UK english VS. US english

Question

I know there is some diffrence but in fact I do not know how big the diffrence is.

So therefore I am asking you to explain how big the diffrence between these two dialects is.

Can they understand eachother when talking to eachother.

And so on.

And the funny thing is that it is called english which means it must come from England.

Pinenut · Accepted Answer

DiddyI know there is some diffrence but in fact I do not know how big the diffrence is.

So therefore I am asking you to explain how big the diffrence between these two dialects is.

Can they understand eachother when talking to eachother.

And so on.

And the funny thing is that it is called english which means it must come from England.

I can't make a general statement, but I can illustrate a case of difference:

Fancy a quick drink, Emma?
Sorry, but I don't fancy going out tonight.
I don't fancy our chances of getting a ticket this late.

I've heard this word, fancy, spoken in the U.S. That does not mean nobody uses it.
I also think that most people in the States will understand it if a British person uses it.

Diddy · Answer

But I am not talking about particulary cases, I am talking in general.

BarbaraPA · Answer

This doesn't have a very straight-forward answer.

I think that 99.5% of the time, there is no problem understanding meaning. Most of the difference come in pronunciation (and there are wide difference within each of the countries as well), in vocabulary, spelling, and idiom.

A vocabulary example is that a "***" over there is a cigarette but over here is a not-nice way to describe a homosexual, and confusion over that term could result in some humorous mix-ups. But mostly, we know what is meant by context, so even if I didn't know what a "boot" is, if someone opens the car "trunk" and says "let's put the groceries in the boot," I'd be okay.

Examples of spelling difference are using "s" versus "z" in some words and the ending "-or" versus "-our"

And yes, we'd probably not say "I'd fancy a drink," but I can certainly understand.

There are a few differences in syntax, like the "in hospital" versus "in the hospital" but again, nothing that would be misunderstood.

There's an expression that says the U.S. and England are two countried divided by a common language. But mostly we muddle through.

Diddy · Answer

OK thank you very much.

Diddy · Answer

Come on. You must have more to say on this subject.

CalifJim · Answer

The closer you examine the two, the more minor differences you can find, but in the larger scope of things, they are merely two varieties of the same language, not by any means two different languages. We can understand each other very easily. British movies are shown in the U.S. and vice versa, and each group understands the other -- without need of subtitles! GG has summarized the points of difference very well.
It's just that, in a very general way, each group thinks that the other group "talks funny", i.e., "has an accent"!

As for languages in the New World, remember that the land in the western hemisphere was settled many years ago by people from the Old World, who brought their language with them. Therefore, there is really no such thing as the Mexican language, the American language, the Brazilian language. These are still called Spanish, English, and Portuguese, after the country of origin of the ancestors of the current inhabitants. Through geographical separation, the Old World forms and the New World forms of these languages have come to differ slightly over time, but they are still mutually intelligible and therefore not separate languages.

CJ

UK english VS. US english

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