List Of British English Words Not Used In American English

See also main article: American and British English differences

• list of American English words not used in British English
• list of words having different meanings in British and American English

abseil

rappel (to descend on a rope)

anti-clockwise

counter-clockwise

approved school

school for juvenile delinquents; reform school

arse^*

ass^* (buttocks)

fall arse over elbow

(alternatively arse over tit/tip) fall head over heels (physically, not metaphorically)

aubergine

eggplant (can also refer to an eggplant-like color in British English)

balls-up^*

error, mistake, snafu

banger

sausage, old car

barrister

a lawyer who is a member of the Bar (law). Barristers usually appear in higher courts and argue matters fundamental to law (as opposed to routine aplications of law); (distinction in English law)
NOT a barista (coffee preparer), which is a near homophone. Both barrister and barista mean person who works at a bar.

beck

small watercourse; stream; creek. Used especially in the Lake District

bed-sitter (or bedsit)

studio apartment, one-room apartment that serves as a bedroom and a living room

Belisha beacon

orange ball containing a flashing light mounted on a post at each end of a zebra crossing

bespoken

custom-made, made-to-order, tailored

to bimble

to wander aimlessly

Birmingham spanner (slang)

a hammer (Note: this is insulting to inhabitants of Birmingham)

black pudding

blood sausage

to blag

to obtain or achieve by deception, to bluff, to scrounge, to rob, robbery, tall story, bluff, deception

bloke

guy

boffin

scientist or engineer, geek, nerd

bog roll

(roll of) toilet paper

bog standard

plain vanilla, completely average, no distinguishing features

bollocks^* (originally ballocks)

balls^* (testicles)

brass monkeys ("cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey")

very cold weather

bristols^* (Cockney rhyming slang)

boobs (breasts; from Bristol Cities = titties)

bubble and squeak

dish of cooked cabbage fried with cooked potatoes

to bugger off^*

to go away

building society

savings and loan association

to bull (boots, esp. military)

to polish to a high shine

bum bag

fanny pack

to bunk off

to truant

to burgle

to burglarize

the business (from "bees knees")

very good; top quality

to busk

to beg for money by entertaining the public (American English doesn't have an exact equivalent for the verb, but busker might be "street musician" or "street performer".)

butty

(North England colloqualism) sandwich

candy floss

cotton candy

car park

parking lot

chancer

shark (opportunist)

chuffed

proud, satisfied, pleased

clanger

a big mistake, blunder, or faux pas

cock-up, cockup (mildly vulgar)

error, mistake, snafu

to cop off with

to successfully engage the company of someone, usually of the opposite sex, for a period of time.

courgette

zucchini

coving

crown molding

Crimbo

Christmas

current account

checking account

dene

valley or seaside dune

dodgy

sketchy (Mid-Atlantic and Northeast), fake (e.g. "dodgy money"), possibly (but not definitely) illegal, of dubious origin, acting suspiciously (e.g. "he looks a bit dodgy"), poorly done or in poor condition (e.g. "a dodgy car", which could also mean it was possibly stolen)

the dog's bollocks

the bee's knees (something excellent or top quality)

dosh

money

"double #"

"##"

draper

cloth or clothing and dry goods seller

draughts

checkers

drawing pin

thumb tack

duff

a type of steamed pudding e.g plum-duff; or adjective describing something that isn't working properly or a poor choice e.g. "Don't use that bike, one of the pedals is duff.".

dustbin

trash can, wastebasket

engaged tone

busy signal

ex-directory

unlisted (phone number)

fairing

a gift, particularly one given or bought at a fair (obsolete); type of cookie (biscuit) made in Cornwall

fairy cake

cupcake

fell

mountain or high rocky outcrop. Used especially in the Lake District

fixture (sports)

game or match (as on a schedule)

fizzy drink

soda or pop

fortnight

a period of 14 days (and nights) or two weeks

fourpenn'orth

four cents worth (fourpenn'orth is literally "four pennies worth")

full stop

period

funfair

amusement park

gaff

cheap music hall or theater (obsolete); home

gaol (archaic; jail is universally used)

jail, prison

gearbox

automobile transmission

gen

(short for "intelligence") information

ginger group

a group that serves as an galvanizing force within a larger body

git (mildly derogatory)

scumbag, idiot

go (noun)

try (e.g. "let me have a go"), turn in a game (e.g. "whose go is it?")

to go pear-shaped

to go South; i.e, for a process to suddenly go wrong

to gob

mouth, to spit

gogglebox

television set

green fingers

green thumb

greengrocer

seller of fresh fruits and vegetable

hash (#)

pound (#)(note - confusion is also possible with the sign - commonly refered to as a pound sign in Commonweath english)

helter-skelter

a helical slide found in fairgrounds

high street

main street

hols

days taken off for vacation (from holidays)

to hoover

vacuum cleaner, to vacuum (In the US, Hoover is a brand name only.)

hosepipe

garden hose

inverted commas

quotation marks (Although the punctuation is different, the concept of quotation is analogous, especially since British English speakers sometimes refer to things formally (or ironically) by using the phrase "in inverted commas" in conversation.)

invigilator

proctor

jam sandwich

police cruiser. So called as most UK police vehicles were once white with a horizontal orange fluorescent stripe along the entire length of their sides, giving a certain resemblance to a white bread sandwich with a coloured jam filling.

