railway n. What Americans call the "railroad", we call the "railway".

randy adj. One way of ensuring that Brits laugh at American sitcoms is to put someone in the program called Randy. This is because randy in UK English translates very well as horny in US English and, because we all have such a simple sense of humour, sentences such as "Hello, I'm Randy" have us doubled up on the sofa.

rat-arsed adj. A popular expression for being exceedingly drunk. Also abbreviated as simply "ratted". Where on earth it comes from I have no idea. Perhaps a rat's arse is just an unusually unpleasant thing?

rawl plug n. I wish I'd never gotten into this. This particular definition has caused me no end of headaches. I was assured by one of my contributors that a rawl plug was actually a moly bolt. I mistakenly made some joke along the lines of "what the hell's a rawl plug anyway?" A few days later I received mail from one David Henry. "As I recall it, a rawlplug was a trade name for a wooden plug you bash into a hole you just drilled into cement, concrete or brick so you could then insert a screw to fasten something to the wall with. Later they developed the same things made out of plastic, with sprigs sticking out of them so they really stayed in place. After that came ones made of soft metal, like lead, for heavier loadings. None of these is to be confused with a molly bolt, which is designed to provide a fixing point on wallboard (plasterboard in the UK). It works in a clever way such that once you screwed in the screw, you deform the back of the molly so that it can't be pulled out of the hole. Ingenious gadgets." I then got another e-mail telling me that a rawl plug was lead, not wood. This was followed by yet another telling me that wallboard was in fact more commonly known as sheetrock. I DON'T CARE! However, never let it be said that this isn't a comprehensive language guide.

razz v. Another top-quality term for vomiting. Example would be something like "Well, yeah, we were having a great time until Phil razzed down the back of the sofa and they made us all go home". Both Americans and Brits use the term "razzing" to describe teasing someone, and somewhat delightfully the razz is UK slang for an evening spent out drinking.

registration n. What Americans call "licence plates", we Brits call "number plates", "registration numbers" or simply "registrations". While Americans can have anything they fancy on theirs, and they bear little pictures of sunny beaches and legends like "Ohio - The Flour Biscuit State" and such, ours are slightly more plain affairs, and are issued by the government. As the government changed their systems of number/letter combinations a good few times, however, there is a lively secondary market in plates that look like they say something.

return adj. Don't worry - this means the same worldwide in most contexts. However, what we in the UK call a return ticket is known in North America as a round-trip ticket. As you probably know, it just means that you're planning on coming home again.

reverse charges n. v. Call Collect. Nothing to do with cars.

revise v. As well as the universal use of this word (to read over and make changes to), Brits use the term "revising" to mean studying for exams.

ring v. To phone someone up. Translates nicely into American as call. A relic from the days when telephones actually rang and didn't bleep, vibrate or send you e-mail.

rocket n. While we do also use the word to describe an explosive propulsion device, rocket to a British chef will be the green herb arugula to an American one.

→ Posted by: Slava at October 27, 2005 10:57 AM

I am from Hackney, and I now live in the states. A bit about myself, my father is american and my mum is british from Colchester. As mentioned, I grew up in Hackney.
Living in the states, I can not stop laughing whenever someone calls a bum bag a fanny pack. It is just too funny. I have an american friend who thinks being knackered is drunk.
I can go on and on.... Americans seem so fasinated by my "COOL" accent...apparently it is FAT ... I mean PHAT ... oh my

→ Posted by: Laura at November 4, 2005 9:06 PM

It looks like I may be the only American to stumble across this yet. I haven't had time to read all of the remarks.

I would like to agree – Americans are simply ignorant when it comes to understanding others. Take my family for example: We're well educated and well-rounded in global issues and history. We travel through Europe every summer. We've been to Africa and South America. However, when my cousin married a man from England, I was the ONLY memeber of the family, other than her, able to understand him. It never occured to me that British accents were difficult before he joined the family and my mother would ask me to translate.

I will admit, occasionally British slang will throw me off, but not too often. American slang throws me off all the time. I can't stand their constant butchering of the English language! If I hear one more "oh, snap!" or "dawg!" or "bitches and hoes" I'll scream. Even in my writing class, people at the UNIVERSITY LEVEL write short stories and papers mixing up there and their, where and were, and use internet slang! Ur, u, cuz... all part of the writing stlyes. It makes me sick.

