20 MORE Words Brits and Americans Say Differently

British English and American English share the language but some of the vocabulary is very differently. Here are 20 more words Brits and Americans say differently.
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[@schenzy]

Just as a little trivia: The origin of the slang word "buck" for "dollar" goes way back more than 250 years to the frontier. Deer skins were called "buckskins" because a male deer is called a 'buck' so when the the mountain men and the frontiersmen came down into the town to get supplies, they brought their deer skins or buckskins to use as payment, because they didn't have any money. The store owners would accept buckskins for payment, and generally set the exchange rate to be 1 dollar for 1 buckskin, or buck. So that is how the word 'buck' became the slang word for 'dollar'

[@EatSleepDreamEnglish]

Fascinating! Thanks for sharing schenzy

[@TR4200]

Carwin Byington In poker a Buck knife was used as a dealer chip. If you had the buck knife in front of you then you where the dealer. If you "Passed the Buck" to the next person he became the dealer. There is also "The Buck Stops Here" players stoped placing bets once it reached the dealer.

[@moimeself1088]

So interesting. Thanks y'all! 😊👏🏾👏🏾

[@kristenslice561]

1 buck skin was worth 5 doe skins.

[@kennkid9912]

Umm in 1768 in America they used the English money system. Pounds, shillings,pence etc. Dollar comesfrom Thaler which I think is Dutch???

[@GreyMann2]

"Sweets" is used in America, too. It's a phrase that includes: candy, pastries, cookies, muffins, cakes, pies, etc.

[@boxsterman77]

Or for endearment, hence the well-known expression "Sweets for my Sweet."

[@RunrigFan]

We also say line too

[@janeythompson1834]

Not really correct; in the example he gave, you don't say, 'I'm going into the store to get some sweets'.. you would say, 'I'm going to get some candy'.. if you want pastry, you say specifically WHAT KIND OF PASTRY; a muffin, or cookie, or eclair.. if you want a piece cake or pie.. you say a piece of cake or pie!! Those are not a pastries..

[@RunrigFan]

@@janeythompson1834 plus depending on the state

[@GreyMann2]

@janeythompson1834 I would say "sweets" if referring to a variety of sweets. Just like a person dieting might be told "Stay away from sweets"

[@Trip_Fontaine]

Interesting stuff. In America we say "pavement" too, but it means something different. Pavement refers to the smooth surface of a road, sidewalk, tennis court, etc. It describes what those things are made of, rather than their function.

[@efretheim]

More importantly, the pavement, in some parts of the country, is the part of the road the CARS are driving on. In other words, opposite of what the Brits are saying.

[@trish6526]

I'm American and the one British phrase that used to confuse me was "car park". I had no idea that it meant the same thing that we call a parking lot in America. After listening to enough books by British and Australian authors, I finally figured it out!

[@giftofthewild6665]

Oh come on... It's in the name... 😂 Did you think it was a playground for cars or something? What else would it be??

[@yomuno2511]

Ever notice how we also park our cars on the driveway and drive cars on a parkway?

[@giftofthewild6665]

@@yomuno2511 parkway sounds like you are driving through a park. Driveway makes sense if you know where it came from - in huge country estates in UK the entry gates of the property are often quite a distance from the actual house. The drive or driveway is the long road (usually compacted gravel or occasionally cobble stones, these days may also be paved or tarmac) connecting the gate to the main house. Originally carriages pulled by horses would have been driven up the driveway to drop passengers off at the house. Your driveways are tiny in comparison but the same word is used.

[@robertcartier5088]

#20 UK: National Insurance Number US: Social Security Number Canada: Social Insurance Number. We try to remain neutral whenever we can... ;-)

[@peggyallen326]

In Australia we have a Tax File Number (TFN), however this isn't used for any identification purposes, only ever needed by employers/banks etc that need to make sure you're being taxed correctly.

[@tabithaerickson5767]

@@peggyallen326 we call that Employer Identification Number (EIN) in the US.

[@hoosiermama16]

Lol

[@tube5998]

In Japan recently introduced MY NUMBER. Yes we say MY NUMBER in Japanese.マイナンバー

[@canman5060]

Forgive me father for I have SIN.

[@geoffreyspain3554]

The Most amazing thing I learned: Brits call periods "full stops"??? Seriously??? I had no idea! But as an American, I'd also like to make a couple of corrections: 1. We don't say Grade 1, Grade 2, and Grade 3. We say First grade, Second grade, Third grade, and so on. 2. We wouldn't say "I live in a project." We would say "I live in the projects."

[@EatSleepDreamEnglish]

Thanks for those Jeff. Very useful!

[@BStop22]

Jeff Blair however, just because someone lives in the projects, it doesn’t always mean they’re government funded. It could just be a bad area of a city or a ghetto.

[@Kanoock]

Grade 1, Grade 2, Grade 3 is Canadian.

[@elaineb7065]

Try it from our perspective. We in the UK grew up with full stop = little dot at end of sentence. Period = amount of time, or more specifically, the female menstrual cycle. And we DO NOT end sentences with that!!!

[@jonok42]

Brooke Stop then it wouldn't be the projects.

[@jeremykossen5057]

"I live in a council estate" sounds so much better than, "I live in the projects." 🤣"Council estate" actually sounds posh (to an American ear).

[@stephenrobinson3128]

And yet to this English ear exactly the opposite applies!

[@josephstalin1561]

@travpoet Let me reassure you that council estates are neither posh, nor expensive

[@texastmblwd69]

Maybe it’s better in a way though. I mean both are referring to a poor, high-crime area, right? “The projects” just sounds horrible and, everyone knows it so these places are being dismantled all over the US and people are given discounts (called “Section 8”) to live in normal housing in less crime-ridden areas.

[@xjadit7826]

Council estates are rough AF definitely not posh 🤣 but I get it if you hear it with out knowing what it is or going to one I get why it might sound posh 😂

[@billybugh4774]

My family used the word sweets for all sugary foods. Cakes, cookies, candy So candy is it's own category of sweets.

[@modestoca25]

In American English we say we're in 2nd grade or 6th grade, not really "grade 2" or "grade 6". Also, we do use the word "pavement" but it refers to more than just the sidewalk and includes anything covered in concrete including a driveway, etc.

[@jayrhodes3766]

Most definitely! I caught that one, too. "Grade 2" just sounded odd to me.

[@ScottKnitter]

In Canada they'd say Grade 2, not 2nd Grade.

[@maddi_mu]

@@ScottKnitter Yeah well we're not talking about Canada

[@creatingonpurpose7131]

I've always heard pavement referring to blacktop areas, as opposed to concrete. "They are paving the road" "keep the car on the pavement" etc. Maybe it's specific to my regional dialect?

[@superdrew8564]

Driveways in concrete?

[@jeremykiahsobyk102]

The "ZIP" in ZIP code is actually an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan.

[@stephenl2571]

Jeremy Kiahsobyk tell me why I never knew that lol

[@MXEMMXIII]

And he’s not referring to the zip code, he’s actually talkin about “area code”

[@cyberlaser100]

MXE.MMXIII area code is the first set of numbers in a phone number in the u.s.

[@drivernjax]

@@stephenl2571 It's possible that you are rather young. Prior to the mid-1960s we had 10 postal zones in the US, 0 - 9. To improve the postal delivery here, it was decided to give each state its own set of numbers 5 digits long beginning with the original postal zone number. The state then assigned a set of numbers to each county within the state. Some cities were big enough to have exclusive rights to the first three digits. For example, Jacksonville, FL, has exclusive rights to 322, in other words, Jacksonville/Duval County, FL, is the only place that can use 322XX. All large/major cities in the US have that situation, including New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Houston, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, to name a few. (Some like New York and Los Angeles have several of these.)

[@ferryface3809]

i never knew that... interesting.

[@zendyk]

This isn't really about words we SAY differently. It's actually about how we call things by different names.

