Because my mum is British and my dad is American (which makes me and my siblings half Brits e.g.-we're really from somewhere in the middle of the North Atlantic), we've been to the UK a few times to visit my mum's family and friends. When I'm there I've always been interested in the fact that the US and Britain although share a common language have a few unique words. So, for the sake of increasing people's knowledge of the unique language of the UK I've made the following list of words/ slang terms I can think of that seem to be unique to the British Isles. If any of you can think of others, feel free to comment/correct me if I've written something in error. (Please note some of these words might be old fashioned but I liked them so included them anyway.)
British Term US Translation
999 Emergency number for police/fire/ambulance (911 in US)
1. Anorak 1. Winter coat (usually furry)
2. Beastly 2. Cruel/nasty/awful
3. Boot 3. A car's trunk
4. Buck up your ideas 4. Exclamation (Get going! Cheer up!)
5. Bugger 5. Exclamation (damn/crap/etc)
6. Car Boot Sale 6. A garage sale but in someone's car rather than garage
7. Cheers 7. Thanks
8. Chemist's 8. Pharmacy
9. Chips 9. Fries
10.Crisps 10. Potato chips
11. Cuppa 11. Cup of tea
12. Elastoplast 12. Band Aid
13. Hell's Bells 13. Exclamation (e.g. damn/crap etc)
14. Jumper 14. Sweater/Sweatshirt
15. Lemonade 15. In addition to traditional lemonade can also refer to a soft drink like
Sprite/7-Up
16. Love 16.Term of endearment (equivalent of dear, honey,etc- Example: Hello love)
17. Motorway 17.Freeway
18. Mustn't 18. Must not
19. Newsagent's shop 19. Newsstand
20. Nappy 20. Diaper
21 Oi! 21. (exclamation) Hey!
22. Pavement 22. Sidewalk
23. Petrol 23. Gas
24. Posh 24. Fancy
25. Rubber 25. Eraser (in addition to being a plain substance)
26. Rubbish 26. N) Trash; Adj: Ridiculous/terrible (example: what rubbish/I was rubbish)
27. Rummage Sale 27. Garage sale
28. Salad Cream 28. Salad Dressing/mayonnaise
29. Shant 29. Shall not
30. Shirty 30. Grumpy/rude
31. Sod/bugger/clear off! 31. Leave/get lost! (not nice)
32. Specticals/Specs 32. Glasses
33. Sweet(s)/Sweetie 33.Candy
34 Swish 34.Fancy/sophisticated
35.. Tea 35. In addition to a drink, tea is a light meal, usually before an evening meal
36.Telly 36. TV
37. Torch 37. Flashlight
38. Trainers 38. Running shoes/sneakers
39. Underground 39. Subway/metro
40. Wellies 40. Wellington Boots/Rain Boots
Some words like "zebra" and "again" are said differently in British English. For example zebra can be pronounced "zehbra"-as z can be pronounced like "zed"in the UK and "again" can be pronounced as "a gain". Also certain words have different spellings. Words like "theater" and center are spelled "centre" and "theatre". Words like color that end in "or" end in "our" in British English. (Example- colour). Words that end in "ze" in US English end in "se" in the UK, (examples: generalise and socialise).
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