I'll admit, I think British accents are really nice [or hot, since as a girl I find it utterly charming in comparison to what I hear on a daily basis], but I like a lot of accents that aren't from the States.

In any event, this Yankee agrees with you.

PS: I think it's a bit odd that the original post was dated in 2000, and all the subsequent comments have been posted in the last few weeks... over five years later!

→ Posted by: roxanna at November 9, 2005 5:58 PM

Come on Yanks, Sneakers, just sounds too naff a word to be used in the real world; you’re having us on with that one, surely!

What a pathetic geeky concept, like anyone thinks it's cool to sneak, skulking around in the shadows whilst going unnoticed, cool! Nah, don’t think so somehow!

Be hard, act like a real man, and train out in the open in your trainers. What are you frightened of? Got no spunk!

→ Posted by: 2randy at November 14, 2005 11:30 AM

i live in Portsmouth in the Uk but am also a little bit of a jet-setter
having spent some time in the states i admit people found it difficult to understand me and they were convinced I was australian?! no quite sure why but its happened to alot of my mates aswell

some things iv noticed that i agree with on here is

1) most english speaking countries will understand both UK and US english (except the US who hav trouble with UK english)

2) most englsih speaking people find UK slang very difficult to translate....it doesnt help that within the UK there are hundreds of different dialects and accents very different to one another ie. Scouse (Liverpool) and Cockney (parts of london)
infact when i visit friends in Newquay they struggle to understand my pompey (Portsmouth) accent.

the thing that annoys me though is australians and biritsh people will generally accept we all say some words differently and its our own way of saying things
americans however say that their way of saying it is the correct way and the only way and we should change our language to suit them and are offended if we dont!

despite the fact the language is ENGLISH from ENGLAND!!! so if you really want to be arsey you could say our way is right because we invented the language!!!!!!

football is the most obvious example here, to an american football is soccer, therefore soccer is whats its "really" called, "americans are right, call it soccer idiots"
even though the US is 1 of only 4 countries to cal it soccer
every other nation on the planet, including the massive footballing nations of Europe and South america, call it Football!!! even the aussies are considering changing soccer to football to stay in touch with the rest of the world

ofcourse most americans are unaware of the world beyond their borders which is a sad thing because were it not for their cockyness, arrogance and ignorance the americans are otherwise an extreamly friendly and wonderful people (if not a bit loud haha)and go out of their way to make visitors feel welcome.

one funny extra, whilst in Hawaii my friend from Seatlle could not grasp the concept of an "american accent" he assumed everyone in the world had an accent except the US (a country which is only a few hundred years old i might add)

→ Posted by: Aaron at January 23, 2006 9:01 PM

Don't feel too badly about the arogance and humor found in the differences in the language.
I moved from the northern US to the southern part and had to leard what seemed to be a new language here as well.
Have you ever heard someone say: "cut on the light?" or "take this and put it up?"
The differences are what I find facinating. I would much rather discover why a word is used like it is than to make fun of the person using it.
(cut it on = turn it on)
(put it up = put it away)

→ Posted by: Scott at January 24, 2006 4:18 PM

I understand the fact that the American accent is butchered alot of the time. I am American also. I have to say though, not all Americans feel that British citizens should change their accent or choice of words. Most don't feel that way at all. I am sure of that. I love Britain very much and hope that one day I might get the chance to live there with my brother. I just hope that the people I meet there are not so harsh in their opinions about my accent as some of your statements seem to be. What are Americans to do? Change their accents and culture? Trust me there is nothing more I would love to do than change my accent. I have a southern accent. The southern accent is hated almost every place I know. Yankees hate hearing southern people talk also. We are teased all the time for the way we talk. The fact is people can't help what they were raised with. You really are lucky. Americans adore your accent and language, but it is a little more complicated than just all of the sudden speaking correct English. I just don't want anyone thinking we expect you to bend to our life style. That is simply not true. Oh and I must say not all Americans are walking around saying " bitches and hoes" or "dawg". Alot of people here become easily annoyed with those kind of things also. Just keep in mind please that many Americans accept and very much appreciate the fact that your English is proper. If we spoke proper English also it wouldn't be appreciated like it is now. My brother and I wish we weren't brought up speaking the southern accent for that very reason.