[@ecphorizer]

Yeah, like "something" in the US and "sumfin" in the UK, or that lady in the Viking Cruise commercials: Exploe-ing the hot of Europe, or exploe-ing the wuld. Now there's HRH King Cha-ulz. Did all the R's migrate to Belgium?

[@HenryCabotHenhouse3]

I was thinking exactly the same. Some words we say differently are schedule, herb, lieutenant, taco, etc.

[@dianehillman7808]

​@@HenryCabotHenhouse3 how do you say lieutenant and taco in Britain?

[@Karen_DNP]

We are saying or describing the same things differently, so technically he’s correct or spot on.😉

[@stephanieashton8835]

@@dianehillman7808 Based on movies/TV, I believe they say lieutenant "lef-tennant." No idea about taco, unless they say "tack-o"? 🤷‍♀️ lol How else could you even pronounce it unless you make it rhyme with Waco (way-co)?

[@yusufjohnson9357]

Growing up in the Midwest United States my parents would often say sweets as well, but it was generally a catch-all for all types of desserts including candy. So they might say, "you can't have any sweets until you've eaten your dinner."

[@giftofthewild6665]

It's used that way in UK too sometimes 😊

[@itakemytime1156]

Probably because they were 1st gen immigrants...

[@lawrencescafuti5107]

My late father worked for years in the postal service, and zip in American English was originated by the postal service to mean zone improvement plan. Prior to zip codes, we used postal zones, e. g., 17 was zone 17. In Jacksonville, Florida, this became the zip code 32217.

[@dallasmed65]

The word Buck originated from selling actual buck skins in the early days of America.

[@tmeyer2022]

Correct. "Buck" originally referred to the male deer which is usually a bit larger than then the skin of a "Doe" or female deer. As 18th century traders began to penetrate our western frontier, the term "Buck" morphed into meaning deer skin without reference to gender.

[@heleneschenbacher8512]

Do you know where “Dixie” comes from? It’s the fight song for EVERY Southern High School. -It’s NOT the Mason-Dixon line. -The French settled Louisiana. A “ten note” is a “dix.” That’s “ten” in French. The French pronounce it “dees” but we called it a “dix.” (Probably because we are dicks.) Sorry-Trump is pissing me off.

[@heleneschenbacher8512]

@Ted I guess you’ve never been hunting? The male deer is MUCH bigger than the female doe. Look at dairy cattle. The dairy bull is humongous! Why? I guess they used to fight to protect their all female herd. Well we bred THAT out of them. Go to a state fair. Go to the dairy barns and look at a Holstein bull. We had Herefords on our ranch. Traded bulls with neighboring ranches to get different genetics. These SOBs were YUGE. We put a pierced ring through the nose as that was the only way to control a bull on a ranch. Pretty tender. I did learn to jump our 6’ tall gates when that SOB came after me!

[@GunUDwnAt2nd]

Nice! I had no idea.

[@chryslerleeleee7013]

Thanks for this comment learning allot.

[@DylanDixon]

American postcodes (zip codes) don't have any letters. They're a sequence of 5 numbers.

[@hazcatsophia]

Technically the state code is part of the zip code. CA 91701 for example. Back in the 70’s, we used Calif. as a short version of California. When they started making us use the zip code, we had to change it to CA.

[@stevendanderson8943]

By the by, the American phrase "ZIP Code" [original spelling] comes from the US Post Office's Zone Improvement Plan. During the 1950s and 1960s, in order to make mail sorting easier, instead of cities being divided into zones (e.g., Chicago 6, Ill.), all States were given two-lettered abbreviations, and the entire nation was divided into zones (e.g., Chicago, IL 60606). During the 1980s, four additional digits were appended to zip codes (called ZIP + four), and used mostly by businesses and inner cities where people and businesses in areas with large population densities wouldn't have wait all day for their letters and packages.

[@HollywoodF1]

The two-letter postal code for the state is not part of the ZIP Code; it's a separate entity within a properly formatted address for mail in the US. The ZIP Code does not become any more accurate when you add a state code to it because the first 3 digits are always peculiar to a state.

[@jayexonauts5587]

Yes! It's an acronym! And should always be capitalized (people forget that). Thank you!

[@stevenpoe640]

This is correct. You don't even have to put the state code and it will still get there with just the ZIP.

[@AlienAbles420]

4:46 In American we would say "I'm in the second grade." Not "I'm in grade two"

[@reginaldbl]

When using a nonordinal adjective in the U.S. year is used. Sophomore year, junior year.

[@nancygilbert7630]

I so enjoyed this! We’re Canadians and spent 2 years in England in the 80’s. We had to learn a whole new vocabulary. Wheelchairs and baby strollers = pushchairs, sidewalk = pavement, flashlight = torch, green grapes = white grapes, running shoes = trainers, private school = public school, high school leaving exams = O levels, chips = crisps, French fries = chips, in shape = fit, crosswalk = zebra crossing, bathroom = toilet, sweater = cardigan or jumper, parking lot = car park, etc, etc.

[@HippieVeganJewslim]

How is public school the same as private school?

[@StinkyCatFarts]

@@HippieVeganJewslim Because if you can pay the fees you can go to it. State schools are entirely funded via the government through municipalities where the schools are based, you have to normally live within the locality to go to a state school.

[@mariehager1555]

In the south we sometimes say tennis shoes for sneakers

[@thegreypath1777]

In Ohio, we say: “tennis shoes”.

[@ChicagoMcErin]

Detroit =tennis shoes. Regardless of your affinity for tennis. Chicago =gym shoes. Don’t forget gym shoes on Tuesdays.

[@criskity]

In American English we would say "I'm in third grade". In Canadian English, they would say "I'm in Grade 3".

[@rasdan172]

CNVideos grade 3 eh

[@snakedude61]

You beat me to it

[@davidburrow5895]

Yes, Americans always use the ordinal numbers for grades in school.

[@deathbeforedecaf7755]

We say both in the States actually. Depends on context

[@pipping393]

That's right. I've never heard "grade 3" lol that sounds so odd

[@dennisdmenace2416]

In English, if someone says "Has anyone seen my rubber" means that you are looking for an eraser. In American, it means that you are ready to have sex and seek protection.

[@rexsexson5349]

Pretty much

[@lesliekhanna8044]

Dennis D'Menace yeah!😂😂😂 it’s like asking to be knocked up in the morning. Way different meanings.

[@jenniferlynn329]

I had also heard of rubbers as meaning your rubber galoches for protecting your shoes from getting wet. (I haven't used them since the 70s.)

[@dennisdmenace2416]

In England, they are called wellingtons.

[@NeonBornSpartan]

lol

[@robinswamidasan]

I'm native to India and lived for 30 years in the US. I went to schools started by the British, so I imagine the English we spoke was British English. Back in my youth, 40 to 50 years ago, we used to say "ring" for the act of placing a telephone call, as in "I'll give you a ring in the evening.", or "Give me a ring tonight.", or even "Ring me tonight." And we used the word "engaged" if the person we tried to call was using the telephone. I learnt these differences pretty soon after reaching the US. Picture the consternation if I had ever said -- "I tried to give her a ring but she was engaged." Days off from work were termed "leave" in India, as in "She's on leave.", whereas in the US they say "vacation". I once surprised my boss by saying "I want some leave.". He thought I was going to quit. BTW, you could explain that in Britain there are private schools that are not Public Schools. There are only seven official Public Schools: Charterhouse, Eton, Harrow, Rugby, Shrewsbury, Westminster and Winchester College. They were given independence from direct jurisdiction by the Public Schools Act of 1868. There were two other established private schools at that time (1860s) that successfully argued for exemption from the Public Schools Act, viz. St. Pauls and Merchant Taylors'.

