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25 English words that mean very different things in Britain and America

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neilmac
neilmac
Spain
Local time: 16:37
Spanish to English
+ ...
Agree Sep 8, 2016

Angela Rimmer wrote:

I take issue with this article's American definition for "nappy".


STEVIE WONDER: I wish -> "Looking back on when I Was a little nappy headed boy..."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2KE7tZlDF4


 
Georgie Scott
Georgie Scott  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 16:37
French to English
+ ...
The spread of US English Sep 8, 2016

Tom in London wrote:

Jenny Forbes wrote:

In the UK, if someone is "pissed", they're drunk. In the USA, they're annoyed.
In the UK, "annoyed" can be conveyed by "pissed OFF", not "pissed" on it's own.

Beware!


And beware the errant apostrophe! You're not quite right. Listen to Angie Stone sing "So pissed off" and then "ticked off" which in British English means "scolded" and then "you're pissing me off" etc...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tx-cD_5WAH4


[Edited at 2016-09-06 16:11 GMT]


Even if technically (?) it means the speaker is using US English I still find the use and understanding of "pissed" and "ticked off" to mean "annoyed" is quite widespread amongst Brits (perhaps, however, of a certain age).


 
Adam Warren
Adam Warren  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 16:37
Member (2005)
French to English
Likely (North American usage) - probably (British) Mar 17, 2017

Tom in London wrote:

Recently (in the past year) Americans suddenly started saying "likely" instead of "probably". Some Brits have begun to copy them. Presumably they don't talk or write much, because there are significant syntactical differences between these two words.

It is likely they don't know the difference. They probably don't know the difference.


My Canadian grandmother used the work "likely" as an adverb for all the years in which I read her typewritten correspondence. North Americans have been inured to this usage for a long time, not just the past year. Similarly, Brits have long been using "likely" adjectivally, as illustrated in the quote.

With kind regards.


 
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25 English words that mean very different things in Britain and America







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