American and british variants of english

American and british variants of english - student2.ru American and british variants of english - student2.ru (1) Americanisms - groups of words which belong to American vocabulary exclusively and constitute its specific feature.

(2) 1) historical Americanisms (3)2) proper Americanisms

English mi­grants→America (17th c) Are not in the British Vocabulary

American and british variants of english - student2.ru Fall = autumn Backwoods = wooded, uninhabited districts

To guess = to think old meanings cold snap = a sudden frost

Sick = ill, unwell blue-grass = a sort of grass in North America

blue-jack = a small Ameri­can oak

egg-plant = a plant with edible fruit

sweet potato = a plant with sweet

edible roots

redbud = an American tree having

small budlike pink flowers,

the state tree of Oklahoma

red cedar = an American co­niferous tree

with reddish fragrant wood

cat-bird = a small North-American bird

whose call resembles the

mewing of a cat

cat-fish = called so because of spines

likened to a cat's claws

bull-frog = a huge frog pro­ducing

sounds not unlike a bull's roar

sun-fish = a fish with a round flat

golden body

(4)

British American
chem­ist's drug store or druggist's
sweets candy
luggage baggage
underground subway
lift eleva­tor
railway railroad
carriage car
car automobile

(5)

British American
date = the time of some event; the day of the week or month; the year
  an appointment for a particular time (transference based on contiguity: the day and time of an appointment > appointment itself)

(6)Spanish borrowings (e. g. ranch, sombrero, canyon, cinch),

Negro borrow­ings (e. g. banjo)

Indian borrowings (rather numerous and have a peculiar fla­vourof their own) (wigwam, squaw, canoe, moccasin, to­boggan, caribou, tomahawk.)

Trans­lation-loans of Indian origin (pale-face (the name of the Indians for all white people), war path, war paint, pipe of peace, fire-water)

(7)Ohio [su'haiau], Michigan ['mifigsn], Tennessee[tene'si:], Illinois [ih'noi(s)], Ken­tucky [ken'Uki]

(8)Should you ask me, whence the stories? Whence these legends and traditions, With the odour of the forest, With the dew and damp of meadows, With the curling smoke of wigwams* With the rushing of great rivers ...

(From Hiawatha Song)

(9) American shortenings - were produced on American soil, yet most of them are used both in American English and British English:

movies, talkies, auto, gym (for gymnasium), dorm (for dormitory), perm (for permanent wave, "kind of hair­do"), mo(for moment, e. g. Just a mo), circs (for cir­cumstances, e. g. under the circs), cert (for certainty, e. g. That's a cert), n. g. (for no good), b. f. (for boy­friend), g. m. (for grandmother), okay.

All these wordsrepresent informal stylistic strata of the vocabulary.

(10)

British American
I shall I will
He will He will
She will She will
It will It will
We shall We will
You will You will
They will They will
Iwill go there = I am willing to go there Iwill go there = pure futurity

(11)

British American
I've seen this film I saw this movie

(12)

British American
get-got-got get-got-gotten

On the whole, British people are exposed to a lot of American English on TV, in films and so on and so they will usually understand most American vocabulary. But the Americans don’t often understand Britishisms! Study the following list, make a conclusion which of the words – BrE o AmE – are most widely used by yourself, your teachers, in the books you read and films you se:

AmE BrE Tnarnslation
administration government правительство
baggage luggage багаж
billfold wallet бумажник
call ring up, phone звонить (по телефону)
candy sweet конфета
cookie biscuit печенье
desk clerk receptionist диспетчер, администратор
elevator lift лифт
first name Christian name имя
garbage, trash rubbish мусор
gas station filling station заправочная станция
line queue очередь
mailman postman почтальон
package parcel посылка
attorney, lawyer barrister, solicitor адвокат
apartment flat квартира
bartender barman бармен
cab taxi такси
can tin жестяная банка
check bill счет
crazy mad сумасшедший
downtown town centre центр города
drugstore chemist’s shop аптека
facilities accomodations жилье
fall autumn осень
gas, gasolene petrole бензин
janitor caretaker смотритель, сторож
liquor spirits алкогольный напиток
round up ticket return ticket билет в оба конца
sick ill больной
snack bar canteen столовая
reservation booking заблаговременный заказ
taxes rates налоги
smart clever умный
tag label ярлык
truck lorry грузовик
vacation holiday(s) отпуск
first storey ground floor первый этаж
second storey first floor второй этаж
movie film фильм
realtor-estate agent агент по недвижимости
schedule timetable расписание
guy fellow парень, приятель
salesperson shop assistant продавец
pay-roll wages sheet квиток о заработной плате
semester term семестр
store shop магазин
taxido dinner jacket вечерний костюм
ZIPcode postcode почтовый индекс
retired pensioner пенсионер



Here are some words and phrases which can cause confusion when used by Brits and Americans talking together because they mean something different in each “language”

When they say an American means what a Brit calls and a Brit means what an American calls
a bill a (bank) note a check (in a cafe)
floor the ground floor the second floor
pants trousers underpants
potato chips potato crisps French fries
purse a handbag a wallet
subway an underground railway an underpass
vest a waistcoat an undershirt
wash up wash your hands wash the dishes

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