American English

It is often said that Britain and America are two countries divided by a common language. For your perusal, here are some American terms that may be lost on tropers from British or Commonwealth countries. And so we begin!

Sister pages include Stock American Phrases, British English and G'Day Mate.

For those interested in articulation rather than vocabulary, there are many pages about various nations' accents, including American ones.


 * Bathroom, where somebody goes to relieve themselves, and may or may not contain a bath or shower . "Restroom" is generally reserved for public toilets, though the word "toilet" itself is considered a bit rude in polite society and, at any rate, refers only to the porcelain basin itself, not the room. Nobody uses "water closet" (unless it's necessary to distinguish the small, closet-like room that actually contains a toilet and nothing else from a larger part of a bathroom consisting of more than one room--but even then it's not something you hear every day and many people with WC's may not know the term). In Canada, a public "restroom" is called a "washroom," just a slight difference and even though not common, if you ask where the washroom is in the U.S., people will know you mean the restroom. "Lavatory" (which is pronounced as LAV-uh-tore-ee) is recognized but relatively rare, and "loo" is recognized in context (and giggled at), if the speaker is clearly British/Scottish. People with military experience sometimes use the terms "head" (Navy/Marines) or "latrine" (Army/Air Force). "John," "can," and "crapper" are increasingly harsh cacophemisms that are still mostly acceptable in public (except don't use "crapper" at a fancy dinner party).
 * Busboy: Nothing to do with public transport. Instead an employee of a restaurant whose duties include dish washing and "bussing" the tables, that is, gathering up the dirty dishes/napkins/etc and wiping the tabletop down.
 * Cell phones are mobile phones. Both terms are used on both sides of the Atlantic, but "cell" is used much more often than "mobile" in America, vice versa in Britain.
 * Fag in American English is an extremely derogatory and offensive term for a (male) homosexual. In fact, the use or misuse of the word "fag" has been (ahem) the butt of many jokes about Brits over here. Stick with "cigarette," "cig," or "smoke" (i.e. a pack of smokes, bumming a smoke) when visiting the States. ("Fag" is recognized, especially if you have a strong accent, but the joke is irresistible.)
 * To clarify, to "bum," means to either beg for something, or to act lazy and without purpose. "Can I bum a cigarette?" and "I just bummed around my house today," are both examples. Of course "bum" as a noun means a hobo, or vagrant. The anatomical definition definitely is known to Americans as well, which makes "bumming a fag" doubly amusing to our 12-year-olds.
 * Other sexual alignment related terms:
 * Homosexual is considered "clinical" in tone, so it may sound either very neutral or distinctly distasteful depending on context and tone.
 * Lesbian is used for a female homosexual.
 * Gay has two distinct meanings, confusingly enough- a homosexual person of any gender, OR a homosexual man specifically. Most commonly it carries the former meaning unless it's specifically contrasted with lesbian, in which case it only refers to men. Also see Have a Gay Old Time for how gay used to be used.
 * Queer basically means anything but heterosexual -- homo-, bi-, pan-, a-, whatever. It is a slur that has been partially "reclaimed." Basic rule is, use it only for yourself and groups you belong to.
 * Fanny is a polite, fastidious word for your rear end. If someone's grandmother or old maiden aunt were talking to a misbehaving five-year-old, she might threaten to "spank him on his little fanny." Though you wouldn't use the term when visiting the UK as it is generally considered an offensive term for female genitalia.
 * Fanny packs are equivalent to bum bags, i.e. a small sealable bag with an integrated belt worn over the top of clothes.
 * Hush Puppies: Little nuggets of fried cornbread, often stuffed with some kind of filling that varies depending upon the cook. Occasionally refers to a brand of footwear, but make sure context is clear.
 * Line is what Americans call a queue. A group of people "line up" or "get in line." Queue is usually reserved for technical jargon, such as a printer queue or a download queue. People in technical fields will almost certainly recognize the term, but J. Random Citizen will most likely know the word, but might be confused as to why it's being used. Additionally, "getting in line" is queuing up. "Getting on line" refers primarily to connecting electronics (usually to the internet), but in some places and contexts can also mean the same as "in line".
 * Waiting on line is generally a New York expression. You can hear it in The Godfather trilogy.
 * Pants means trousers, not underwear (A.K.A. underpants), to clear up any confusion regarding descriptions of people dressing up in pants and going out. "Trousers" is recognized, but rarely used, and many people will generally think of more formal dress pants. Superman wears his pants on the outside in both cases.
