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American English: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
It is often said that Britain and America are two countries [[Separated
Sister pages include [[Stock American Phrases]], [[British English]] and [[G
For those interested in articulation rather than vocabulary, there are many pages about [[Accent Tropes|various nations' accents]], including [[American Accents|American ones]].
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* '''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 ''[[
* '''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 [[Wallace and Gromit|"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.
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* 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
** Not to be confused with "fell off the back of a ''turnip truck''", which describes [[Naive Newcomer|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.
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