[@giftofthewild6665]

Yes sounds like you learnt British English. We also say "ring" for the act of placing a telephone call, and it's "engaged" if the person you are calling is on another call.

[@anndeecosita3586]

Americans also say leave but there are different kinds. Sick leave, maternity leave. Also if you work for the military or any government agency you likely have what is called annual leave.

[@PurnaRodman]

Ring is fully understood in the US, even if it's not the first choice.

[@Nikioko]

"You have nice pants." - "Oh my God, can you see them???"

[@durfeetaylor1112]

Sandpit sounds terrifying to be honest lol when Americans hear the word “pit”, it’s almost never preceded or followed by anything good lol

[@JAGraptor]

Sandpit sounds like a trap.

[@kcpwenatchee]

oa Did you just say gorgeousness? 🤣🤣🤣

[@keveneven1410]

Taylor Durfee Tar Pit

[@TheSnyderWeb]

Hahaha yesss

[@lyonnylton8344]

Im American. But I have heard of the word sandpit being used as a turm for saying the word quicksand by a American.

[@mileycassandra8743]

How about "biscuit"(UK) and "cookies"(US)?.Thanks so much for a fantastic lesson.👍

[@guybythedoor88]

And scone (UK) is a biscuit (US). Never heard that a period was a full-stop in UK.

[@ohlookmarki]

What I know is that "cookie" in the US is derived from "koekje" from Dutch (not sure about the spelling though). And the American version of biscuit (which looks like a scone) is mostly a southern and, sometimes, midwest thing. Scones are still scones in the East and West coasts. In those states, 'biscuit' is used only in southern-based restaurants like KFC and Popeye's.

[@woestynkusdorp6554]

A scone is different from a biscuit. An American biscuit is highly fat. A homemade scone is like a silver dollar pancake. The store bought ones are more like muffins. There is a lot of fat and little flour in a biscuit.

[@cherylwright8080]

woestyn kusdorp really didn't know that considering the main ingredient in a biscuit is flour. I don't know why other countries have such trouble with understanding​ of what a American biscuit is. The average biscuit has 2.3 grams of total fat compared to the 6g of carbs which comes from the flour with a total of 49 calories so I'm not sure where you got you info but its wrong.

[@Zakimals]

Biscuits are different to cookies, cookies have the chocolate chips they're round and they're made from cookie dough biscuits are smaller and they're less sweet i dunno its just different.

[@danielliu22]

One more thing to add...I really like 'stag party' and 'hen party,' I intend to incorporate those into my daily speech. So much more colorful and descriptive than 'bachelor' and 'bachelorette.' Well-played to our neighbors across the pond for those ones, I'm totally using those from here on out!

[@catwhisperer9489]

I live in the South, and I've heard "hen party", all my life, but it means women gettin' together, and jawin' (talking). "Stag party", down here, means bachelor party. I lived in the U.K. for a couple of years, and I found it interesting, that alot of words that they use, my grandfather, used, and we called it "old English".

[@misseden0218]

I teach English to foreign students. I sometimes get confused because my Chinese students learn British English while my Korean students learn American English. Thanks to your videos, I learn a lot! Happily subscribed. 😊😊😊

[@capmango]

Canadians say "grade two". Americans say "second grade"

[@ryoushii]

We also only use grades through high school. In the US we refer to years once you move on to college.

[@donbags5542]

@@ryoushii Sometimes. Mostly we say freshman year, junior year, etc...

[@donbags5542]

@Tony Chalmers ...that wiring has saved the world and has had it's presence on the moon. It also has sent things that ramble about on Mars. Canada's wiring makes it *mandatory* to use certain pronouns against your will. But it has--thank God--given us Jordan Peterson and Mark Steyn. So I'll give 'em that.

[@disoriented1]

@Tony Chalmers I love Canada!..but as most all Canadians I have met do not wish to be mistaken for USAers..this USAer does not wish to be mistaken for a Canadian!..we share a continent..and that's about it! :P

[@mkzkopi]

Same with English-speaking Filipinos. "Grade K- Grade 12". In college, then they say 1st year college- 4th year college.

[@juliepigois3330]

AM. "Pants" vs. GB "Trousers": In America, everyone recognizes the word "Trousers," but it is considered more antiquated and used more specifically than "Pants." "Trousers" are more formal than "Pants" in America. In America, all Trousers are Pants but not all Pants are Trousers. Trousers are considered more exclusively Mens' ware. Trousers are usually part of a Suit or a Uniform. "Pants" are a more Universal term. Jeans, for example, would be considered Pants but NOT Trousers. Another term is "Slacks." That would refer to less formal wear than Trousers, but more formal than Jeans. Formal Womens' leg wear is more often referred to as Slacks than Trousers. Slacks would be seen as more comfortable than Trousers, but less comfortable than Jeans, which should be made of Denim. When it comes to GB "Pants": That would be GB Mens' "Pants" or Womens' "Knickers." "Underpants" would refer specifically to Men's undergarments around the crotch while "Panties" for the Womens' equivalent. "Underwear" can refer to any garment worn under clothes including undershirts, light T-shirts worn under clothing, bras, girdles and panties, but more likely to be used in reference to men's GB Pants.

[@jenniferlynn329]

I also (currently) say britches half the time. Instead of pants. And I'm 100% PA American. "Lemme pull up my britches. Or, my britches are falling off me."

[@annathiika5755]

I love this one, it's gotten so complex over time.

[@billyblueboy903]

Many of those words are used occasionally in America now and then, and often we understand the British meaning even when it's not something we'd normally say in everyday speech. One of my favorites is the word "biscuit", which in normal American usage is a kind of bread. But if you wanted to convey the British meaning, then you could just call it a "sweet biscuit" instead, especially if you were in the South. I remember my great-aunt used to serve tea and "sweet biscuits" (aka cookies) every afternoon when my brother and I got home from school. It's a bit old-fashioned nowadays, but it's still used that way on some cookie packages and I think most Americans would still understand the meaning.

[@giftofthewild6665]

I believe your "biscuit" is something like an English scone. We also use the word cookie but only when referring to a specific type of biscuit.

[@alexrafe2590]

Yes but a biscuit that’s more American style, like chocolate chip cookies, or oatmeal cookies. It’s one of those American words that’s bled into British English, to describe something that’s similar but in a slightly different style to what Brits are usually familiar with. A similar situation is Brits using the French word for cake, but not just any cake, a cake made in a fancy more ‘European’ way that Brits often call a gateau. I found the reference to a ‘sweet’ biscuit in America interesting. Though I’ve lived in England many years now, I’m from the South and I’ve never heard of a sweet biscuit in the States, in the English sense of a biscuit before. For me, in America biscuits always just meant the American version of a scone. I remember once shortly after arriving in England going into a KFC and (knowing that the British version of an American biscuit was called a scone) asked for a scone with my meal and the server behind the counter looking at me as if I was insane.

[@emilym8614]

I’m studying British English but in Japanese school, they teach American English so this KZbin is very helpful for me!! From Japan.

[@LiftingLena]

I'm from the U.S. I grew up referring to "candy" as "sweets." My grandma, from rural Arkansas, used this term more than candy. I still use it more so than candy.

[@yomuno2511]

Same here in rural Georgia. When I say candy it is specific to hard candy and maybe "candy bars".Sweets include those as well as cake, pies, doughnuts, etc.

[@groush]

I was outside a restaurant in San Francisco when a British woman walked up to me, looking somewhat exasperated and asked me, “where’s the queue?” I thought she asked me, “where’s the Q?” I told her I didn’t know and all she did was continue to ask, just louder each time. I found out a few days later that queue is synonymous with line.

[@johnlee072092]

Gary Roush here in the philippines we use queue not line when we are talking to foreigners

[@keikotantan570]

That's it mean line 😂

[@BorisValkov]

now why didn't you show her to the billiard (pool) hall? they got enough cue's (look it up on etymology online :) )...