 * Another thing not done in the US is starting a sentence with "Only..." after having been asked a question, as in "Have you been peckish during the night? Only someone's been at me cheese." An American would probably use "Because..." or "It's just that..." instead. (Among other things.) The "Only..." construction would probably be mildly confusing to someone who hasn't heard it before, but understandable with context clues.
 * Even the American alphabet is slightly different:
 * The letter Z, which is pronounced "zee" in the US instead of "zed" (you don't have that thudding missed rhyme in the song anymore). This caused some Americans mild confusion at first when watching Shaun of the Dead. (Oddly, "zed" is occasionally used as verbal shorthand for "zero" – but this should be clear from context. This usage is rare, and probably imported from Canada in any case.)
 * Americans also pronounce H without using an H sound. "Aytch" instead of "haytch".
 * There isn't that somewhat rare letter ash ("Æ"). "E" is used instead, or in some cases type out an A followed by an E. "Æsthetic", for example, is "aesthetic" or "esthetic". To type out an "ash" requires the use of the alt codes on U.S. keyboards (alt-145 for lowercase and alt-146 for uppercase, if you were wondering). The same goes for ethel ("œ").
 * Check -- the U.S. spelling of cheque -- in a restaurant refers to the bill. Hence, Check, Please!. It can also refer to an actual check, which you fill out to buy something. Thus, you can pay a check with a check.
 * Although virtually no restaurant accepts checks any longer.
 * Bills is the colloquial name for paper money in the US, such as "a one-dollar bill," rather than "notes," which is the technical term used in banks.
 * Buck(s) is a very common slang word for "dollar(s)." There have been any number of other such words ("pictures of the president", "dead presidents"--neither of which are strictly accurate--"smackeroos", etc.) but "bucks" the only one you'll need to learn. Think of it as an equivalent of "quid".
 * Conveniently for Britons, "fiver" and "tenner" for five- and ten-dollar bills are generally understood, and if they're not generally used, they're not really remarked upon, either.
 * Jacksons - The most commonly used slang terms for twenty dollar bills, slightly more common than "double sawbuck" (a sawbuck being ten). By which we mean, "Almost nobody ever uses them." You might hear "Jacksons", "Hamiltons", "Lincolns", or "Washingtons" in jest, but that's about it. The most common term for a twenty-dollar bill is just "a twenty."
 * Benjamins for one hundred dollar bills. One might refer to the figure on the bill by name in conversation, "Me and my friend, Benjamin Franklin, here, would like to make an offer..."
 * You may refer to many Benjamins as "Bennies" or "C-Notes".
 * Ground floor is interchangeable with "first floor" in America, unlike most other places. So the second floor up from the ground is called the second floor, not the first, and so on. But it depends on the building. Typically the ground floor is the bottommost floor that isn't a basement, regardless of function. The first floor is the floor where things like the reception area are, or the commons area or the equivalent for whatever type of building you are in -- essentially the floor you are on when you enter the building. They are the same thing in many buildings but not all of them. Hotels and dorms will often have separate ground and first floors, with the ground floor having things other than rooms, but this varies widely. Sometimes the first floor will be called the "lobby" and there won't be a first floor; the elevator will have an "L" button instead of 1, and the next floor above it will be "2".
 * And it's not uncommon to find that the thirteenth floor is omitted in American buildings.
 * An elevator is a lift that runs indoors. "Lift" is still used for hydraulic outdoor lifts used by construction workers, and is acceptable for lifts used for transporting goods (but more commonly known as "freight elevators" or "service elevators") and possibly dumbwaiters (probably derived from the association with English manors).
 * And elevators, those things that you put in the back of your shoes, are called "lifts."
 * Electric Steetcars are the equivelent of a "tram" or "trolly"--a bus that runs on rails or wires. They are occasionally thought of as the types of cable cars that run in San Francisco, but that is not the correct term for them. A "tram" is an interchangeable word for either. Tourist trolleys are considered different vehicles, and are called "trolley replicas".
 * Gasoline or 'gas is what fuels cars in America, not "petrol." Filling a car's fuel tank is sometimes called "gassing up," and to tell the driver to press down on the accelerator pedal you can say "give 'er the gas."
 * [French] fries (No one actually calls them "freedom fries".) are what people in the US call "chips"
 * [potato] chips. are "crisps" (confused yet?) Fish and chips is generally referred to as fish and chips, however, but otherwise "chips" will always mean "crisps". Or is it the other way round....
 * And if you get asked "Would you like fries with your fish and chips?" by the waitstaff, feel free to mock them - they should know better.
 * Plastered means extremely drunk. Has nothing to do with Band-Aids.
 * Public school refers to any school funded by federal or state government money.
