EFL teacher David Appleyard
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American > British Glossary | B

Smoothing transatlantic communication
Index of Americanisms
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 Briticisms

 

AmericanAmerican term or expression BritishBritish equivalent, or explanation
baby buggy pushchair
baby carriage pram (abbr. of perambulator)
bachelor party stag party, stag night
bachelorette party hen party, hen night
backhoe mechanical digger, excavator
backpack rucksack
backsplash tiles (to protect kitchen wall) splashback tiles
backup lights (on vehicle) reversing lights
backwards (as in 'he wore his baseball cap backwards') back to front
backyard garden
bacon slice rasher
bag (v.) [colloq.] discontinue using something
baggage luggage
baggage car (on train) luggage van
baggage room left luggage office
baked potato jacket potato, baked potato
balcony (in theater) gallery
ballpoint (pen) Biro™, ballpoint (pen)
balls [slang] bollocks, goolies, balls [all slang] (testicles);
bullshit, crap [both slang] (utter nonsense)
ballsy [slang] (as in 'she was a ballsy lady') having attributes traditionally expected of the ideal male, like toughness, courage and determination
baloney [colloq.] (foolish nonsense) rot [colloq.], codswallop [slang],
cobblers [abbreviation of rhyming slang
                 'cobbler's awls' for 'balls' (see above)]
Band Aid plaster [C], sticking plaster
bangs (hair) fringe
bank (of river) embankment
bank teller cashier, bank cashier
barrette hairslide
baseboard skirting board
bathing suit swimming trunks (men); swimsuit (women)
bathrobe dressing gown
bathroom [euphemism] lavatory, toilet
bathtub bath
beach resort seaside resort
beano [colloq.] (esp. bingo using beans as markers) bingo
beat it [slang] (get away) scarper [slang]
Beat it! [slang] (Get lost! Go to hell!) Bugger off! Naff off! Piss off! Sod off! [all slang]
beauty parlor/salon/shop (women's) hairdresser
beaver [slang] (female genitals) fanny [slang]
bedroom community dormitory town
beeper [colloq.] (pager) bleeper [colloq.]
beet beetroot
bell captain head porter (hotel)
bell pepper (vegetable) pepper
bellhop/bellboy/bellman porter (hotel)
belt up buckle/fasten your seatbelt
beltway (bypass encircling a city or town) ring road
bias tire, bias-ply tire cross-ply tyre
bicycling cycling
bicyclist cyclist
Big Dipper, the (constellation) Plough, the
bill (paper money) note, banknote
billboard hoarding, advertising hording
billfold men's wallet, notecase
billing invoicing
blacktop (asphalt) tarmac
blanket bath sponge bath
blender liquidizer, blender
blind alley (cul-de-sac) close, cul-de-sac, dead-end road
blinders (leather shields attached to either side of
               a horse's head so it can only see forward)
blinkers
blowout (in a tire) puncture, flat tyre
blubber [colloq.] (weep loudly) blub
bobby pin hairclip, hairgrip (flat hairpin with ends close together)
bobsled; bobsledding [slang] bobsleigh
bomb bad failure, disaster
bond (as in 'he was released on [a] $10,000 bond') bail (as in 'she was released on £10,000 bail')
boner [slang] (penile erection) stiffy, hard-on [both slang]
boob tube [slang]  (television set) telly, goggle-box [both slang]
booby-hatch [slang] (psychiatric hospital) loony-bin [slang]
bowl (bowl-shaped structure) large stadium for sports events and concerts
box cutter (utility knife) craft knife, Stanley knife
box wrench box spanner
boxcar (on a freight train) goods wag(g)on (enclosed type)
braces (leg supports) callipers
braids (as in 'Mandy wears her hair in braids') plaits
brainstorm (great new idea) brainwave
brass knuckles knuckle-duster
bread box bread bin
break in a new car's engine
    (by not driving too fast at first)
run a new car in
bridge loan (a kind of short-term bank loan) bridging loan
brigadier general (U.S. Air Force) air commodore (Royal Air Force)
brigadier general (U.S. Army & U.S. Marine Corps) brigadier (British Army & Royal Marines)
britches  (pants ending just below the knee) breeches
broad [slang] (woman) bird [slang]
broil grill on a gridiron or rack
broiler grill
BS (which also stands for 'bullshit' in the U.S.) B.Sc. (Bachelor of Science)         
buck [slang]  (cf. U.K. quid) dollar $
buckeye conker (the hard core of a horse chestnut)
buddy, bud (a form of very informal address) mate;
sunshine, sonny Jim, mush [slang]
                  (used condescendingly)
buffet (as an item of furniture) sideboard
bug insect
bulletin board noticeboard
bullhorn loudhailer, megaphone
bum, bummer [both slang] tramp (vagrant); layabout (habitual loafer or idler)
bun(s) [slang] buttock(s)
bureau chest of drawers
burglarize burgle
bus (more comfortable, long-distance type) coach
busboy a kind of assistant waiter
butt [slang] (buttocks) bum [colloq.], bottom