[@MasterLink924]

That’s when you should have said “I reckon next to T and U”

[@amritawhitman8112]

That's interesting about "maths" - I've heard that used in British TV and films and I wondered why you say "maths", but it makes sense that it's an abbreviation for mathematics! Thank you!

[@jayteegamble]

Makes me wonder if Brits shorten economics to econs. Like "I'm trying to register for Econs101."

[@jeremykossen5057]

We definitely use both terms, "CV" and "Résumé," however, they're not interchangeable. CV is generally a long-form résumé. For most occupations, people don't submit a CV; they submit a résumé. However, in certain lines of work (e.g. academia, research, consulting, law, medicine, etc.), CV is commonplace.

[@babbischristos8275]

"Résumé" is the short version of the CV that is resumed to a page or two. in Scandinavia is called: 'Personal Letter'

[@schs1977]

As an American, I have never heard a resume referred to as a CV.

[@tester3x]

I've never used or heard of CV being interchangeable for resume. Then I read your list of where CV is commonly used. That made total sense... I'm just a truck🤓🥺

[@boxsterman77]

Excellent point.

[@fionagregory9147]

CV stands for curriculum vitae which is Latin for life history. I did Latin for two years at school. England of course.

[@schnonk]

Cut and fried potatoes: American: (French) Fries British: Chips Lays, etc. American: (Potato) Chips British: Crisps

[@jenroses]

Crunchy sweet butter ... damn, cookies, biscuits: Americans: Crisps Brits: Biscuits Soft, quick, usually baking powder raised buns: Americans: Biscuits Brits: Scones seriously, we're going to London in 2 days and I'm just glad I'm gluten free because none of that is going to be relevant.

[@yomuno2511]

Pretty much true. I used to think the crumbles from the batter from fast food fish was the 'chips'. Pringles uses crisps for their product.

[@yomuno2511]

I saw a travel show years ago about Belgium. Supposedly fries originated there (always served with Mayonnaise), and they despise France getting the credit as they call them Belgium Fries. Nearly 20 years ago, when France didn't want to participate in the Iraq war, many Americans started calling them 'Freedom Fries'.

[@ramonmontalvo1506]

In America if you live in a housing project. We say “ I live/you live in the projects.” Or “ I’m going to the projects.” It is referred to as “The Projects”

[@marcom6089]

It’s interesting to know that in the UK y’all call the period a full stop. The funny thing about that is that it makes sense to me for one reason. In Spanish the period plays three roles for a lack of a better word. *Punto y Aparte:* is the equivalent of the UK’s _Full Stop_ the only difference is that in Spanish it means the end of a paragraph. *Punto y Seguido:* is sort of like a _Brief Stop_ or the end of a sentence within the same paragraph. *Punto Final:* is the _Final Point_ of the story, term paper...etc. I know it’s probably too much information that I just typed but that’s how my brain works. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@aspenrebel]

Do the British say "is your girlfriend having her full stop"?

[@rudiadanr1741]

I being a Mexican learned American English, but when I saw your video, I relate more to the british words, because the literal translaton resemble more the spanish language. At first I got confused with first floor being on the ground floor.

[@StevenCobble]

Having spent many short "periods" of time in England during the 90s (while stationed in Germany), I was familiar with these terms and have to add a few - 2 that actually got me into trouble. 1. While waiting for my British girlfriend to finish class, I was hanging around in the Oxford library and a very pretty young lady asked me if I had a rubber... ?! Odd thing to ask a stranger, but why not? I was a 19 year old American soldier, so "yes I do." She waited expectantly, so I pulled it out and handed it to her. SHE SLAPPED ME! Turns out "rubber" - American for condom - is Brittish for an "eraser"! 2. My girlfriend's very proper father and brother, whom I've only just met, are standing beside me just inside my girlfriend's flat. My then girlfriend starts coming down the steep stairs from her room, having just changed into a skirt for going to dinner. I think it's rather chilly out and ask her if she shouldn't rather wear some "pants". She was so embarrassed that she started back up and then ran down to explain to her father and brother that pants in America were jeans or Levi's! It was quite an angry moment with all eyes on me, and my eyes wide - I was lost. Finally, she explained to me that pants in England were what Americans call "panties"! Oh,...oops One of my favorites was that "crosswalks" were called "zebras". To throw me off even more, the e is pronounced with a "short e" instead of the American pronunciation with a "long e". Immediate confusion when I'm already driving on the "wrong" side of the road and my girlfriend is telling me to watch out for the guy about to step out into... what sounds similar to an African striped horse - there in downtown London! Eat Sleap Dream English, Great video blog! Thanks, mate.

[@C-Lightning]

😂 😂 😂

[@drivernjax]

And all this time, I thought the Brits called panties, bloomers. I guess I learned something today.

[@melc2370]

LMAO...

[@beverlywrigglesworth9450]

@@drivernjax And I have heard them called "knickers."

[@drivernjax]

@@beverlywrigglesworth9450 Yeah. I'd forgotten about that. I also had forgotten that Americans used to call panties "bloomers", too.

[@Sforeczka]

I think that in American English, "math" is an uncountable noun, like water or sleep or air.

[@Sforeczka]

All of us? That's a lot of people to be too literal :)

[@PITAmommy]

oa how does that make us too literal, in British English it's called maths because there is more than one where us because we simply shortened mathematics by taking the first 4 letters. So that said in this case that make britian the more literal ones.

[@tru47agent]

@@PITAmommy true

[@fordhouse8b]

Sometimes languages and words just change, and there is not any reasoning behind the change. That is not to say that there are not reasons for the changes, just not consciously thought out reasoning. I tend to believe that the reason Americans dropped the s was for reasons of simple economy, which of course is one of the major causes of language change. Otherwise we would all still speak whatever language was spoken by Australopithecus, long before Proto-Indo-European, Proto-Afroasiatic, etc were ever conceived of.

[@gacaptain]

I think the British say "Maths" with an s because there are different kinds of mathematical subjects (arithmetic, algebra, geometry ,trig, etc. ) so that makes sense. Still sounds weird to my American ears though. Lol

[@vickieclements695]

In America, while you might say "I want candy", your Mother might say "no, you've had too many sweets"

[@markirvine5936]

When I was traveling in England, the strangest word I saw was a sign along the road. No Tipping. It took two weeks for me to figure out what the meaning was. I heard someone say, "Take the rubbish to the tip-stir." Then I knew it meant, No Littering.

[@margefoyle6796]

Yeah, reading certain authors I learned that a 'tip' in the UK is a 'dump' in the US, and a 'skip' is the UK equivalent of a 'Dumpster'.

[@alikacerto2280]

I am an American and I LOVE these videos. It is so fun to hear the differences in what we call things. I want to make a few comments on what came to my mind when watching- Here in the U.S. I have actually never heard of "CV" for what we call resume. Next while it is grammatically correct to say for example "grade 5",we would say "5th grade." So My daughter is in the 5th grade." On to "sandbox" we only say sandbox if it is surrounded by a barrier. With wood slats or something like that as walls of the box. If it has no boarder, like you, we call it "sandpit". And we do call athletic shoes "sneakers" but in some parts of the U.S. we call them "tennis shoes". I don't know why. Very few people actually play tennis, but that is what we call athletic shoes. And we don't pronounce the s at the end of tennis. So it would sound more like ten neh shoes. I am not sure if I saw all of your British/American words so forgive me if I suggest words you've already covered. But here is a list of ones I could think of. In the U.S. we say "elevator" you call them "lifts." We say "shopping cart" you say "buggy" I believe. We say "cookie" you say biscuit" I think. We say bathroom for the room we use the toilet, you say "lavatory". We call it bathroom even when there is no bath or shower in the room. I don't know why. 😊Here in the U.S. we say "drug store" for the place where you get your prescriptions filled by a pharmacist. Especially when the establishment sells lots of other things such as make up, hair products, greeting cards, snacks, etc. The area where the pharmacist works (always off limits to the public) we call the "pharmacy." I believe you say "boot" when use "trunk" of the car. We say "windshield" where you use windscreen." There are so many more. I love your videos. As a native English speaker I have no idea what "present perfect" or other grammar terms mean so those who are learning English as a second language will know more than most of us! We studied that way back in elementary school (primary school, another difference) but not beyond that. Thanks for your videos. You are so pleasant and fun!

