17 Words That Brits and Americans Pronounce Differently ... (2023)

FAQs

What words sound different in a British accent? ›

In American English, T and D are always pronounced distinctly in words like dip and tip, or attack and adapt, or bleat and bleed. However, there are many words, such as metal and medal, or bleating and bleeding, or bitter and bidder, where T and D are indeed pronounced the same for many speakers of American English.

Below is the UK transcription for 'taco': Modern IPA: tákəw. Traditional IPA: ˈtækəʊ 2 syllables: "TAK" + "oh"

In the UK, the c-word used as an insult just means "annoying, unpleasant person". Its very rude, but doesn't particularly have any gendered overtones. 90% of the time, it would be directed by a man at another man.

Scone (UK) / Biscuit (US)

These are the crumbly cakes that British people call scones, which you eat with butter, jam, sometimes clotted cream and always a cup of tea.

Below is the UK transcription for 'Starbucks': Modern IPA: sdɑ́ːbəks. Traditional IPA: ˈstɑːbʌks. 2 syllables: "STAA" + "buks"

Below is the UK transcription for 'Coke': Modern IPA: kə́wk. Traditional IPA: kəʊk. 1 syllable: "KOHK"

How do the British say lollipop? ›

Below is the UK transcription for 'lollipop': Modern IPA: lɔ́lɪpɔp. Traditional IPA: ˈlɒlɪpɒp. 3 syllables: "LOL" + "i" + "pop"

Oh my giddy aunt – is another expression for “Oh my God!” and used to show shock or surprise.

It's just an old English way of speaking. Many people say "us" but if they are writing will use the word "me". I was born in Sunderland and I use it some times, depends who I am talking to. "us" meaning you and me sounds like "uss".

I'm knackered – I'm tired. Cheeky – Mischievous or playful. Bloody – This is a very British thing to say – meaning very. I'm pissed – Not meaning the regular “angry”, in British talk it actually means you're very drunk and is used quite a lot when you are out drinking with friends.

Zee is the American way of saying the letter z. Zed is the British way. Neither is right or wrong, and nobody is ignorant for pronouncing z the way they do. The zed pronunciation is older, and it more closely resembles the Greek letter, zeta, from which the English letter is derived.

“American speakers use zero in both conversation and writing. When reciting a string of numbers only, it is acceptable and common for an American to pronounce zero as 'oh. ' But when reciting a string that mixes characters and numbers, it becomes necessary to differentiate between 'oh' and zero.

In the US: "zee-bruh"; in the UK: zeb-ruh.

How do the British say fridge? ›

American English speakers tend to use the word to mean that something is beautiful, or nice, particularly another person (for example "you look lovely" or "she is lovely").

You often hear Americans say that they are “pissed”, meaning that they are angry or annoyed. British people also use the phrase “pissed off”, which means the same thing.

Most British people don't say Yeah at the end of a sentence. It would be most prevalent in certain dialects in South Eastern England. It is used as a affirmation of the sentence it ends, or the series of sentences that precedes it use, making a statement, to confirm that the listener understands what has been said.

Besides devotion to soccer, one of the biggest global differences is how the British often refer to McDonald's: “MacDonald's,” “Maccies,” and “Maccy D's” are common nicknames for the Golden Arches over there. Similarly, French customers refer to the company as “McDo” while Australians often call it “Macca's.”

Below is the UK transcription for 'bacon': Modern IPA: bɛ́jkən. Traditional IPA: ˈbeɪkən. 2 syllables: "BAY" + "kuhn"

P word is a euphemism that may refer to the following: Paki, a derogatory term for a person from South Asia (particularly Pakistan), mainly used in the United Kingdom. Prostitute, considered an offensive term by most sex workers' rights activists.

"Innit" is an abbreviation of "isn't it" most commonly used amongst teenagers and young people. This phrase is used to confirm or agree with something that another person has just said.

Proper is a difficult word to define, mainly because British people use it to describe soo many different things. Doing things 'properly' means to do them correctly or in the right way. In the North of England, 'proper' can also be used for emphasis in the same way as the word 'very'.

What do British call condoms? ›

Rubber. This is an informal way of saying condom on the US – so a rubber is a contraceptive. We just call them condoms in the UK. And we use rubbers to remove pencil marks from paper.

Bog roll. Taken from the 16th-century Scottish/Irish word meaning 'soft and moist,' bog means restroom or lavatory. Bog roll, naturally, is an idiom for toilet paper. This will come in especially handy if you find yourself in a dire situation in the loo.

noun, plural brol·lies. British Informal. an umbrella.

Oh my god!

Why it's confusing: It has nothing to do with gods, God or religion. It is just an expression people use to express surprise, shock, amazement, or excitement. Surprise, shock, amazement: Speaker A: I heard Jeff was in a car accident last night.

Zee became the standard way to pronounce Z in the United States in the 19th century. It's said that zee most likely came about because it rhymes with other letter pronunciations in the English alphabet (e.g., e, d, c, b, g, and p).

But it's not just the United Kingdom that uses “zed”; it's what you'll hear in every English-speaking country, besides the United States, which adheres firmly to “zee.” America certainly has a habit of insisting on doing things differently from the rest of the world, from its non-metric system of measurement to ...

Bloody. Don't worry, it's not a violent word… it has nothing to do with “blood”.”Bloody” is a common word to give more emphasis to the sentence, mostly used as an exclamation of surprise. Something may be “bloody marvellous” or “bloody awful“. Having said that, British people do sometimes use it when expressing anger…

Why do British people say mum? ›

What you are hearing is not mum as in mother, but ma'am, contraction of madam, with a strongly reduced vowel. In British English, it is mostly used as a sign of repect for a woman of superior rank, say, in the military or police.

Mom and Mommy are old-English words, words that are stilled used in Birmingham and most parts of the West Midlands. It is said that when people from the West Midlands went to America many years ago they took the spelling with them, hence Americans use Mom and Mommy.