 * Private school refers schools funded by tuition, donors, or both.
 * College and university are used interchangeably in most contexts. If someone says "I'm going to college," they mean university. "College" rolls off the tongue easier. A typical university has several "colleges" on it (such as College of Arts & Sciences, College of Engineering, etc), which is the reason for the interchangeability. University is generally reserved for four-year degree schools. Graduate school comes after for anyone that wants to pursue a 2-year graduate degree. State Schools are largely taxpayer funded and can vary between 4-year school or community college, which is a publicly funded school usually reserved for 2-year associate degrees.
 * Elementary school or "grade school" is what those in the UK call a "Primary School", "grammar schools" are esentially defunct in the UK. Schools with grades 6-8 are called junior high schools or middle schools.
 * American Football is simply called football. Association football is only called soccer, though Americans are aware that other countries simply call it "football." If you personally call it "gridiron" they will know what you mean, too.
 * A sandwich made using a whole small loaf of bread cut in half lengthwise could be called one of many things, depending as much on whom you buy it from as where you are. Submarine sandwich, or "sub" for short, is the most universal, but hoagie, hero sandwich (not to be confused with gyros, which are sometimes pronounced phonetically), and other variations exist.
 * Carbonated soft drinks are called by different names depending on the region. Pop and soda are the most common, though "soda" is typically used in conjunction with the flavor when it's part of the name, such as "grape soda" and "creme soda." In the South, "coke" is used as a catch-all term for all types and brands. Restaurants will typically call them soft drinks.
 * Technically they are called "sodapop", but the States like to shorten it to "soda" while Canadians use "pop" for the same purpose.
 * If you're curious (and like infographics,) here's a map of the soda/pop/coke schism by county in the US.
 * Oh, and if you're at a restaurant and ask for a Coke and get asked "Is Pepsi (or whatever the brand of cola on tap is) okay?", the waitstaff is not being excessively pedantic. Soda brands are registered trademarks for the most part, and the companies can - and have - sued over unauthorized substitutions for requested beverages. Also note that restaurants usually serve either Coke or Pepsi, never both. If you ask for one and they offer the other, that is all they have.
 * Cookies refer to what people in England call "Biscuits" (i.e. those flat round things that make your belts longer); A biscuit in America is a softer, unsweetened bread made with baking powder instead of yeast. They taste quite delicious with butter, jam, and/or honey, and are usually served as a side with meals. They can be found all over the U.S., but especially in the south, up to the point where there are entire restaurant franchises dedicated to them and serving things on them. Other breads served as a side with meals are often called "rolls." Oddly, dog biscuits are still called 'dog biscuits' stateside, even though they're more similar to cookies than American biscuits.
 * The difference between a "biscuit" and a "roll" can be tricky. In general, a "roll" will have a smoother surface, as if it was rolled by hand, and may have a bit of a crust on the outside (however, less crust is better). A "biscuit," by contrast, appears more as though someone took a spoon, dipped it in the dough, and tossed it at the baking sheet, with an uneven surface and no crust at all.
 * It's the opposite of that. Rolls are softer, biscuits are crustier. Most people skip using biscuit in favor of roll anyway.
 * To make it a little more visual, this is a biscuit, and this is a roll.
 * An English biscuit also isn't the same thing as a scone, a scone is a smallish cake made with butter that regularly contains raisins. Most Americans aren't terribly familiar with scones, and you'll have a devil of a time actually finding one in most parts, though they are better if you bake them yourself anyway.
 * The main difference between an American biscuit and a British scone is biscuits tend to be made with lard or shortening, which gives them a heavier, richer flavor.
 * American scones, in contrast, tend to be drier, sweeter, and shaped like right triangles.
 * Other dry unsweetened biscuits are known as crackers in the west.
 * Welp at the start of a sentence is just a phonetic-ish way of writing how some Americans pronounce "well": with the L clipped and with the mouth fully closed before saying the next word. (Think of it as like the last consonant in a French word, perhaps.) It's strictly reserved for conversational writing, though, and has only come into use recently.
 * The phrase knocked up is slang for pregnant, often specifically denoting an unintended pregnancy resulting from unsafe sex. (Hence, the movie Knocked Up.) Telling someone "I will knock you up," means "I will impregnate you." Say "I'll wake you in the morning," "I'll wake you up," or "I'll come and knock on your door," instead.
 * A stroller is what the British would call a pram. "Baby buggy" and "baby carriage" are other, less common names.
 * A piece of hardened mucus pulled from your nose is a booger. A "bogey" refers to a ghost or hobgoblin (rarely used), a score of one above par in golf, Humphrey Bogart, or an unidentified aircraft if you're a jet-fighter pilot (e.g. "Bogey on my six!").