[@JohnnyK60]

Alika Certo I have heard CV used here, but it's more formal. A sandpit to me would be something industrial, like a gravel pit. I don't recall seeing a playground (play area) where the sand wasn't in a box.

[@alikacerto2280]

John Speer I asked my husband if he'd ever heard of CV. He had heard of it but, yeah, we don't use it, We have sandpit volley ball courts in our parks and the kids play in them more than people actually play volleyball. 👍

[@Christian-vq8rd]

CV is generally used in more academic settings.

[@pascalphillips277]

I have always heard "tennis"with the "s" prounounced.I also live in a part of the country where tennis is quite popular.

[@elaineb7065]

In the UK we shop with a trolley, which you in the States would probably think was a tram...

[@ridealone7933]

You forgot a Flat in the UK is an apartment in the US.

[@billstokes6740]

When I was a young man in the Detroit suburbs ,a second floor rental apartment was referred to as a flat. Maybe because there were so many European immigrants in the area.

[@aiccorp6001]

in Japan they call an apartment a mansion...pretty far off.

[@spykeex69]

A flat in USA would be a flat tire

[@harrisond8132]

A flat in the US is an apartment on one floor, so a triple decker is comprised of three flats. A building with two apartments that are side by side, both with two storys or more, are called townhouses.

[@paulgutman3157]

It's nice to hear someone from across the Atlantic with a respectful attitude toward (s) the way English is spoken here. Both varieties are perfectly respectable, especially when used by speakers who care about the language. (Many speakers don't.)

[@sarahfullerton6894]

5 years plus down the line: here in the U.S. , by region, trainers/sneakers are also called "gym shoes", or "tennis shoes", as well as "sneakers"!

[@fred3467]

Actually in the US we simply call housing projects, "the projects" not " the project."

[@katieleitwein1417]

Often we don’t say sneakers , at least not in the Midwest , we say tennis shoes ( often lazily pronounced as tenna shoes)

[@nour_osman]

Yes in California too.. or just shoes 😅

[@MasterLink924]

Over here in SoCal we just call them T-shoes because we can’t be fucking bothered with long words!

[@danclay8229]

In the south, I hear "tenny shoes".

[@sandrapak4811]

Yes, I grew up in the midwest and said tennis shoes. On the east coast its sneakers.

[@TheNoFluke2007]

I'm from Michigan (Midwest) and you are spot on with Tennis Shoes and the pronunciation of "tenna shoes"

[@austinnorrid8637]

In American English a CV and a résumé are different things! A résumé should be one page only and list your work experience or accomplishments. A CV can be longer than a page and can include longer summaries of each thing job or accomplishment you list!

[@austinnorrid8637]

www.thebalancecareers.com/cv-vs-resume-2058495

[@BigWillyG1000]

And CV is mostly in academic contexts not jobs.

[@NeonBornSpartan]

So a CV is like a portfolio in American English?

[@NeonBornSpartan]

Oh shit, nevermind ;p

[@dramaturge231]

I use them interchangeably. Teachers and advisors have given me assignments to write resumes of two pages.

[@barbaramatthews4735]

We sometimes use "sweets" in America. Cookies, cakes, ice cream would be sweets as well as candy. (Cookies in America are biscuits in the UK. In the US a biscuit is something similar to bread but it doesn't have yeast.)

[@greatcaesarsghostwriter3018]

"Liquor store" and "license plate" are what we say in California. In other states, with different liquor laws, they are often called "package stores." License plates are also called "car tags."

[@yomuno2511]

In Georgia we say package mostly and sometimes liquor or party. Our offices to get plates is even called the "tag office".

[@mrschuyler]

"Tags" is used for the yearly stick-on that shows you paid your yearly fee. It's about an inch square. The paperwork for that tag is called a "tag receipt" in some states, "registration" in others. The "license plate" is the large metal rectangle that displays your license number.

[@jtanaka7549]

Pavement is blacktop, like a road. We also use sweets if we feel risky.

[@renebaatenburg4048]

Weird. Pavement to me is any road, parking lot, sidewalk that is made of concrete. Blacktop is asphalt.

[@sapphiregoddess2357]

Rene Baatenburg roads are ashvalts to black tops and roads are one in the same the only difference is one you aren’t allowed to drive on tbh

[@BigWillyG1000]

Same here. It's literally the road and sidewalk because it refers to the material not its use.

[@williamaaronkelly7485]

I think that’s the thing. They’re vocabulary is more generalized and ours gets more specific. Like sweets to us are desserts and includes candy. Pavement can include courts, sidewalks, roads, etc.

[@jenniferlynn329]

Could you imagine a British adult telling an American child to "go outside and wait on the pavement for me" .... then walking outside to find the child standing in the middle of the street!! (Cuz you said pavement[our asphalt] instead of sidewalk.)

[@blancaw6280]

10:43 in America they are most commonly called license plates but sometimes they are also referred to as "tags" as well in some regions.

[@catatonicbug7522]

The "tags" are the little stickers you put on the plate each year (or every couple years) to prove that you have paid your "license" fees, allowing that vehicle to be driven legally. You go to the DMV (department of motor vehicles) to get new tags for your car each year or so. The license plate stays the same for the length of time that you own the car.

[@jorugarushia9167]

Tags are the little stickers you put on your license plate.

[@Captain_E0]

In Texas we usually say tags to refer to license plates or sometimes shortened to plates. A lot of it is honestly interchangeable. We also don't put stickers on the license plates, we put them on the windshield.

[@catatonicbug7522]

@@Captain_E0 was not aware of the windshield sticker thing! That's interesting, since, in CA, it is illegal to put stickers on your windshield, as it might obstruct the view of the driver.

[@KatyWatson173]

Also we move our plates they don’t stay with the car when we sell or trade the car in I know in England the plates stay with the car for life.

[@HollyMendence]

Very interesting video! Just an addition on the topic of liquor stores in America: in some parts of the country like the Mid-West, people refer to liquor stores as party stores. This gets confusing when you go west and they refer to a party store as literally a store where you buy party supplies. There, they refer to a store where you buy liquor or spirits as a liquor store 😊.

[@jimmyvollman7596]

In The South, you often hear them referred to as "package stores." However, if you "hit a liq" (liquor store) it means you robbed the liquor store and got away!

[@iamme6773]

I live in New England, and we sometimes use liquor store, but a lot of the time it's package store or packie. Like, at a party someone will do a "packie run" to get more beer.

[@ravenlake9873]

In Virginia, because the only stores allowed to sell hard liquor are state-run stores, they're called "ABC stores". I'm from upstate NY and this really threw me when I moved to VA.

[@yomuno2511]

@@ravenlake9873 Same in North Carolina. I think it means Alcohol Beverage Commission. In South Carolina, no wording is used, just large red dots. Don't want to offend the church folks with the word liquor. I think that's why package store is often used.

[@joyingham4424]

A “packy” in New England. Short for package store. Not sure why. Maybe to do with prohibition and hiding your booze.

[@pilotgal6191]

ZIP stands for “zone improvement code.” It was abbreviated to zip code. 🙂

[@tstcikhthyss]

Zone Improvement Plan. That's what the P comes from.

