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Showing posts with label Parkway. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Parkway. Show all posts

Sunday, October 16, 2022

Americanisms and British equivalents and Commonwealth countries' English

American flag


American - English+Commonwealth Countries

bell hop - porter (in a hotel)

a bunch of people - a group of people

busy (of a phone line) - engaged

candies - sweets

clean up - clean, tidy

clever - too clever

cookie - biscuit

cops -police

downtown / city center - city centre

driveway drive

elevator - lift

eraser - rubber

faucet tap

guys - mates, friends, folks - of both sexes, or even a group of girls

hacks - tips

hood - bonnet

homely - plain

it sucks - it's a real shame/that's bad/that's annoying/that's a pity/that's awful

make a right - turn right

mail - post

main street - high street

momentarily - in a moment - shortly, soon

my bad - my mistake/fault

pants - trousers

parking lot - car park

parkway - motorway

pavement - roadway

a quarter after - a quarter past

a ride (noun) - a lift

rubber - condom/Durex

server - waiter

sidewalk - pavement

sure/sure will - definitely/I certainly will

truck - lorry

truck driver - lorry driver

trunk - boot

underpants - pants

yard - garden

y'all - you all

you guys (you people - both sexes)

zee- zed

zip code - postcode


Commonwealth flag

Singapore speaks British English but a lot of Singlish, English with Chinese (Mandarin) sentence structure which sounds abbreviated like text talk. eg. You okay? We go? Australians have their own vocabulary, such as 

British+Commonwealth Countries - American

biscuit - cookie

bonnet - hood (of a car)

boot - trunk

car park - parking lot

city centre - downtown/ city center

clever - smart

condom/Durex - rubber

a drive (noun - in front of a home) driveway

engaged (of a phone line) - busy

garden - yard

guys - men/males

high street - main street

hoover - vacuum cleaner

lift (in a car) - ride in an automobile

a lift (electrical, in building) - an elevator

lorry truck

lorry driver - truck driver

pants - underpants

pavement - sidewalk

plain - homely

police/bobbies/Mr Plod - cops

porter - bell hop

post - mail

rubber - eraser

sweets - candies

tap - faucet

tips (eg cleaning, DIY) - hacks

trousers - pants

zed - zee


Useful Websites

American

https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2022/10/more-americanisms.html

American

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_English

Australian

Please share links to your favourite posts

Saturday, December 3, 2016

How streets, roads, and avenues are different

I thought I knew most of these, such as avenues having trees. I was not aware that the American Beltway is what in England would be called a Circular Road (like the North Circular).

North and South Circular
In London, as you drive around the North Circular, it disappears and you are on the South Circular, same road. This once confused me, when somebody said they lived on the North Circular, and they were actually a few streets into the South Circular, but hadn't thought to tell me that the street changes names and carry on until you reach their house.

Oxford Street
Americans should watch out for the fact that you must use the word street after a street name. In London one of the main streets is called Oxford Street. Why? Because it eventually goes to Oxford - at least it used to do so. However, if you are looking for Oxford Street, and you ask for Oxford, you may get sent to the nearest railway station instead.

Parkway
In America a Parkway has nothing to do with parking. It was originally or is still a road with a park or green garden-like area alongside.

Median (Strip)
What the Americans call a median strip, in England I would call a central reservation.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.