 * When referring to a Television programme, the actual show is referred to as the series, and the period of time in which there are episodes is called the season. The "series premiere," of a show is the first aired episode ever (not necessarily the Pilot). The "Series Finale" is the last aired episode of the show ever, unless it is Uncanceled. A "season premier" or "season finale" refers to the first and last show aired that season, respectively.
 * And we do not spell "program" with two 'm's and and an extra vowel.
 * A small dwelling in a complex is called an apartment (or possibly a condo) instead of a flat. A "flat" generally refers to a flat tire on a car or bicycle. For this reason, a flatmate is called a "roommate," although "roommate" still also carries the literal meaning, so confusion does sometimes occur.
 * A "condo" is bought or leased and an "apartment" is rented.
 * Hardly anyone calls it a "condominium" unless they're being formal, either.
 * "Flat" is also a term that's starting to be used Stateside for an apartment in highly urban areas, such as New York or newly constructed residential blocks. This is most likely in an attempt by realtors to sound "modern." For some reason it only tends to be used when describing either extremely small and sparse apartments, or extremely large and lavish ones.
 * Mate on its own is very rarely used to mean "friend," and even then it's still seen as borrowing British and Australian slang. "Mate" is commonly used on the zoological sense to indicate a sexual pair of animals, or the sexual act itself. It would generally sound odd or archaic to use it in reference to humans.
 * To some Americans, a male referring to a male friend as a "mate" can have unintended homosexual connotations.
 * A large stretch of road which allows cars to drive very fast to various destinations is a freeway or highway. If it costs money to get on, it's called a "turnpike," or just a toll road. The words motorway or expressway are not used unless they are part of the formal name of a certain road (e.g., the Long Island Expressway). If it's part of the Interstate Highway System, it may also be called "the Interstate".
 * Although using "freeway" interchangeably with "highway" is not at all unheard of, there is a difference in literal meaning, as not all highways are freeways. Some roads that are not all that different in appearance or width from ordinary roads but which go on for a very long ways from town to town are still called "highways", whereas "freeway" tend to refer to the wide, four-or-more-laned, median-divided roads with road signs all over the place telling you how close you are to the next turn or town.
 * To the lawyers, the terminology is still more different. Under most states' Vehicle Codes, the term "highway" has the specific legal meaning of any public roadway bigger than an alley. Under California State Law, for example, that little cul-de-sac road out in front of your house is a "highway."
 * And of course, Americans will park in driveways and drive on parkways.
 * Hawaii and Alaska (which are non-contiguous states) and Puerto Rico (which is a non-contiguous protectorate) have interstates, so the definitions really are starting to get mixed...
 * It helps to understand that the purpose of the interstate system is to facilitate the movement of military materiel and personnel, at least on paper. That and the aforementioned states were a bit annoyed that they didn't get to share in the federal highway kitty because they weren't contiguous.
 * Some legal code numbers have entered American vernacular. Most notable is "187" (pronounced "one-eight-seven," or "one-eighty-seven"), which means murder. Another is "5150," (pronounced "fifty-one-fifty,") which means to be placed in a mental hospital on an involuntary psychiatric hold, to be "sectioned." These are most commonly used in California, where they both originate, but are known throughout the US because of SoCalization.
 * The TV series Adam-12 also popularized "211" (two-eleven), which means a robbery, and "415" (four-fifteen), which means a public disturbance.
 * A similar example is a "Section 8," US Military slang for a crazy person (referring to a discharge for mental illness). It's also an old term for federally subsidized housing.
 * Speaking of the US Military, the various military dialects provide some similar terms. To be "Article Fifteened" or "NJP'd" is to face Non-Judicial Punishment, where one's commanding officer can dole out punishment for relatively minor offenses without involving a court of law (the military courts are instead reserved for the big screw ups). "Article 15" comes from the portion of the Uniform Code of Military Justice that details the procedures for Non-Judicial Punishment.
 * "Chapter 11" (from Chapter 11 of Title 11 of the United States Code) refers to bankruptcy. Hence, people file Chapter 11
 * "420" has become slang for Marijuana, although this number doesn't appear to be used in any jurisdiction's legal codes for marijuana crimes and its origin is hotly debated.
 * People of African racial decent are typically called "black" without insult. African-American is a very common and politically correct term for American blacks, to the point that Americans will occasionally slip up and use the term to refer to any black person, regardless of where they live (Freema Agyeman and Lenora Crichlow have both been referred to as African-American, despite the obvious problems with that.) The term is generally used only in a racial sense, and it's therefore incorrect to use it for non-black people who immigrated from Africa to America. "People of color" often refers to all non-white racial groups. The terms "colored," "negro," "mulatto," and "Afro-American," are all dated and usually considered insensitive. (See also the trope on N-Word Privileges.)
