Quick Word!

To avoid burnout, I'll try to be a bit more brief with my posts, but continue sharing out differences that I discover or that occur to me over time. Today's realization: Americans prefer the word "almost" over "nearly". For British people it would appear the opposite is true.

Dialects of Britain

I'm a bit of a language geek, so yes, it's back to some more about the English language here in Britain (I did warn you). In America, we have our own regional dialects. Let's try to list some of them.. You've got the Northern bunch (probably North Dakota, Minnesota, Ohio, and such) they don't all sound the same as each other, but I would say similar, you've got the Southern bunch (pretty much West Virginia and downwards), you've got New England, you've got the Midwest and west (which I can't even tell the difference between even though I from the Midwest). There is a pretty good amount of variations. Oh! I almost forgot your good ol' fashioned Texan accent, it is worth mentioning after all.

I'm sure if you really were picky about how you class dialects, you could find some variations on each region, and add a few. (maybe more if you include city accents such as, Philly, New York [and it's Burroughs] and others). Now, with that in mind, let's compare that to what I've found about Great Britain.

Here in Britain, there seems to be a universally known skill that people have. They can tell you where some one's from (whether it be a part of London or a city somewhere in the backwoods) just by hearing you talk for a short period of time. People in town's that are a 15 minute drive away can have a different dialogue that my wife can pick up on and can tell me where they're from. Now, I don't know how well versed the entire population is, but it seems to me that most people can do this. Given this revelation, you can imagine how many different dialects of English there are in Britain. There are tons (to give an American expression).

Yes, the United States is much larger than the UK, but I would say, as a norm, most of the United States isn't that varied in speech. I think there's something about movies and tv, maybe even the fact that we intermingle and move around so much that there is still a good cohesion of language. That said, I have absolutely no theory on why in the world you can drive a short distance here in the UK and the dialect changes. It would be interesting to find out why, maybe someone's already found out and wrote a book on it. Maybe I'll have to look into that.

The good thing about most of these dialects is that if you know English, you're pretty safe in that you'll understand them. For about the first 4 months that I lived here I did have some problems understanding the Cardiff accent. I learned quickly to just give a friendly smile as I asked them to repeat themselves so as not to be rude. The main problem I seem to have is when people throw in a word that I don't recognize or say a word that we pronounce differently.

Because I like lists, let's go over a few words that are pronounced differently in Britain:



                                      American            British Pronunciation

                                    Controversy        Cont-trer-vissy
                                    Aluminum             Al-loo-minium
                                    Yogurt                   Yah-gurt
                                    Urinal                   Your-eye-nal
                                    Garage                  Gair-edge
                                    Titanium                Titt-anium







There are more and I will do my best to catalogue all the ones that I happen upon so that you can be aware of them.


- An American in the UK

"England and America are two countries separated by a common language "

So maybe George Bernard Shaw knew what he was talking about when he said that. Even today there are times when I look confused when someone asks me to "give it a bash" or someone else looks confused when I ask for fries (chips over here) with my burger. It amazes me how much we've changed directions with the English language since the 18th century in America.

There are so many different words and phrases that are used in the UK that I have compiled a fairly long list of them. I plan on sharing them throughout my posts, but I'll give you a good list of them now to go away with and feel a little more experienced in what words mean what.

American	British
Thanks	Ta, Cheers
Ornery	Cheeky
Isn't it?	Innit?
TV, Television	Telly
Disappointed	Gutted
Cash Register	Till
ATM	Cashpoint
Fries	Chips
Chips	Crisps
Jello	Jelly
Jelly	Jam
Restroom	Loo
Pants	Trousers
Underwear	Knickers, Pants
Friend	Mate
Great	Brilliant
Good Looking	Fit
Car Hood	Bonnet
Car Trunk	Boot

If you would like me to elaborate on any of these examples or provide you with an example of how these words would be used in every day British, let me know.

As you can see, there are some words that would easily confuse someone if you use any of these words an American context. I constantly call chips fries which will normally get you a strange pause before figuring out what you're talking about or before they say "excuse me?" Just think of it this way.. It's probably hard enough to understand what in the world I'm saying in the first place with my American accent (yes, we all have one, we just don't think of ourselves ever having an accent), not to mention I'm asking for the wrong thing entirely. It's easy to get caught in the trap of thinking that everyone should know what I mean. How hard can it be? Don't you watch TV? You should know what fries are! But, then you realize that you're not in Kansas anymore (to quote probably the worst and most overused joke that people like to state to someone from Kansas; if you don't know what I'm talking about maybe you should google the Wizard of Oz and read up on it..)

Maybe I was a little harsh in the first "official" blog. I didn't mean to discourage you commenting at all. Please do leave a comment, just don't descend into anarchy in the comments. I would really like to hear from you, the readers, as to what you would most like to have discussed. You control the topics, let's remember that. I just write about them. So, right now, you're giving me free reign to write about whatever I want to. This means that I'll be writing about language and geography (since they are favorite subjects of mine) and you won't get as much of the cool stuff or stories. Also, if you have an experience from travelling to the UK that you would like me to integrate into the different topics, feel free to email me (again, at USAmericanintheUK@gmail.com) and I'll be sure to pass your story along and give a link to your blog if you want me to.

I think I've rambled on enough for one post. Hope I actually hear from some of you this time.. or else. (you've been warned)

-An American in the UK