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American-British
Glossary
Smoothing transatlantic
communication |
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Index
of Americanisms |
A
B C D E
F G H
I J
K L M N
O P Q
R S T
U V W
X Y Z
| British-American |
|
|
P |
|
American
|
British
|
| package
(mail item) |
parcel |
| pacifier |
(baby's)
dummy,
(baby) comforter |
| paddle |
table tennis bat |
| pail |
bucket |
| pajamas |
pyjamas |
| pal
[colloq.] |
chum,
mate [both colloq.] |
| pancake
turner |
fish
slice, spatula |
| pant cuffs |
turn-ups
(on trousers) |
| panties |
knickers |
| pantry |
larder
(usually a kitchen cupboard for food storage);
pantry (small room for storing not only food but also
crockery
and perhaps other kitchenware) |
| pants |
trousers,
bags
[colloq.] |
pantsuit
(smart women's outfit with
matching jacket and pants) |
trouser
suit |
| pantyhose |
tights |
| papaya |
papaw,
pawpaw |
| paper cutter |
guillotine |
| paper route |
(news)paper
round |
| parakeet |
budgerigar,
budgie |
| parentheses |
(round)
brackets |
| parka |
anorak |
| parkway |
main
road with trees and greenery on either side
and in the middle |
| parking garage |
multi-storey
car park; underground car park |
| parking
lot |
car
park |
| part
(hairstyle) |
parting |
| party-poop, party-pooper
[both slang] |
someone
who doesn't get into a party mood
or who leaves a party early; party killjoy |
| passenger car
(train) |
railway carriage/coach |
| passing lane (of freeway) |
outside lane (of motorway) |
|
patronage (business) |
custom
(as in 'we appreciate your custom') |
| pavement |
road
surface (after covering with concrete or tarmac) |
| payables
(in accounting) |
creditors |
| peach
[slang] (great-looking girl) |
smasher
[colloq.] |
| pecker
[slang] (penis) |
knob,
willie, willy [all schoolboy slang] |
| peckish |
shirty
[colloq.], annoyed, irritated, irritable |
| peddler
(door-to-door salesman) |
pedlar |
| penitentiary |
reformatory
prison |
| penlight |
pen torch |
| period
(punctuation mark) |
full
stop, period |
| person-to-person (operator-connected private call) |
personal
call |
| personal
(n.) |
personal
ad |
Petty Officer 1st Class >
Petty Officer 2nd Class (U.S. Navy) |
Petty Officer (Royal Navy) |
| Petty Officer 3rd Class (U.S.
Navy) |
Leading Seaman (Royal Navy) |
pharmacist
(person licensed to sell
and prepare medicines) |
chemist |
| pharmacy |
chemist,
chemist's (shop) |
| phone
booth |
phone
box, call box, telephone kiosk |
| phonograph |
gramophone |
| pie crust |
pastry
case |
| pigpen |
pigsty |
| pike
[colloq.] (abbreviation of turnpike) |
tollroad
(motorway type) |
| pin |
brooch |
| pinafore |
apron
for a young girl usually long enough to cover
a dress and perhaps
trimmed with flounces |
| pint
(U.S. pint = 0.473 liters) |
pint
(Imperial pint = 0.565 litres) |
| pissed
[slang] (very annoyed, fed up, depressed) |
narked,
brassed off, pissed off [all slang] |
| pit
(fruit seed) |
pip
(smaller), stone
(larger) |
| pitcher |
jug |
| play
hooky (or hookey)
[colloq.] |
skive
[colloq.], play truant |
| pitted |
stoned
(olives, etc.) |
| plaid |
tartan |
| plastic
wrap |
clingfilm |
| play
hooky |
bunk
off, do a bunk, skive [all slang]; play truant |
| Plexiglas
(a tough, clear plastic used instead of glass) |
Perspex |
| plow |
plough |
| plurality (in
winner-takes-all candidate selection) |
majority
(in
a first-past-the-post
election) |
| pocketbook |
women's
handbag |
| pocketknife |
penknife |
| polliwog,
pollywog [dial.] |
tadpole |
| Popsicle™ |
ice
lolly, iced lolly |
| porch |
veranda |
| potato chips |
crisps,
potato crisps |
| pound
sign; pound key (#) |
hash
sign, hash mark; hash key |
| powdered
sugar |
icing
sugar |
| power
outage |
power
cut |
| precinct |
city
area (esp. for policing or local election purposes) |
| preschool
(school for children aged 2-5) |
nursery
school, kindergarten |
| prep
school |
private school
in the U.S. preparing children
for a top, perhaps Ivy
League university |
| presently |
currently,
right now |
| president
(company) |
chairman,
CEO (chief executive officer) |
| principal |
head,
headteacher, headmaster, headmistress |
| print
(textiles and clothes) |
patterned |
| private
bath/shower & WC (in hotel room) |
en
suite (facilities) |
| private
dick
[colloq.] |
private
detective |
| Private
1st Class (U.S. Army) |
Lance Corporal (British Army) |
| Private
1st Class > Private
(U.S. Marine Corps) |
Marine
(title of starting rank in Royal Marines) |
| prize
open (lever open) |
prise
open |
| professor |
lecturer (at
college or university) |
| prom
|
formal
dance party held for senior or graduating high school students at end of
school year |
pry
open (lever open)
- In early 19th century America the verb 'pry'
resulted
from British English 'prise' being misconstrued as a
3rd person singular form 'pries'.
|
prise
open |
| public lavatory |
public
convenience |
| public
school |
free,
government-provided school; (UK) state
school |
| pudding |
cold, soft,
creamy type of dessert |
| pull
through (recover from an illness) |
pull round,
pull through |
| pull-off
(roadside resting place/vehicle stopping area) |
lay-by |
| pull-tab
(on drink can) |
ring-pull |
| pumps |
court
shoes |
| purse |
women's
handbag |
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|
A
B C D E
F G H
I J
K L M N
O P Q
R S T
U V W
X Y Z
| British-American |
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