→ Posted by: Courtney at February 22, 2006 4:42 PM

yo what up homies? Why y'all getting up in America's grill? I'm just kidding. I actually think English accents are awesome. They always make me shiver when I hear it.

→ Posted by: suan at February 27, 2006 12:05 AM

I need to get more information about american and british english

→ Posted by: claude at April 19, 2006 10:58 AM

"naff" does not mean anything is Canadian English, please rephrase.

Why would someone call shoes "trainers"? is that because you can't walk properly and need some kind of training wheel device attached to your shoes?
I am being sarcastic. The term sneakers has been around since the 1950's, it probably sound cool back then. The are also commonly called "runners" here and in the USA the are often called tennis shoes.

Skookum Canuck

→ Posted by: Blaine at May 5, 2006 9:55 AM

Sadly, I think I'm one of those people who "adopts" an accent very quickly when I'm around people speaking in a particular manner. I don't mean to; it just happens. I worked at a Canadian tourist attraction for three years and still occasionally pull out one of several American accents I picked up while guiding American tourists. We didn't have too many British tourists or I'm sure I would do the same thing with that. My ear delights in hearing sounds I wasn't brought up with. It's not because I wish I was someone I'm not or because I'm making fun of anyone.

I'll also adopt various words -- for example, I get strange looks when I call someone a wanker, but really, that's a word we Canucks should use more often. But we're in a strange place here, clinging to our British roots and snugged up against the States. Sometimes I'm amazed we have our own accents and idioms at all.

→ Posted by: blue at May 19, 2006 3:07 AM

im english and i dont like the way some americans think us english speak posh and are posh because half of us arent and it annoys me that some people think we are

→ Posted by: fiona at June 11, 2006 4:26 PM

I've never been to England. I've never been out of the US, except to Canada, and Mexico, but I have had a lot of English clients through.

I also converse, on various forums, with people from GB. On the forums, we communicate quite well, though I can't agree with Roxanna about the misuse of there and their, where and were being a problem only in the US.

In person - forget it. I had one fella from Sussex through. Bit off a third of every sentence and, for good measure, a third of every word. I don't believe he said anything, the whole time he was here, that I didn't have to ask him to repeat.

It got to be a standing joke. I finally acused him of doing it on purpose - and he fessed up.

→ Posted by: Pierre at June 29, 2006 5:52 PM

i think the reason Americans think we sound posh is because of the Queen! lol... When they watch British films, comedies or the news they are always going to be posh people talkin. Like the news, for example. They have to speak posh as its part of the job. Now if you take a couple of rough kids from a rough area, like Manchester's Mosside, their way of talking is totally different. Most of these young kids have never left Manchester let alone go to the states, so this is why Americans dont know what they sound like.

(One young man on a bus was saying "Ya nah mean blood! Things gettin hot round dem sides"...now does that sound like somethin the Queen or news reporter would say?? Lol That would be really funny!)

→ Posted by: S at July 1, 2006 3:10 PM

Well uh.. I'm Julie.. I live in the US and I've never been out (never been out of my state but whatever). Just happened to come across this site.. and I just wanted to say a couple of things.
First off, its true that british people have charming accents.. or as a 13 year old girl, I'd have to say that british guys do have hot accents.. but then again, alot of my friends who don't live in the US think that my cuban friend Juan has a hot accent because he's cuban. In Miami, we just call it annoying, because you hear those accents everyday. So I suppose its all about what you hear everyday and where you're from.
Second, the only person I have ever met, that thinks american english is the 'right english', was 67 and he died of some cholesterol related heart failure a year ago. So.. yeah, SOME americans think our english is the right type of english, but to this day, every single friend of mine from the UK will start steaming when I say 'aluminum' instead of 'aluminium' (not that I start random conversations about aluminum.. I just say it because I know it annoys them). And never have I nor my friends here in Miami had a problem with my friends in the UK calling their shoes 'trainers'. (For the record, we don't call our shoes sneakers. Not here in Miami, at least. We call them SHOES. Because.. yeah.. they're SHOES.)
So, I don't know, maybe Miami is different from the rest of the US. Or maybe people stress our language differences too much. I can honestly say that I love my friends in the UK, and I don't think that's going to change because I say 'aluminum'.

