
American > British Glossary | F
Smoothing transatlantic communication
Index of Americanisms |
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face card (king, queen or jack in a deck of cards) | court card |
faculty (personnel) | university department staff |
fag, faggot [both slang] (homosexual or gay man) | bender, poof, poofter, nancy (boy) [all slang] |
fall (the season) | autumn |
fall guy [slang] | scapegoat |
fanny (posterior) | buttocks, bum [colloq.] |
fanny pack | bumbag |
far-sighted | long-sighted |
fare collector (on city bus, etc.) | conductor |
faucet (running water outlet) | tap |
fava bean | broad bean |
fender (on vehicle) | mudguard; wing |
fender bender [slang] (minor vehicle collision) | prang [slang] |
Ferris wheel | big wheel |
field day (for students) | sports day |
field hockey | hockey |
figure (think, guess) | reckon |
figure on (expect) | count on |
file cabinet | filing cabinet |
file for bankruptcy protection | go
into administration (and if an outside specialist administrator cannot save an insolvent company, it goes into receivership or liquidation) |
fill a prescription (for medicine at a pharmacy) | make up a prescription (at a chemist) |
fill out a form | fill in a form |
fink [colloq.] (police informer) | grass [colloq.]; |
fire [colloq.] (dismiss an employee) | sack, give someone the sack, give someone the boot, give someone their cards (i.e. the tax and insurance documents held by an employer for the duration of someone's employment) |
fire cracker | firework |
fire department | fire brigade, fire service |
fire truck | fire engine |
firefighter | fireman, firefighter |
firehouse | fire station |
fireplug | fire hydrant |
first balcony (in theater) | circle, dress circle |
first floor (U.S.) | ground floor (UK) |
first grade (at school) | first form |
first grader | first-former |
first/last quarter (moon phases) | half moon |
fiscal year | business year, financial year |
fish dealer | fishmonger |
fish stick | fish finger (frozen food item) |
fitness club | sports centre |
flashlight | torch |
flat [colloq.] (flat tire) | puncture, flat tyre |
flatware (compare AmE hollowware) | in the US, flatware means cutlery or silverware |
flextime | flexitime |
Fleet Admiral (U.S. Navy) | Admiral of the Fleet (Royal Navy) |
floor lamp | standard lamp |
floor
walker
(person in large store who directs customers & supervises sales staff) |
shopwalker |
flophouse [slang] (very cheap rooming house/hotel) | doss-house [slang] |
fly (extra canvas sheet over tent to keep out rain) | flysheet |
FM radio (cf. AM radio) | VHF, FM |
food stamps | government vouchers made available to poor people to exchange for food |
food to go | takeaway food |
football | American football |
football player | footballer (in soccer) |
for sale (available to buy) | on sale, for sale |
forward slash / | oblique stroke / |
foyer
(in the U.S., the area in a home between the front door and other rooms) |
hall |
fraternity | university society for male students |
freeway | motorway |
freight train | goods train |
freight truck | goods lorry |
French doors | French windows |
fresher [colloq.], freshman | first-year high school or college/university student |
fries, french fries | chips, potato chips |
front desk | reception |
front desk clerk | receptionist |
front walk | garden path |
frosh [colloq.] (freshman) | first-year student or undergraduate |
fruit and vegetable store | greengrocer('s), greengrocery |
fruit dealer | fruiterer |
fuel truck | tanker, petrol tanker |
funeral home, funeral parlor | funeral parlour |
furniture mover(s) | furniture remover(s), removal(s) firm [both formal]; movers [informal] |