: ''flannel'', UK often and US less frequently ''facecloth''; US less frequently also ''washrag'') ; washrag : See ''washcloth'' ; wastebasket : synonym for trash can, especially one intended for light waste (UK: ''wastepaper basket'') ; weatherization* : weatherproofing of buildings, occasionally used in the UK but would be spelled weatherisation ; windshield: the front window of an automobile (UK: ''windscreen'') ; winningest: superlative of adjective ''winning''; having most wins or championships (especially in sporting contexts) ; wiseguy: a mobster; also smartass (e.g., "hey, wiseguy…") ; woodsy : abundant in trees, suggestive of woodland, woods; woody, wooded


Y

; y'all : (regional — Southern American English, Southern American, African-American English, African-American, and Appalachian English, Appalachian) contraction of ''You all'', used as second-person dual or plural pronoun. (e.g., "''Hey, are y'all coming to the dance?"'') Also ''all y'all'', comparable in meaning and register to north-English, Northern Irish and Scottish "''youse, yous''". ; yellow light : as in the color at a stoplight (q.v.) or traffic lights (UK: ''amber'') ; yinz, yunz, you'uns : (Western Pennsylvania, especially Pittsburgh English, Pittsburgh) plural ''you''; derived from ''you ones''. Likewise ''youse'' in Philadelphia.


Z

; zee: name of the last letter of the English alphabet (UK: ''zed'') ; zilch: nothing, zero ; zinger : a witty, often caustic remark; something supposed to cause surprise or shock ; ZIP code : (for ''Zone Improvement Plan'') the postal code used by the United States Postal Service composed of 5 digits as in Beverly Hills, California, 90210, sometimes a suffix of 4 digits after a hyphen is used. (UK equivalent: ''postcode'' or ''post code'' or rarely ''postal code'') ; zipper * : (UK usually ''zip'' M ; zucchini : the plant ''Cucurbita pepo'', also zucchini squash (UK: ''courgette'', closely related to the larger ''marrow'')


See also

* List of words having different meanings in British and American English: A–L * List of words having different meanings in British and American English: M–Z * List of British words not widely used in the United States


References


External links


British and American terms
Oxford Dictionaries {{DEFAULTSORT:American Words Not Widely Used In The United Kingdom American and British English differences, *Words, American, not widely used in the United Kingdom, List of Lists of English words American English words Wikipedia glossaries