→ Posted by: Whatever man. at July 8, 2006 3:56 AM

im a 15 yr old girl from miami and i just want to say that most americans dont even get british shows(except travel channel, cooking shows, and old reruns of benny hill, and the news:\ so we have VERY little idea of how life is like in the u.k.thats why most of the time if a person from the u.k comes to miami and i dont understand a word of what there saying...also i hate the fact that it loooks like at least 70% of the u.k hates america even though they listen to american music watch american t.v and movies and obsess over american celebs,trends and culture.also VERY few ppl vote for presidents and the majority of that few are middleage rednecks because average most young people have enough sense NOT to vote for the prez if they know BUSH is running.heres a fact more american ppl 64 million voted for a popular talent singing show called american idol . which is MORE than ANY presidental ELETION ever.!!!!!!

→ Posted by: hazel at August 12, 2006 5:54 AM

Honestly. I am a 15 year old American girl. If that isnt bad enough for you British people. I live in New York. I am not arrogent, rude, or loud. Well sometimes loud. But thats only with friends. To say all Americans have these qualitys is to say all people living in the UK are depressed, hypocritical, and mean. Which from what I am reading doesn't seem to far from the truth. I think all accents are cool. They are just part of who people are. Like badges from there past. To show where they have been. Why do people seem to have so much trouble accepting that? I stumbled upon this page because me and my friends are gonna have a High Tea party (yes I do know thats British). So I was searching for etiqutte to use. You know, to respect the whole culture. Amazing how some arn't as disrespectful as one might think. I already knew most Europeans don't care for Americans. And on some days I can't blame you. But it is dis-heartning to actually be shown that you generalize us in such a way.

Chelsea

→ Posted by: Chelsea at August 18, 2006 8:23 PM

It still amazes me how americans love our accents but us british cant stand the americans.
i for one cant stand the american accent but every day i get american girls drooling over mine.
i agree with alot that has been said aswell and what has been said is just the tip of the iceberg of why so many people dislike the americans.
even in our own country u get difficulty understand what certain people say because the british language is so diverse! heck quite often i get confused with what chavs are talking about some of the time and thats understandable becausse they are well chavs lol
i dont find it hard to understand sumones accent its just the words i dont find familiar with.

im from gosport which is near to portsmouth so i suppose i would have a similar accent to the pompey guy above but i find our accent preety plain and easy to understand, its the further north u travel up the country the more annoying and slighty harder to understand accents arise like cockney,scouse,geordie.

→ Posted by: Joe at August 23, 2006 4:26 PM

I think that stereotyping just (in the case of nationality) simplifies or perhaps distills aspects of the society that has left its mark on every person born there or that has lived there for a significant amount of time.

To illustrate this point, I'm an 'individual' of mixed race that was born and raised in this country, I have inherited most of the atypical traits of the British Gentleman, including a psuedo-addiction to tea, the habit of having cynical conversations with strangers about the weather, politics and football, and - possibly the cream on the cake - a 'well-spoken' southern English accent. So, if an American person who had never encountered an Englishman meets me, in the first moments of conversation he'll know exactly what part of the world I hail from, and then a few minutes in he'll laugh himself silly from the amazing variety of stereotypes that I am fitting into. As Joe said in the previous post, and others have said about the north and south in America, we have trouble understanding our own countrymen - and sometimes even jibe and stereotype them - so it's not really that surpising about the vision in our imaginations about the characteristics of other nations' populations.

Anyway, to conclude, it really doesn't matter where you come from, there will always be both negative and positive stereotyping of your birthplace.. no nation (or accent) can escape it. In fact, we should probably just ignore it.. ignore the ignorance, because we're all guilty of it. Japan is a world leader of technology. They are incredibly well mannered and honourable. They are sexually repressed. They love karaoke and schoolgirls knickers. Sounds unfair? The British. Pie and mash, cups of rosy lea, sexual repression, stiff upper lip, small talk about weather, bad food. Americans? the French? Italians? Don't Italians talk-a like-a this and eat pizza and pasta every day? Well, we must've gathered these ideas from somewhere. Every day we encounter (probably more in the media than anywhere) countless numbers of stereotypes of all types, and read books with acutely nationalistic protagonists, and go to restaurants that bastardise the cultures whose food is being consumed etc etc etc. I don't think it's so much discrimination as undiagnosed naivety and perhaps ignorance and an acceptance of this lazy and sometimes offensive process of pigeon-holing. However, in my eyes, as long as there is a sense of humour and open minds in the world and we can laugh at ourselves and each other, we'll be alright.

