British Words with different meanings

This page differs from the rest of the Dictionary pages as it includes some everyday British words that are in use in America but have an entirely different meaning. Words that if used in the States may not get you what you were asking for.

There are some Adult terms included on this page.

Biscuit
Not a Digestive but a savory bread the size and shape of a scone. Biscuits and gravy is a traditional Southern meal, this gravy is thick and certainly not Bisto! But if you want a biscuit then ask for a Cookie.

Boot
The Boot of your car is called the Trunk in the USA. Don't ask someone to put your bags in the boot, they only know it as a shoe.

Braces
Should you be needing something to hold your trousers up, you'll need suspenders. Braces are only known at the dentist.

Chips
Most people would know that American's call chips fries but it is still fairly common to see chips on menus, maybe as a side with a burger. You will get Ready Salted Crisps. There is usually an additional charge to upgrade to fries. Just to confuse things though Fish and Chips is a known meal in the US and, where available, will be the same as you'd get in Britain.

Cider
Cider is non alcoholic in America, you'll need to ask for hard cider if you're looking for something like Strongbow.

Cot
A cot is what American's would call a camp bed. If you're in a hotel and need somewhere for your baby to sleep you should ask for a crib.

Crisps
A bag of crisps just won't make sense to an American, a crisp is a crumble style desert. You'd need to ask for a bag of potato chips.

Fag
Although it is commonly known on both sides of the Atlantic as a derogatory term for Homosexuals, the US never use it when referring to Cigarettes.

Fanny
Used as slang for female genitalia and considered a vulgarity in the UK, in the USA this is an everyday word for Bum or Bottom.

First Floor
The ground floor is the first floor in America. So if you're staying on the second floor in a US hotel you only need go up 1 level. It's not uncommon for large US buildings to not have a 13th floor.

Football
The rest of the world are happy with the term Football but in America it's Soccer. Football is the national sport though, it's just what we call American Football.

Hash Browns
Although they are still shredded potato on both sides of the Atlantic, they are served very differently. American hash browns are not formed into the shape we have in England but are kind of loose. The less common Breakfast Potato Patty is more like a UK Hash Brown.

Holiday
American's go on vacation and not on holiday. Holiday refers to public holidays, like Independence Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Jelly
Don't be alarmed if Jelly is served with your breakfast in the USA, it's similar to Jam (which is also available but not so common). If you want British jelly you'll ask for Jell-O.

Lemonade
This is a still lemon drink. Lemon Soda will get you as colse as possible to British Lemonade.

Mars Bars & Milky Ways
If you can find one an American Mars Bar is kind of like a British Topic, but if you ask for a Milky Way in America you'll get something that is almost a British Mars Bar. So if you actually want a British Milky Way you'd need to buy a 3 Musketeers Bar.

Pancakes
It's still a pancake but American Pancakes are much thicker and smaller than the UK ones and widely eaten for Breakfast all year round, not just on Shrove Tuesday.

Pasties
Not a savory treat from Cornwall, oh no! Very few American's would have heard of a Cornish Pastie, they are more likely to think you're asking for a well known brand of Nipple Covers (pronounced slightly different but with the accent it's enough to cause confusion).

Pissed
Never used in the US in the context of drunk. Solely used for angry or annoyed.

Rubber
Only used in America to describe a condom, never as an eraser.

Tea
Not PG or Tetley but a glass of cold iced tea. It's rare to find 'Hot Tea' on a menu.

Trainers
If you want to get some new Trainers whilst in the US you should go shopping for Sneakers. Trainers is usually used as an abreviation for Training Wheels on a kids bike.

Squash
A glass of squash would cause some confusion in an American Diner, but if the waitress was very obliging you'd end up with a liquadized marrow type drink. You should use the term Cordial (or Lemonande for almost Lemon Squash).

Stone
Never use the word Stone in the USA when saying how much you weigh, American's just use pounds. A stone is just a rock or pebble and you'll just have to do the math and convert 1 British Stone to 14 pounds.

Vest
On those cold days you'll be wanting a Undershirt whilst in the USA. A vest is a waistcoat.