 * The native cultures and races of America are most appropriately called "Native Americans." "American Indians" is also generally acceptable. "Indians" by itself is considered somewhat insensitive and also confusing, since it could also refer to actual Indians.
 * It is fairly common to simply call Native Americans "Natives" while using terms like Aboriginals and Indiginous Peoples to refer to those native to other regions, the exact location is often specified directly especially when not set up by context.
 * You will find many Native Americans who prefer "Indian" for whatever reason. Some don't like being called Native Americans because it feels possessive, some like Indian because it is supposed to mean "People with God" (from Spanish [gente] en Dios -- but this is a folk etymology), some like it because many indigenous groups are clearly different in appearance from one another, and some simply don't care how you refer to them.
 * Because of the persistence of using "Indian" to mean Native American -- the U.S. government has an official department that's still called the Bureau of Indian Affairs to this day -- people from India will sometimes have to say that they're "An Indian from India" just to avoid confusion.
 * If you are going to carry conversation or a relationship with a Native American, it is considered acceptable to politely ask their tribe of origin, although many prefer "nation" to "tribe." This is useful because many of the native nations do have animosity with other nations, and calling a member of one nation by another name can be upsetting.
 * The reason for this is the rise of the term First Nations to refer to them.
 * Special note on Alaska and Hawaii: These groups' lineage is believed to be separate from that of the Native Americans on the mainland. As such, "Native American" or "Indian" are less commonly used in these areas. A good blanket term for these groups is "Native Alaskan/Hawaiian" or simply "Native." As stated above, the safest path is to ask specifically how he/she identifies. Never, ever, ever call a Native Alaskan an Eskimo. Some might not mind the term, but for most, it's considered fighting words.
 * England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland's relationship with each other and the UK is similar to that of North American natives: though for some purposes they prefer to organize under a common banner, each nation has its own identity and heritage, and they prefer to keep it that way. A Scot likely wouldn't appreciate it if you referred to him as English, and the term "British", though accurate, is still not appreciated in most cases. The same is true of Native Americans, Alaskans, and Hawaiians; while the Yup'ik people are a subset of the Eskimo people, most Yup'ik prefer the more specific (and less stereotype-tainted) term.
 * The generally accepted politically correct term for eskimos is inuit.
 * The word plughole is not used. Drain is used instead. Stopper is not used either for words for things that keep bottles shut. "Cork" is used for bottles that have an actual cork, and "cap" for everything else. (Mostly - the glass cork in a cruet might be called a stopper, but how often does that one come up?)
 * However, the little round rubber thing that you put in a drain to stop it up when you don't want the water to drain away IS called a "plug".
 * The term Fell Off the Back of A Truck describes stolen merchandise. However, fell off the wagon, means a recovering alcoholic, ex-smoker, or anyone else with an addiction who has stopped trying to quit and is now drinking/smoking/whatever again. As in: "He fell off the wagon last night when he decided to have one last beer."
 * Not to be confused with "fell off the back of a turnip truck", which describes another source of easy money.
 * Also not to be confused with "got on / off the bandwagon". The latter refers to people who support a team/candidate/band only when they are successful and popular. Dates back to when sports teams and political candidates had parades more often.
 * The term "wanker" is understood, but not usually used (and usually considered more benign than in Britain, being treated as a Foreign Cuss Word). Much more common is jerk-off, or jack-off. This applies to insults as well. "You stupid jack-off!"
 * A period is the Americanism for the punctuation mark known as a full stop. As an idiom, however, putting the word at the end of a statement means "unconditionally" or "without exception" (as in, "not only applies to race cars, but to cars period"). An equivalent expression would be something like "end of story."
 * Then there is "period" in the sense meaning "menstrual cycle," as in "Are you on your period?" (Thus the trope No Periods, Period)
 * Question mark means "interrogation point".
 * The government to an American means the entire ruling body, i.e. the State (a term Americans don't use this way for obvious reasons). The President and those under him are usually collectively called "the Administration" or more commonly "the [name of President] Administration."
 * "Congressmen" literally refers to any member of either the House of Representatives ("the House") or the Senate, both of which are referred to as "Houses" of Congress. Representatives are in the former, and Senators in the latter, but when you refer to a specific Representative or address them by name, you call them a Congressman or Congresswoman (i.e. Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, Representative from the 6th District of Minnesota). Senators are still referred to as Senators. Basically: "Congress" consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate combined. A person who holds office in the House is a "Congressman," "Representative," or "House member," while a person holding office in the Senate is a "Senator."