[@MsTwister57]

The Zip codes are all numbers. There are no letters in zip codes. Usually 5 numbers and if you happen to know them there is a - after those numbers and 4 more numbers if you want to narrow it down even more. Ex: 89502 or if u want to be more precise it might be 89502-2544

[@benx2230]

When ZIP codes were first introduced, it was marketed as a way to speed mail delivery by zipping your mail to its destination.

[@greatcaesarsghostwriter3018]

@@benx2230 Also, the Postal Service had a cartoon character, Mr Zip.

[@jacquesdubins7005]

Hey Tom, I am Canadian. Curiously we are in the middle using some American words and some British. You may want to include in your list: torch for flashlight, lift for elevator, lorry for truck. Additionally, I noticed that the Brits use brilliant a lot. You are doing a fantastic job teaching ESL. Cheers...Jacques.

[@VoteforAndrewYang]

Jacques Dubins I asked a Canadian if Canadian English is a hybrid of American and British English , she said yes. Could you confirm that?

[@EatSleepDreamEnglish]

Thanks Jacques Dubins!

[@MissMovinOn]

Banana Land It’s really mostly American.

[@matts6139]

@oa There's some things different we have postal codes not zip codes, we have grade 10, 11 and 12 in high school not sophomore, junior and senior. Sneakers are runners and a buck is a loonie. Real estate agent not realtor.

[@WeekdayWeekend]

To Americans, "pavement" is just anything paved with asphalt or concrete. Usually in comparison with something else, like grass. The example, if I was driving on a dirt road, I might tell my friend "I would much rather drive on pavement." As for the maths/math, I believe it's because we used to say arithmetic when referring to mathematics, and arithmetic and mathematics might've gotten mashed together into the word math, making it no longer plural. Saying "grade 3," etc. is very proper, and usually it's only written like that on paper. When spoken, we say "3rd grade" Until highschool or so, when it's more common to say Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, Senior, (9th-12th grade respectively). It could also be important to note that with Americans, public school (or state school in the UK) is usually much much more common. Very few students in the USA go to private schools before college, or ever pay for education before college. Public school is normal.

[@drivernjax]

Actually, I think the reason we Americans say math is because math is simple basic mathematics, i.e. 1 + 1 = 2, whereas the more advanced mathematics are algebra, trigonometry, calculus, etc. and we separate them in that manner.

[@craigrohn9938]

I wouldn't say "very few students." It depends on location. Traditionally most inner city Catholic neighborhoods in America sent their kids to Catholic private schools and while that isn't as common any more the vast majority of American private school children are going to religious-based schools and in some areas still enroll a significant percentage of pupils. What is rare is the percentage of American schoolchildren attending non-religious private college preparatory schools, because of the high tuition fees.

[@jon9103]

@@drivernjax No, math is not just basic mathematics, it is mathematics. The two words are completely interchangeable.

[@BorisValkov]

Up to the early 17th century, the word was singular (mathematic) on both sides of the pond... it was kept singular in the US in the shortened form, where as in Britain the shortened form was also pluraliz(s)ed...

[@gregblair5139]

Note that "Zip" originally was an acronym for "zoning improvement program." What used to be written "Bronx 68, New York" is now written "Bronx, NY 10468." That is the Bronx had been divided up into zones. The national code from Bronx county is 104 and this is prefixed to the existing zone 68. In some cases, the zone numbers may have changed. Other, less populated, localities may not have had a zone assigned prior to zip code assignment.

[@lcam9241]

Interesting a lot of the British words are actually used in America as well. Perhaps less frequently though.

[@dalergirl13]

In America zip code doesn't have letters and public schools used to be called public school. And expensive schools are private schools

[@luiszelayandia9964]

I guess we shorten mathematics to “math” because the word is (Math)ematics, regardless of it being a plural word. However, instead of “math class”, we say “math” and “two math classes” is sometimes said “two maths”. For example “how many math classes do you need to take?” could be said “how many maths do you need to take?”

[@judithham2320]

I have never used the plural maths.

[@MrEsMysteriesMagicks]

A couple of clarifications from an English teacher in America. In America, we do use CV, but it's a specific type of résumé, one that goes into much more detail than a standard résumé. They're not used often, but they do occasionally come up. It is not a zip code. That's a common myth even in the US. It's a ZIP Code with the capitals. "ZIP" itself is an acronym for "Zone Improvement Plan," hence the capitalization. (Amusing side story: I live in the city right next to the town that has the lowest ZIP Code in the entire country: 01001. The reason that town got that particular ZIP Code was that the mother of the postmaster when the codes were introduced in 1963 lived in that town and he wanted her to have a number that was easy to remember.) Americans are often denigrated for using the term "soccer." However, this was originally an English term, short for "Association Football." Over the years, England moved away from it, but the US kept it, mostly to differentiate it from our own game of football (which, frankly, would be more accurately named "American rugby"). In northeast US, a liquor store is more commonly called a "package store" and just like you Brits calling your off-license store an offy, we refer to a package store as a "packy."

[@JustMe-dc6ks]

In Britain, ‘paki’ would be a racist term for someone of south Asian descent.

[@MrEsMysteriesMagicks]

@@JustMe-dc6ks Interesting. Fortunately, "packy" is a very regional term in the US, used mostly in New England and perhaps one or two other northeastern states. We're not very likely to use it in Britain.

[@Meinstein]

In Michigan.. and surrounding areas.. a place that sells liquor is called a "party store". What I call it is, "regularly".

[@ecphorizer]

Early mail distribution in larger cities was helped by the intoduction of zones. You might send a letter to a person in San Francisco and the line after the street address might be San Francisco 10 Cal. That routed the letter to the district (zone) sorting center, and on to a delivery route. The zip code was introduced in 1963, and was designed to further improve the zone plan. The letters ZIP are an anacronym of Zone Improvement Plan, which nobody knows (I had to look it up myself!) The term Zip Code has turned out to be used informally in many other countries, as it is almost universally recognized.

[@SunnyTheOpossum]

I can’t be the only one who imagined a bunch of deer and chickens when he described a Britain bachelor/bachelorette party.

[@normaninconnu3633]

Bing Bang Australians often say bucks' night instead of stag party.

[@kenlieberman4215]

Stag party used to be common usage in the U.S. - but never hen party.

[@billstokes6740]

A hen party sounds like a group of older ladies having a Saturday night Bridge Game.

[@Thataliah]

In Canada, we call it a stag and a stagette. Party is sometimes added on, but often the 'party' part is implied.

[@rhondachapman3190]

hahaha

[@tnorthrup1986]

also, in american English the grade is always ordinal. I'm in 6th grade. not grade 6.

[@alexmg107]

Tim Northrup Where I'm from in America, we use them interchangeably, but this might be where I'm from in America

[@JohnnyK60]

6th grade is American; Grade 6 is Canadian.

[@Armygirlsdad]

In Ohio, 6th grade is normal conversation while grade 6 is more formal, but both are used.

[@Armygirlsdad]

Also, some English-speaking countries talk about 2nd year high school or 2nd year college, while we have names for it in the US. High school can use the number(th) grade or the name. Like 9th grade or Freshman, 10th grade or Sophomore. College, it's just the names. Freshman, sophomore, junior, senior for the 4 years.

[@graceenstine1486]

Thought the same thing.

[@mylifeintheusa4720]

I grew up in Germany learning British English. I have lived in America for 20 years. Some of the British words Inever heard and some I learned a long time ago.

[@eve3363]

We use "year" for post secondary education for example, "I'm in my 3rd year of college."

[@clairemanning5334]

Eve also, what you call college, we call university.

[@diesterntaler]

In Malaysia, we supposedly learn British English at schools, but due to Hollywood influence, we are using a lot of American English words. However, we can understand words used in both dialects as we regard them as synonyms, and words from both British and American English are used interchangeably.

[@trailer323]

Also, instead of "License Plates", we just say "tags". It's slang for the same concept. "The cops pulled me over because my tags were expired."