I hope.

→ Posted by: Mr. Tai at September 2, 2006 4:08 AM

i think brits speak beautifuly. i also hate hearing such negitive comments about the american accent. as an american, i'm always curious to know how i am recieved by others,now i think i'd rather not know......and remember their will always be ignorant people, who believe their, way is the only way, please don't fault an entire country because of it.

→ Posted by: jennifer at September 18, 2006 6:11 AM

I have to say, it kind of bugs me when Americans say they love the British accent, because they don't know that what they're saying is actually kind of offensive.

I mean, the accent that most associate with Britain is that posh southern English accent that Hugh Grant talks. Saying that you love a 'British' accent totally misses out not only three other countries in Britain (Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland), but also the huge amount of regional accents in England. I mean, I'm from Manchester and I find it hard to understand Scouse sometimes. I can understand Scottish because most of my family talks Glaswegian, which is the broadest Scottish accent, but Cockney is like a foreign language to me.

I hate being asked "Do you have a British accent?" when talking to people on Forums and the like, because there's no such thing, and I don't talk like I've got a pole shoved up my arse.

Also, the stereotypes that people have mentioned above, like the 'High Tea Party' being British annoys me. What self respecting Manc, Scouser, Geordie, or Brummie would have a high tea party?! I can't really talk for N.Irish people or Welsh people in that respect, though.

It also bugs me that everyone outside Britain thinks that we're amazingly posh and we all know the Queen. Ugh! I'd rather stick that pole up my arse than give up my common northern ways!

Also, there are lots of different variations on English all across the world, and it even varies in our own country. For example, I doubt all British people would know what pokes, pieces or demics are. Each to their own, I say.

And I'm sorry this is kind of late. :D

→ Posted by: Lauren at December 17, 2006 9:19 PM

LOL, some of these comments about the differences were quite funny. Others, well, they were a bit depressing.

Personally, I would have to agree with the people who said they had never heard of any Americans urging the English to speak like them. I've honestly never come across this notion in the United States. I always heard Americans comment on how charming English accents are. Any American who believes that all "British" people talk like the queen has obviously not traveled (travelled :-) outside his own region. However, can we not assume that the same might hold true for an Englishman or a Frenchman nestled away in his snug little village near the edge of the earth? I spent one year in France and was somewhat dumbfounded by some notions held by rural residents in regard to the United States: we're all fat, we eat disgusting food, we're all rich capitalists who aim to exploit the world's resources....well, the list goes on.

Through traveling, I've learned that it's very easy to generalize and to group an entire nation into a single category. However, not only do we cheat other people out of proving themselves as individuals, we also cheat ourselves out of getting to know the person for who they are.

Furthermore, what about the slang that is to be found in every country? Personally, I find Received Prononciation (I think that's the term used) in England quite easy to follow. I would imagine (but I'm not sure) that the same would be true for Standard American English. Don't you all think that it's very tempting for us to assume that one accent is bad due to an experience with the local Texan who was a bit difficult to follow? I know I've had the same situation with certain Englishmen, but I didn't judge an entire country's accent on one person's regional slang. Why, I could say the same thing about the French-Canadian accent because of one lady I couldn't understand in the ticket booth in the Montreal metro. OR, I could be a mature adult and admit that I wasn't able to follow her due to a lack of exposure on my behalf. Come on people, life is too short to pick and to obsess over differences that we can't avoid. Why not celebrate and appreciate them rather than put them down. It's not as if one single country had a monopoly on culture and enlightenment.

As an American who frequently travels abroad, I find it a shame that I have to sometimes suffer prejudice and hostility, which includes debasing my accent and assuming that I'm boorish, because of a few bad apples that exist in every country.

One final word for the initial information posted before the threads: yes, it is true that Tracy's comment about telling the British to speak correctly was a bit out-of-place, but would she have addressed her British counterparts like that had they not characterized her accent as making them "sick to their stomach"?

Remember, superficial pretention on anyone's account is one of the most vile weaknesses of the human character as well as a sign of insecurity.

→ Posted by: Josh at January 6, 2007 6:52 PM

I think that all people of all walks of life are stereotyped because of there geographical location and background,such as me-Im from Kenya,deep in the heart of Africa and yes I speak perfect English.