 * The term "Congressman/woman" has officially fallen out of favor for the gender-neutral "Representative" (a change that was made, unsurprisingly, during Nancy Pelosi's term as the first female Speaker Of The House.)
 * And if you're looking to be pejorative about the elected officials in Washington, "Congresscritter" is often used.
 * The bonnet of a car is called the hood, and the boot is called the trunk.
 * A rubber is slang for a condom. "Galoshes" is used to refer to rubber boots slipped over shoes during the rain, and eraser is used to refer to the thing used to remove pencil marks from a piece of paper.
 * "Rain boots" is another term for galoshes.
 * A bender, if not used to indicate "something that bends things," generally refers to a wild night, or series of nights, spent partying with copious amounts of alcohol or other intoxicating substances. As in: "I had several days off, so I went on a complete three-day bender." This does not imply homosexual (or any sex) acts were committed during the time period, but it might be true anyway.
 * When the British want to refer to someone as having a less than noble character, they'll use "bent," like a "bent policeman." In America, they have a similar "not straight" term, but crooked is used, like a "crooked cop." It's pronounced in two syllables as well; "crook-ed" instead of one syllable like "looked."
 * Baseball terms are sometimes used in everyday conversation as metaphors. "Strike out" means to fail, as in: "I went to a bar hoping to meet a girl, but I totally struck out." "Home run," or "out of the park," means to succeed greatly. Strange ideas "come out of left field." Inappropriate comments are "off base." "Foul tip" meaning something that ends with neither a complete failure nor a satisfactory outcome. "Seventh-inning stretch," refers to a brief break from something to stretch your legs. "Getting to # base" refers to sexual activity, with each base coming closer to intercourse.
 * American Football metaphors are generally pretty simple. "Touchdown!" -- sometimes accompanied by raising both arms in the air like a football referee -- is common as a synonym for success or reaching a goal. "Third and long" refers to a last chance long-shot, and "going for two" refers to taking a risky move with a greater reward. By the same token, a "Hail Mary" is a desperate, usually final, attempt at something. "Punting" generally means a mediocre effort with limited results, a minor defeat, or passing responsibility on to someone else.
 * Pissed in America means "angry," not "drunk", which is why "piss drunk" can sound redundant. Sometimes, people will say "pissed off," which means the same thing ("angry"). "Pissing the night away," however, will generally be understood as a long drinking session. "Go on a pisser" means the same thing. A "pisser" can also refer to a fun or amusing person or event. Or a urinal.
 * On that note, pissing or taking a piss means to urinate, as does taking a leak. Thus, you can get pissed off at getting pissed on by a piss drunk.
 * Also, "taking the piss" is not used in America, and likely to cause confusion. (Although "taking a piss" is occasionally heard as a euphemism for urinating.)
 * Asphalt, pavement, and blacktop are all used to describe tarmac. The popularity of each depends on the region, but generally all will be perfectly understood. "Tarmac" is only used to describe paved runways. The term "bitumen" is completely unknown except as an obscure technical term.
 * Pavement, meanwhile, can also refer to the concrete or flagstones that a sidewalk is made of, but the sidewalk itself is just that, a sidewalk.
 * A buzzard refers to a vulture, not a hawk.
 * As noted on the American Accents page, in the South and Texas you'll hear "y'all" quite a bit. "Y'all" is a contraction of "you all" and is used as a second-person plural pronoun. Depending on where exactly one listens in, "y'all" will be pronounced as one syllable, rhyming with the American pronunciation of "Ball," or two, so it sounds almost like the German "Jawohl!," without the harsh inflection. Though almost everyone in America will understand what "y'all" means, it is not used in common conversation in all parts of the country, and can earn you some ribbing if you use it too far north.
 * In some places, especially Texas, one will also hear the phrase "all y'all." This functions essentially the same as "y'all," with the caveat that "all y'all" is used to refer to a large group of people, with whom the speaker may not immediately be interacting, especially in cases where he is trying to get their attention. For example, if a man at a dinner party is conversing with the people at his table, he might use "y'all"; if he stands up to make a toast he would refer to the entire room as "all y'all."
 * Another use of "all y'all" is to make sure every last member of the party being spoken to is being addressed. For example, "Are y'all going to the movies?" is asking if the group in question is going to a movie theater, but "Are all y'all going to the movies?" wonders if all the people in that group are going to the movies.
