Break Prison

'Jail' is not uncommon in British English. Some people still spell the word 'gaol'.

We use the noun 'jail-break' sometimes, but we don't normally speak of people 'breaking jail'. They 'escape from prison'.

Do "prison-break" and "goal-break" exist in standard English?

temtoBecause "jail" is American English and "prison" is British English, could the second phrase of:"to break jail""to break prison"be correct in British English but not in American English?

Jail is for short stays, and prison, for longer. You don't break jail, you stage a jailbreak (one word). "Prison break" (no hyphen) is overnice—"jailbreak" suffices for an

enoonJail is for short stays, and prison, for longer.

I've not heard that before. I am fairly sure that it is not true in BrE. The place where convicted prisoners are locked away is a prison, sometimes referred to as a jail.

The verb is 'jail' - He was jailed for ten years.

fivejedjon enoonJail is for short stays, and prison, for longer.I've not heard that before. I am fairly sure that it is not true in BrE. The place where convicted prisoners are locked away is a prison, sometimes referred to as a jail.The verb is 'jail' - He was jailed for ten years.

I think I overstated my case a bit, but we would not call the holding cell at

enoon we would not call the holding cell at the mall a prison

If you are held behind bars at a polce staion, you are held in the cells.

enoon Do you see "imprisoned" much?

I was about to say 'No', but checked with the British National Corpus. There are 807 citations for 'imprisoned' and 804 for 'jailed', so I would have bee

Yes, in the US, there actually is a legal difference between "jail" and "prison" but the difference is a legal one, recognized only to a few outside the criminal justice world, so you'll hear both used interchangeably.

There was even a television show called "Prison Break" that aired here for more years than I had realized:

So, all these:

"to break jail"
"to break prison"
"to break goal"

are equally good English?

temtoSo, all these:"to break jail""to break prison""to break goal"are equally good English?

None of those terms are natural in American English.

To break out of jail
To break out of prison
To break out of gaol - though I need a BrE speaker to confirm that one.
There was a jailbreak last night.
They are planning a prison break.

Grammar GeekTo break out of gaol - though I need a BrE speaker to confirm that one.

Yup - though many now consider that spelling old-fashioned.