→ Posted by: Grace at January 11, 2007 12:53 PM

First off I'd like to say that I myself have been quite intrigued for a few years by the issue of different English accents and how people react to them.

My primary language is Dutch and I've had about five years of English in highschool, but the English we were taught wasn't really British English, it was Oxford English. If I remember well this is the kind of English spoken by news anchors on the BBC and by H.R.M. Queen Elisabeth.

Being 23 years old, I am now in my final year of university, taking an additional year of Economics, and quite a few of our textbooks are in English. I don't know if it can be extrapolated to all textbooks, but the ones written by American authors tend to be easier to read and understand than the ones written by English/Australian authors.

As for spoken language I am inclined to speak this 'snobbish' form of English (John Cleese or Rowan Atkinson style, mimicking excluded most of the time) because this is what I was taught.

However it is far from perfect; when I'm talking to my American friend she always says she likes the accent and asks me to say certain lines but I have no idea what she's on about. She doesn't want me to try to speak American English because "she just hears it every day already". I did the test and recorded me reading a random text. After listening to it I found out that my Dutch tongue is most noticeable when pronouncing words with 'r' in it, such as "sure" which sounds more like "shore".

However, quite a few people here in Belgium tend to speak a more 'americanized' variant of English, probably under the influence of American sitcoms and movies.

Personally I do have a preference towards the Australian and the myriad of accents occurring in the United Kingdom. American English (or at least what you hear on the tele) sounds a bit nasal/sharp/aggressive, especially the "a" and "i", e.g. "can't" or "class". I don't know enough about slang to tell the difference in meaning, but I do know a cell phone is a mobile phone. I've never been to the States, but I plan to do so in a few years (when I'm 25 and able to rent a car without paying extra age fees).

Let's hope the theory that "American girls love accents" is true!

Greetings from Belgium,
Yves

→ Posted by: Yves at January 18, 2007 12:53 PM

"I have to say, it kind of bugs me when Americans say they love the British accent, because they don't know that what they're saying is actually kind of offensive."

HAHAHA wow! he's offended by compliments!
guess what buddy, when we say "British" we know that we are referring to scotland, wales, england and all parts of Great Britain. I'm American and I find any accent from Great Britain very attractive, so when i say I think British accents are hot, i know what i mean thank you very much. And if you don't want to accept a compliment? Haha, have it your way then.

Accents make the world interesting and most Americans don't think that 'American English' is the only correct way. In general most americans really and truly like British people.

And I think the reason why it is hard for some Americans to understand some types of British accents is not because we CHOOSE to. We're not being arrogant if we can't understand the accent, and we try as hard as we can to. Some British accents are easier to understand then others. In some, you drop a lot of sounds like R's for example, while Americans clearly (almost nasaly) say the R's in words. So it would obviously be easier for somebody to understand an accent that doesn't drop as many sounds, as it is for somebody understanding an accent that drops a lot of sounds.

Whatever the case, accents make the world unique and interesting. I love listening to foreign accents and it's cool to know that I have an accent myself. Let's stop all the hating. Oh yes and by the way, the reason why a lot of Americans tend to do a posh-ish sounding accent when they are told to do an English accent, is because it is the easiest for us to do!

And yes, Yves, it is very true that American girls love accents! And also, i think all of the things you said are very true! I totally know what you mean when you say americans have sharp and nasaly "a's" and "i's".

well everybody, spread love (and no, im not a hippie, i hate hippies.)

→ Posted by: Washington DC Girl at March 9, 2007 11:08 PM

I wonder why American's and Brits do not sound alike since we were a british colony like Australia and New Zealand. Yes I am an American and agree that we should pay homage to the English since that is where our language derives from. I was in the south (USA) from the Pacific Northwest and I was surprised and surprised at the way people conversed. I almost fell over when I was offered gritts! We call it polenta haha! Either way I can still understand the Brits. It is not hard to figure out.

→ Posted by: Shawn at March 17, 2007 7:19 AM

Somehow I just don't understand what the brits say, and I don't think the brits have a cool accent, I think it sucks. The only guy I can understand is Tony Blair, I mean I don't understand why can't every brit speak like him. he is easy to understand.