[@danyagood6132]

Actually, your Tag would just be the sticker you put on the license plate, rather than the plate itself.

[@aspenrebel]

@@danyagood6132 No!!

[@johnbutler5650]

Here in the states, “ sweets “ is sort of an “envelope” term for candy in general and will also include sweet breads/rolls and pastries. “ Candy “, like so many American English words, is ACTUALLY an ENGLISH word ( middle english to be specific ) . It derives from “ Sucre Candi “ which is french of some stripe. We probably just used it in the way that was popular in the 18th century when the original colonists made the crossing; and because we Americans like to live by the saying “ if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” Just kept using it ( much in the same way we kept “ Soccer “ after it was coined in Britain ) .

[@jessiebridges7255]

I live in the south and liquor stores are often referred to as package stores - less so now and usually by older people or natives. When many counties or cities were dry you would drive to a neighboring community and come out of the store with a package. Liquor in a brown paper sack.

[@jayrhodes3766]

I noticed with the "year vs. grade" comparison that your example was that American English says "grade 2" but rather we say "2nd (second) grade". That was the only one that sounded a bit off to me. Really intriguing about all the differences! Gotta love English and all its forms. Thanks for sharing!

[@benwashburn8553]

Here's a good one for you: 'just about'. When an English person says it, they mean someone just barely made or achieved something. When an American uses it they mean they just barely missed it! So in England if you 'just about' made a goal, you just barely snuck it in the net. In American if you 'just about' made a goal, you just barely missed the net! "Fred 'just about' passed his driving test." Whether he passed or failed depends on if he's in England or America--in England he passed, in America he failed!

[@anniehaycock1426]

On a similar note - 'lucked out' seems to me intuitively to mean you missed out on something, but actually it means you got lucky with it.

[@deborahfenley5825]

In the south (USA) you'd say, "Fred damn near passed his drivers test". lol

[@justabitofjunkie2595]

Fake news. Same in both countries. Context matters.

[@BeautySavesWorld]

I am originally from Armenia, used to live in the UK for 6 years, now live in Australia. We learn British English in Armenian school, Institute, so that is what I am used to. But most importantly I literally adore British accent

[@giftofthewild6665]

Australian English is basically British English with loads of Aussie slang.

[@ericdowdy2362]

I'm from the south eastern U.S. and some of the things we say are a little bit different than everyone else. We call the thing kids play in a sand box. Lots but not all people in the construction/hauling industry refer to the place where sand is sold in bulk by the ton as the sand pit. "I called the sand pit and ordered 100 tons." "I just left the quarry and I'm headed to the sand pit." I didn't hear the word sneakers until I was 13. We called them tennis shoes or tennyshoes, or even tennies. "Should I wear my boots, or do I need to wear my tennyshoes?" Government housing or the area of town where the hoising is located is the projects. "I live on the east side of town but he lives in the projects." License plate is a tag. "My tag expires next week."

[@jaws1698]

In America if you prove yourself worthy you are allowed to skip grades, hence why we don't use year to talk about school levels.

[@DarthSanguine]

I think we do that in the Uk as well, and also you can be kept back a year (repeat a year) if need be.

[@jenniferlynn329]

I haven't heard of anyone in public schools in PA skipping grades in decades.

[@jeannieshyam3696]

In India a grade is called "Standard" or "Form" - As an example a 7th grade in America would be called 7th form or 7th standard.

[@Mutexop]

@@jenniferlynn329 I live in PA too, and a lot of kids skip grades. And a lot of kids in high school graduate from senior year a semester early, if that counts as skipping grades.

[@torispaide1347]

@@jenniferlynn329 I live in PA and go to a public school and know quite a few people who skipped grades lol

[@kimberlywingfield5050]

Slight adjustment to the "housing project" slang here in the US; someone who lives there would usually say "I live in the projects", not "a project". Great video, though!

[@AlienAbles420]

4:27 In American you put (to have) after "allowed" and before "candy".

[@GrimmFLawless]

I’ve noticed British English uses the word “estate” a lot

[@songbird989]

Here's a little food for thought that no one seems to think about...America is composed of 50 states and everyone speaks differently so we confuse each other sometimes! lol For example, pancakes hot cakes and flapjacks are all the same thing but people call it different things.

[@EatSleepDreamEnglish]

Good point songbird989.

[@elaineb7065]

Pancakes: things we have on Shrove Tuesday, made of batter, cooked in a pan & served with lemon juice & sugar. Flapjacks: oats, butter & syrup mixed together which is then baked in the oven & cut into small pieces for a sweet snack. Apart from the expression "selling like hot cakes" I have never in the UK heard of a hot cake as anything other than reference to a cake's temperature.

[@TheSnyderWeb]

Eat Sleep Dream English yeah it's basically 50 separate countries if you think about it that way. They're all different and have their own cultural norms and dialects and stuff.

[@templerman1]

Oh yes! My Mother was English. When I first asked her to make some pancakes for supper, she made something I had never seen, I was five. Instead of pancakes, she made crapes. And not with Maple Syrup. Instead with whipped cream blackcurrent preserves and rolled up with powdered "confectionery" sugar sprinkled on top. Who knew?

[@billstokes6740]

I lived the first 12 years of my life in Arkansas. There were English, Scottish,German ,Dutch and African American . The American English is made up of a combination of all these. God Bless America.

[@johnlabus7359]

Zip Code comes from Zone Improvement Plan. State schools in the US usually refer to publicly funded universities that are associated with an individual state. Most of the British terms that you've shared are understandable to many Americans. Of course, the amount of understanding will vary depending on the individual term and the individual person.

[@jchow5966]

Thank you for explaining the candy/sweets thing.

[@kathybest741]

Your videos are fascinating! Keep it up. Please!

[@aspieatheist6040]

We don't use CV for resume in the states. In fact, I've never heard it called that, and I didn't even know it was called a CV in the U. K.

[@TheSnyderWeb]

Joseph Bailey I hear CV a lot. I'm in Cincinnati. I mostly hear it just for very high end jobs, never for "regular" jobs. And I do not have a high end job so I don't use it lol

[@HollywoodF1]

Use of CV has increased in California, but it is not yet preferred to resume.

[@sluggo206]

A resume is a one-word summary of your strengths. CVs are mainly used for academic jobs like professors. They're much longer and list every course you took, every paper you published, every job you had, etc.

[@alibabtou4917]

Résumé in French it means summary. So a summary of the career path.

[@sluggo206]

I said "one-word" summary, but I meant one-page of course.

[@MM-jm6do]

In America we don't say grade 2 or grade 8. We say 2nd grade or 8th grade.

[@hoops136]

Good one! In Canada they say grade 2 etc.

[@psycholove]

and it annoys me to the end of the earth when people outside of america ask "what is that" when its literally exactly like what they are saying but switching grade behind the number.

[@christiandrescher6609]

I love these videos. I love these videos. Really educational. Really educational.

[@edwinafrankford6347]

I needed this advice 50 years ago when I came to the US and now Canada. I had to pick it up slowly and it was very hard, and it still is not completely obvious to me. I mix up the words and phrases, depending who I am talking to.

[@aspenrebel]

Depending upon to whom I am speaking. Never end a sentence with "to". But I do it all the time texting/typing on the net.

[@persephonehades7547]

We say "math" because it's not called mathsematics.

[@lennyo5165]

No we don't say maths however that seems a bit more correct since it is short for mathematics with an s.

[@deathbeforedecaf7755]

It may be more logical to say maths but it sounds strange.

[@PITAmommy]

Persephone Hades I was told it's because we don't teach all the different types of math in one class we have algebra and geometry and so on where in England they aren't separated though I'm not sure there is truth to that.