 * An equivalent word used in New York (and possibly other parts of the East Coast) is "youse" or "youse guys". In Jersey, it tends to be just "you guys".
 * Pittsburgh "yinz" (a contraction of "you ones").
 * In the South, one can also hear a few unique phrases such as "Might Could" for "might be able to," "Fixing To" for "about to." "Fixing to" is sometimes compressed to "Fit'nta" or "Finta" - either of these is stereotypically an urban black term but that's not strictly true anymore.
 * "Fixing to" as heard in the state of Georgia: "Fisin' to".
 * There is also the phrase "Bless his/her heart," which is sometimes half-jokingly referred to as "the worst of all Southern curses." It is usually spoken by women, and be aware that it means you are likely being pitied and thought of as a bit slow.
 * "Bless her heart" is basically a term that southern women use to get away with any amount of insult or condescension (behind someone's back), as if adding a blessing makes the statement any more benevolent or sounds sincere ("Bless her heart, that is the ugliest baby I've ever seen.")
 * Pudding in British English can refer to any sweet eaten after the main meal, while American English prefers the term "dessert." A British pudding can also be a thick, rich food like Christmas pudding. In the US, "Pudding" refers only to soft, custardlike sweet foods. While there are certain foods which both US and UK individuals would recognize as "pudding" (like rice pudding which is eaten in both), your average US speaker would probably not refer to a meat-based pudding as such. Similarly, the pudding commonly eaten in the US would probably be recognized by a British person as a custard or blancmange.
 * In most places, tea is usually used to refer to hot tea, though occasionally you will have to specify "hot tea" to contrast with "ice/iced tea." In many places in the south, if you don't want the super-sugary "sweet tea" popular there, you'll have to specify "unsweetened tea." Elsewhere, ordering iced tea in a restaurant will prompt the question, "Sweet or unsweet [sic]?"
 * If you say pie to an American, they tend to picture a sweet dessert pie, such as apple or blueberry. They have savory pies made with meat (chicken pot pie and shepherds' pie are both perfectly common), but it's not the first thing they think of.
 * "Pie" is also shorthand for "pizza pie" in some places, most notably in the vicinity of New York City.
 * Americans use the term collect generally to refer to things. If you say you're going to "collect" someone, it has a connotation that they have no choice in the matter, like they're being taken into custody. Normally, you'd say, "I'll pick you up" or "I'll come get you." Picking up (eg. "Let's pick up chicks, man") also refers to flirting with women, but it's a different context.
 * Making out means snogging. "[Playing] tonsil hockey" is used similarly.
 * "Making out" can also be used in the sense of "doing", as in, "How have you been doing?" ("How are you making out?")
 * Related: hooking up refers to any romantic activity that's more intimate than kissing but isn't quite sex, i.e. petting, oral pleasure, etc. When you say "I hooked up with Ron last night" it can mean basically anything, up to and including sex depending on the area. Oh, and sometimes you can "hook up" with friends without there being any sexual meaning to the phrase; it just means meeting up. The term is intentionally vague so that you can tell your buddies "I hooked up with Jenna" so they will overestimate what was done when in actuality all that happened was some heavy petting and then out for ice cream.
 * The term is known in the UK but it is more likely to mean to engage in sexual intercourse.
 * Mathematics (both generally and specifically the field of study in school) is called math, not "maths". An abbreviating to the first syllable instead of a contraction. Saying "maths" immediately marks you as British.
 * Sporting events and recreational activities are referred to as sports, not "sport". If you refer to something as "sport" then we'll think you're talking about hunting.
 * That said, a single specific type of event is still called a sport.
 * and a sport can also mean a player in context of sportsmanship such as "he's a good sport", "he's a poor sport", or just "he's a sport" with the assumption being good sport. Similarly sport can be used to mean the competitive spirit of enjoying a challenge as in "where's the sport in that?"
 * Vacation what Americans might call a "holiday", this break from school/work is called a "vacation" or a "break." A recreational trip somewhere is also called a "vacation." "Holiday" is used only to refer to special days that generally get people out of work or school, such as Christmas or the Fourth of July. Using "holiday" to mean "vacation" is recognized, but rare.
 * The shit When something is "the shit", then it is great. Something that is just "shit" is the opposite.
 * Guy (pronounced the standard, non-French way, so as to rhyme with "fry") is what Americans say instead of "bloke". It means exactly the same. The plural, "guys," can mean a group of males or a mixed-gender group, but never a group of females (except in the Jersey/Midwest "you guys" sense).
 * Dude is also used commonly, despite the surfer-and-valley-girl connotations the word has. You can just as easily refer to a man as "dude" than "guy", and there will be no problem. Referring to a group of people as "dudes" is also acceptable, even if the group has girls in it.