jammy

lucky

to kip

to sleep

knackered

exhausted

launderette

laundromat

lav

lavatory, toilet

let-out (n.)

means to evade or avoid something

loo

toilet

lorry

truck

loudhailer

bullhorn

mackintosh (mac)

raincoat

mains power, the mains

house electrical AC current

mangle

clothes wringer

marrow (vegetable)

squash

(the) match (football)

(the) game (American football)

maths

math

MD (managing director)

CEO (Chief Executive Officer)

mercer

dealer in expensive fabrics, especially silk (obsolete)

merrythought

wishbone (also the commoner term in the UK)

minder

personal bodyguard (as of 2004 this has gained some usage in the US media)

minge^*

female genitals or pubic hair

minger

slob, someone who is unattractive

motorway

freeway

naff

lame

to naff off (obscure slang Polari made popular by prison sitcom Porridge)

to shove it

to nark

to irritate, (police) informer

nonce

paedophile, child molester, idiot

off-licence

liquor store (a shop that sells alcoholic beverages for consumption off the premises)

(oilseed) rape

canola

on the piss^*

drinking heavily; going out for the purpose of drinking heavily

to orientate

to orient (most often seen in its noun form, "orientation"; While an American in a new city would try to "orient" himself, a British English speaker would need to "orientate" himself.)

panda car

police cruiser (analagous to US term "black & white")

pants

lame

parkie

park-keeper

parky

cold

pelican crossing (PEdestrian LIght-CoNtrolled)

pedestrian crossing with traffic lights operated by pedestrians

petrol

gasoline

pillock (very mildly derogatory)

foolish person

piss off^*

emphatic term meaning "go away"

plonker

fool

to ponce

to pimp, fop, fruit, someone with airs and graces

to ponce about/around

to act like a fop, to wander about aimlessly without achieving anything

to ponce off

to mooch, to hit up

poof/poofter (derogatory)

fag/faggot (derogatory)

postal order

money order

potato crisps

potato chips

pram (perambulator)

baby-carriage

prat (very mildly derogatory)

foolish person

pud

short for pudding, which may mean dessert or occasionally a savoury item such as yorkshire pudding or black pudding

pukka

legitimate, the real thing, of good quality

punchup

fistfight

pushchair

stroller

queue

line (for waiting in). Sometimes used in US also.

randy

(also horny) horny

ranker

an enlisted soldier or airman or (more rarely) a commissioned officer who has been promoted from enlisted status ("the ranks")

to reverse the charges

to call collect

to ring someone (also to call someone)

to call someone (on the phone)

rota

A roll call or roster of names or round or rotation of duties.

roundabout (fairground ride)

carousel, merry-go-round

roundabout (in the road)

traffic circle, rotary (roundabout is used in some parts of the US, including on signs.)

sarky

sarcastic

sarnie, sarny

sandwich

Sellotape

Scotch tape

serviette

napkin

settee

couch, sofa

shillelagh (Irish)

club, cudgel

shindig, shindy

party

skew-whiff

skewed, uneven, not straight

skip

dumpster

to skive off

to sneak off, avoid work

to slag off

to diss, to badmouth

slaphead (slang)

bald man

slapper (possibly from flapper)

bitch, skank

to snog

to make out, to kiss

spanner

wrench, idiot (colloquialism)

spiv

an unemployed person who lives by their wits; someone who shirks work or responsibility; a slacker.

spod

someone who spends too much time in internet chat rooms and discussion forum

spud

potato

sticking plaster, Elastoplast

bandage (adhesive only), Band-Aid

strop

bad mood or temper

stroppy, to have a strop on

recalcitrant, in a bad mood or temper

to suss out

to figure out

swede

rutabaga

sweets

candy

sweetshop

candy store

ta

thanks; TA also standing for thanks awfully (rare)

table (sports)

standings

tannoy

loudspeaker, PA system

tarn

Small mountain lake. Used especially in the Lake District

telly, tele

TV

to throw a wobbly

to lose one's temper, throw a tantrum

tie (sports)

matchup, fixture, game (no good analog)

titfer

(Cockney rhyming slang) hat (from tit-for-tat)

toad-in-the-hole

batter-baked sausages

toff

(slang) member of the upper classes

to toss off^*

to jerk off^*

tram

streetcar, trolley-car, trolley

turf accountant

bookmaker for horse races

twee

excessively precious, cute, or quaint

twopenn'orth/tuppenn'orth/tup'en'oth

two cents woth (tuppenn'orth is literally "two pennies worth" (or "two pence worth", depending on usage))

verger

someone who carries the verge or other emblem of authority before a scholastic, legal, or religious dignitary in a procession; someone who takes care of the interior of a church and acts as an attendant during ceremonies

waistcoat

vest

wally

buffoon, fool -milder form of idiot. 1980s slang that may now bestow more ridicule on the user than the accused

wank (off), wanker

to masturbate, one who masturbates or timewaster.

whilst

while

whinge

whine

whirligig

rotary clothes line

your man/woman (Irish)

whatshis/hername

zebra crossing

pedestrian street crossing marked with broad white stripes

"zed" (Z)

"zee" (Z)

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