[@vampyrangel1982]

grammarist.com/spelling/math-maths/

[@bambino9235]

Kara Menchaca i always assumed whenever i heard americans say "i have algebra next" or "i have geometry first thing" it was because they were referring to the specific maths topic they were studying at the time, i didn't reslise it was because they were all separate lessons. That's crazy. Do they do all the maths topics for the whole year? I can't imagine how you could stretch a single maths topic for that long

[@webbtrekker534]

Been reading a lot of the comments, (gave up after a few hundred), and come to the conclusion, the thing forgotten by most is that American English is an amalgam of many languages being spoken by many non-English speakers to each other. The "English people" have been on one small island for 3000 years and evolving the language pretty much in isolation. (I know there have been invasions, etc over the years) whereas America had to evolve on the "fly" so to speak. Shortly after Independence there was a big push to distance America from England and a number of free thinkers began stripping away much of what was seen as "nonsense" in the language such as removing all the "useless" letters in words and making things spell much more phonetically. English had acquired many spellings from French and trying to pronounce a word phonetically made no sense; "programme" for example, the last two letters made you say "programy". So the "useless" letters were removed. American English is FULL of French, German, Spanish, Native American, Hawaiian, Swedish, Polish, Russian, Chinese, Japanese and who knows what else because people were just trying to talk to each other. Overall the attempt to simplify the language so all could understand it created "American English" A good KZbin program is an old American PBS TV program called "The Story of English"; kzbin.infoplaylists It was later re-filmed in England using English actors but presented almost word for word to the original. Check it out. I know this is long and wordy but I hope I was able to get the "gist" of what I was trying to say across.

[@gwilson314]

Your first paragraph is not even close to true. American English is the continuation of the English spoken by English-speaking colonists from England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. It is as old as British English, diverging from the same tree of English during the 1600's. It has adapted some unique non-English loan words independently from Britain (such as lasso, taco, resume, dreck, etc.), but the overwhelming core of English spoken in America was derived from native English speakers who came from the British Isles. American English did not arise due to an "amalgam" of foreign speakers--throughout its history the dominant cultural/linguistic group in America has been Anglos. Your second paragraph has some truth to it; Daniel Webster changed and formalized the spelling of many words that led to differences such as color/colour, center/centre, etc. But this was an intra-English issue. Speakers from other languages played no part in this. Do you actually think that the few thousand Japanese immigrants to the US had a major effect on American English? Sayonara and sushi are the only Japanese word I can even think of. Hawaiian words such as luau are also rare. Polish words, how about pierogi? From Russian, we get vodka. I'm guessing a few of the words are used by British English as well. Foreign words adopted into English are almost always nouns--that is specific nouns referring to a specific type of item unique to that culture. They were adopted because English had no word to describe the item.

[@peterstaiff2211]

A thing also to remember is that English itself is made up of so many different European languages, including French,German, Spanish, Italian (Latin) Norse(Scandinavian) etc. So it is also an evolutionary language.

[@marcialandakanebeaulieu9229]

Well done and worthy of all the words you used.

[@aspenrebel]

@@gwilson314 Most people from Scotland, Wales, and Ireland, back in the day, did not speak any English or at most very little English. They spoke Scottish, Welsh, and Irish.

[@marlenalinne7958]

I love Tom because I learn sooo much from him. In this video, I noticed the difference between British and American diacritical markings. Interesting. Keep up the good work.

[@EvaSawicka]

Great explanation!

[@michaelkarpinski1537]

As an American this was enlightening.

[@mr.buckeye6557]

No shit. Our idiot president doesn't know how to speak English.

[@mr.buckeye6557]

@unitedkingdom offiveeyes Russia meddled in both US & UK elections. & we don't elect presidents directly. It's dumb people like you that ruined ur fucking country. UK will be a lot worse without EU membership. I hope there's another referendum.

[@kennethsanderson442]

I'm from the USA. I love the way you Brits talk. I grew up watching old British shows on our local public tv station (Doctor Who among others). One small nitpick, we would say "4th Grade, 8th Grade, 12th Grade", ect. Not Grade 4, or Grade 12. Just FYI. Keep up the great work. Love your vids!

[@abuelax8]

We can also use stag party as well as a bachelor party.

[@hanyali8967]

Awesome lesson way to go

[@Juliita65]

Plenty of different words in spite of being the same language! It happens the same between Spanish from Spain and Spanish from South America! Thanks for the video and thanks for the opportunity to appear in it! I'm over the moon! Have an incredible 2018!! :)

[@EatSleepDreamEnglish]

Thank YOU Julia, it's a pleasure to have you in the video. Glad you enjoyed it : )

[@igorcatalao]

Julia Navacerrada I don't know if I agree considering there is not a unity in Latin America's Spanish that opposes it to Spain's. Spanish has a unity as a whole (throughout the world), then each country has its own variety.

[@Johnnysthunder]

Julia Navacerrada yeah but some Latin American countries are closer in language to continental spanish than others... gets confusing lol

[@YUCAYEQUE]

Julia Navacerrada I totally understand what you are saying. In language common rule exists and despite the shared language of Castellano many different words exist. In reference to the comments we can all agree that some unity is lacking on an analysis of South American central and Caribbean Spanish with the later having a more Canary Island influence with very slight Andaluz. The beauty in the differences is the common rule of Castilian. In other languages like Arabic that is lacking along with the Low and High German language if Standard German is not used. An example to think of that is.

[@gabrielcornea9119]

it must be the water

[@michaelmiller44820]

In America, "mathematics" is shortened to "math" because "math" is the first syllable of "mathematics"... :)

[@ianskeggs5294]

Michael Miller mathematics is not singular tho.

[@ThatDamnPandaKai]

Ian Skeggs actually it can be

[@cbabick]

Lorry vs. truck, trunk vs. boot, "You look very smart" vs. "You look very nice" or "You look great."

[@evelynellinghaus406]

We use CV in English too but it usually is used by professional types who may need to document all their professional accomplishments and could be several pages long. A resume is usually a one page summary used for job hunting.

[@lesliekhanna8044]

When British people say, I’m going to hospital and we say, I’m going to THE hospital. I wonder why is that?

[@Armygirlsdad]

It sounds strange to say "I'm going to hospital" because, to me, "I'm going to" without the word "the" following is preparing for an action verb. I'm going to dance, I'm going to sing, I'm going to fly a kite. When you add "the", the hearer automatically starts listening for an object to follow.

[@Planet-Rodela-3]

@@Armygirlsdad But Americans say "I'm going to church", without "the".

[@Armygirlsdad]

I could try to explain how "Church" is an action word and a group of people, not the building, but in this case, I'll just explain it the way it was explained to me as I attended school. The English spelling and grammar rules are meant to be broken from time to time. That doesn't make sense, but it's the only thing that DOES make sense. itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/001702.html An old, old story about Winston Churchill (almost certainly misattributed) is retold one more time by Joe Carter at The Evangelical Outpost: After an overzealous editor attempted to rearrange one of Winston Churchill's sentences to avoid ending it in a preposition, the Prime Minister scribbled a single sentence in reply: "This is the sort of bloody nonsense up with which I will not put."

[@Planet-Rodela-3]

And here I always thought that "church" was a noun, not a verb. In New Zealand we have a phrase; "We're not building a church", meaning 'It doesn't have to be perfect'. I believe the US is the only English speaking country that adds "the" to "hospital". Everywhere else it's simply "Go to hospital" or "I'm in hospital" etc. Strange, really.

[@lesliekhanna8044]

Alekzandr a I only can wish. She’s gone now. There were so many things, I wish I could ask her now.

[@h1nkle]

We also use period to describe the different time frames of classes in school. I’m pretty sure British English uses Hour to describe it.

[@Harrison5ived]

In Britain we actually say 'lesson'. First Period, Second Period = First Lesson, Second Lesson

[@strafrag1]

I've learned so much UK English thanks to all the great UK TV I've watched for years. Britbox is super!

[@aimaeyo228]

Interesting please do more like this I have learnt a lot from ur lessons thanks so much