 * However, using "dudette" to refer to a girl makes you sound like you walked out of a bad 60s surfer movie.
 * Solicitors are people who are trying to sell you something (with the connotation of being annoying). Someone who practices law is a lawyer or attorney, used interchangeably.
 * The U.S. does make a distinction with what we call types of lawyers. Trial lawyers, whom a Brit might call a barrister, are counselors-at-law - hence why you often hear "Counselor" used as a title on Law and Order. A lawyer dealing with non-court legal matters - wills, articles of incorporation, etc. - are known as attorneys-at-law rather than solicitors. In short, if you want some advice on how stupid what you're planning is, you want to see an attorney. After you did the stupid thing and you need someone to represent you in court to help you get out of the legal hot water your stupidity put you in, you'll want a counselor.
 * The game noughts and crosses is almost universally known in America as tic-tac-toe, and using the former will probably incite at least a little confusion.
 * Checkers are, likewise, what you might call 'draughts' in the United States. And some Americans might struggle with how to pronounce 'draughts'. 'Drafts' usually refer to (maybe) beer, wayward wind currents ('do you feel a draft?), or military conscription. (Or driving very close behind another car.)
 * Shit-eating grin is a mischievous smile done in contemplation of doing some dastardly or naughty deed. Similar in meaning to "grinning like the cat that ate the canary". It can also mean a very forced smile given by someone who is obviously not happy but is trying to hide it.
 * Mom is used instead of "mum". "Mama" and "Ma' are generally used by children, but it's not entirely unheard of to hear an adult say them. "Mommy" is the exclusive domain of children and sometimes younger women, and any male above ten or so using it is likely to be ridiculed or he's just being silly.
 * Teams are treated as singular nouns. In other words, to an American, when you talk about a team, you are talking about the team as a whole, not the individual members. You can still talk about the team members, but to do so requires stating so. This also applies to companies, political parties, or any other group of people.
 * But if the team name is itself plural (this is the case for most sports teams, but not usually, for example, companies), you use a plural verb anyway. In other words, the verb agrees with the actual name of the group, rather than parts versus whole.
 * And if you support and are cheering on a specific team, you are said to root for them. There is no sexual connotation at all with the word, in contrast to its antipodean usage - they use the term barrack to refer to supporting a team. (The song "Take Me Out To The Ball Game" probably sounds very amusing to Australians due to this.)
 * The syntax for a job title is not title name for whatever, it's title name of whatever. What this says about leadership philosophies on opposite sides of the pond belongs on a different page.
 * Line power is the American term for what Commonwealth countries call mains power. And you'll rarely hear an American use the term, either - this is mainly due to the fact that Americans don't wire their buildings in a massive loop circuit directly connected to the the powerline. Instead, the powerline comes into a central control panel - technically called a service, but usually referred to as a fusebox or breaker box, where it's stepped down (excepting certain high-draw appliance lines) and split out into independent circuits.
 * The standard American electrical outlet produces 120 volts AC. Only for special high-power appliances like electric ovens, clothes dryers, and central air conditioners are 220-volt outlets provided. Additionally, the alternating current in American homes oscillates at a frequency of 60 Hz, not the 50 Hz that's standard in Britain and most Eurpoean countries, so most appliances that hum do so on a B-flat below middle C (instead of the pitch mid-way between G and G-sharp heard from most humming British appliances).
 * In the DC Metropolitan area, if you hear the initialism "DMV," it's very likely that whomever is not referring to the Department of Motor Vehicles. Over the last several years, more and more people have been referring to this area as the D(C)M(aryland)V(irginia).
 * Cunt is extremely offensive -- possibly, barring racial slurs, one of the most offensive words you can use, and one almost exclusively aimed at people. (You won't hear anyone over here saying "I had a cunt of a day.") Mostly applied to women, though if you want to truly insult a man, you could call him one. Either way, don't be surprised if you get punched for it.
 * Yankee or Yank applies to people from the northeastern states. Never, ever call someone from the Deep South a Yank. Those from other parts of the U.S. may not appreciate it, either.
 * Shotgun can refer to either a gun or the passenger seat in a car: if someone wants to ride as the front passenger, they might say "I call shotgun". (The term dates from the Wild West era, when stagecoaches frequently required an armed guard; he would sit out on top of the coach to the right of the horses' driver.)
 * Tramp. Although it can mean a homeless person or person down on his luck which is still remembered for Charlie Chaplin's character The Tramp it's a term mostly known for a woman of loose morals. Calling someone a Tramp, especially a woman, would be rather insulting.