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  • Brits and Americans are joined by a common language, but there are many many differences.

  • Today we are going to look at 20 more words that we say differently. All that is coming

  • right up after we meet another Eat Sleep Dreamer.

  • In my last lesson about British and American English we looked at words that were pronounced

  • differently. Today we're looking at different words that have the same meaning. Now I'm

  • sure you are going to know some of them but I've added a few that maybe you don't know

  • to keep you on your toes. Let's get started with number one. In British English we say

  • pavement for the area that you walk on along the street. In American English they say sidewalk.

  • Now I quite like sidewalk it makes sense to me. Like, there's the road and then you walk

  • on the side. It's quite logical, I like that one America, but in Britain we say pavement.

  • So in British English pavement in American English sidewalk. Alright this one, this is

  • interesting. We are talking about slang language here. In British English we use the slang

  • word quid to talk about one pound. So quid. In American English to talk about one dollar

  • they'd say buck. So in British English we talk about one pound as a quid in American

  • English one dollar is a buck. How much is the coffee? It's two quid. In American English

  • they would say it's two bucks. That's a good one, I like that one. When we apply for a

  • job, we usually send a document that has all our experience, our work experience our personal

  • details and we call it in British English a curriculum vitae but we shorten it down

  • to a CV. In American English they would use CV but they would also say resume. So in British

  • English it's a CV or curriculum vitae. In American English, it's a resume. So I need

  • help writing my CV or I need help writing my resume. Number four is a small but important

  • difference. Now mathematics the subject that we study at school is shortened down in British

  • English to maths. In American English they don't use that /s/ they take it and they throw

  • it away, math. So British English we say maths, American English math. I don't know why, I'd

  • like to know why. If anyone knows why that is let me know in the comments below. When

  • you are waiting to pay at the shops in Britain we would say you are in a queue. In American

  • English you are in a line. So in a queue or in a line. Number six is a good one. Now when

  • we are moving in the opposite direction to how a clock would move in Britain we'd say

  • anticlockwise so clockwise is the same direction as a clock. The hands going around, in British

  • English when it's going the other way we say anticlockwise. In American English it's counterclockwise.

  • So an example sentence 'so let's dance anticlockwise.' or 'Let's dance counterclockwise.' When students

  • use this word I can always tell if they have learned American English or British English.

  • Now the general word is confectionary and we are talking about things made of sugar

  • so lollipops and things like that. In Britain we would say sweets and in American English

  • they'd say candy. So as a kid I was only allowed sweets on Saturday. But in American English

  • that would be 'As a kid I was only allowed candy on Saturday.' At school we are divided

  • into age groups. Now in Britain we would call those years. So I'm in year six or I'm in

  • year four. In American English they'd say grade, so I'm in grade two I'm in grade three.

  • In British English it's a year and in American English it's a grade. So 'What year are you

  • in at school?' or 'What grade are you in at school?' In Britain when you send a letter

  • you always have to write the address and include a set of letters and numbers which determine

  • the area that you are sending the letter to. This is called a postcode. So for example

  • in London we've got like N8 or N10 or SW4, these all link to certain areas of London.

  • Now if course in Britain it's postcode, in American English it's zip code. So these are

  • the groups of numbers and letters that are added to a postal address so that we get the

  • right location. Post code, zip code. This one I found fascinating, I didn't know there

  • was a difference here. So in every children's playground in Britain or a lot of children's

  • playgrounds there is an area of sand that you can play in. We call this a sandpit. In

  • American English it's called a sandbox. It's a box of sand, so it's a sandbox. I didn't

  • know that, that's amazing I like it, sandbox why not! So British English it's a sandpit

  • American English sandbox. How would you describe that in your language? What's it called in

  • your language? Is it a sandpit? a sandbox? A sandhole? What do you call it in your language?

  • This one I'm sure you know but if you don't it's important

  • to

  • know

  • the difference. In Britain the most popular

Brits and Americans are joined by a common language, but there are many many differences.

Subtitles and vocabulary

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