And those of you who find the brit accent attractive, they have a word for you in the good ol land, "bollocks"

→ Posted by: ms at May 2, 2007 1:25 PM

haha

well, I'm from the south of the US (atlanta). I have to say when I heard this one guy from the UK call us (referring to Americans) yankees, every person around turned their heads. hahaha, just a warning to any person coming from the UK, if you're going to the south of the US, do NOT call us yankees.

(in case you don't know why, is because southern folks from the US call people from the north US yankees. And apparently we're known as rednecks. it's all offensive, but we just take it.)

i've always wanted to know what people from different countries really thought of us, our steriotypes.

→ Posted by: Tiff at May 6, 2007 8:40 PM

To a certain extent American stereotypes are true, but only to a certain extent. I've heard horror stories of how Americans behave in other countries and to be honest, I myself find it embarassing because while this stereotype is true for some it fails to represent everyone. I'm American and I in no way would even consider saying that everyone needs to learn American English. The beauty of other countries is that each one is different and unique. People are who they are and no one should have to change. Some people in the US are ignorant, but not everyone. Honestly, I don't really have a hard time understanding British English. I have a little difficulty with slang, but that's true with every culture.

I don't really understand why we call football that. Football really does describe what we call soccer better. In our football only one or two guys on a teem actually have their feet touch the ball. It really doesn't make any sense why we call it that.

Not all Americans are egotistical either. Some are, but one can often find that it is only those who are uneducated that act in the stereotypical American way. As I wrote earlier, I've heard so many horror stories. I'd like to apologize to anyone who has been treated negatively by an American. Not all of us are that way.

→ Posted by: Emma at June 2, 2007 12:54 AM

My response to several points made here; forgive the jumping around:

On accents: Americans will often say they like British accents, but for the most part, in my experience, they are referring to the more erudite ones, which they unfortunately generalize as being THE British accent. If one watches a TV show on the American BBC channel, for example, with a character speaking a Cockney, Scouse, or other lower socioeconomic accent, one will notice Americans wincing and turning the sound down. Some British accents are very grating to the American ear, just as the American accent is sometimes disturbing to the British ear (although I have a few British ex-pat friends here who state they love the American accents). Most Americans do seem to love the Aussie accent, which often to our ears, is much sexier and earthy than the British ones.

On those darned old narcissistic Americans: Americans are often maligned for not being aware of the rest of the world's cultural eccentricities and charms and that is often true; however, judging from some of the ignorance in the comments above, it seems to me that the rest of the world's knowledge of Americans is pretty limited and close-minded also, gleaned from TV soundbites. Many of the generalities I see regarding Americans are simply regurgitated from hostile foreign press releases and in no way accurately reflect the typical American. It's a shame....and disingenuous.

My Brit friends have told me that Americans are also looked upon disapprovingly for their reluctance to travel abroad. I must admit that surprises me, for the most cursory attempt into the subject would yield a simple and obvious answer: We are rather isolated over here from Europe and the rest of the world. The USA is also an absolutely enormous country and many Americans fail to even visit all of the other states in their lifetimes. However, the Western Hemisphere does contain 36 countries, which are not exactly overran by Europeans eager to embrace THEIR culture. Most Americans travel to Canada and to the South American countries in their lifetimes, so we DO travel and experience other cultures; Europe is not the be-all and end-all of travel. One can simply experience a culture change by traveling a couple of states over in the US; the "US culture" is actually many cultures in the same 3,537,441 square mile chunk of real estate.

I myself have traveled abroad and found it a mostly positive experience, but believe me when I tell you, I see jerk-offs, loudmouths, uneducated ignoramuses, and what the Brits refer to as "louts" in every country I visit, so Americans certainly do not have the market cornered on those stereotypes. My travel experiences have confirmed the fact that being ignorant, stupid, loud, or lacking good taste is a human condition, not an American affliction.

BTW, I just asked five women in the room the accent most American women find appealing...the unanimous answer? The Italian accent. Belissima.

→ Posted by: GC at June 13, 2007 6:38 PM

Im from the UK, which includes England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. I find it offensive that one american said that they can only understand Tony Blair (our ex prime minister, now Gordan Brown). Like america we have many accents, as the southern US accent differs much from the north, the same is true also of the UK.
I generally find the southern US accents a little difficult to understand, but have no problem with the north (NY, CA), probably because I was brought up on hollywood films!
American english and UK english? Well english means someone originating from England. Americans speak American. Which is basically the same as english except that I feel it is a bit lazier. Us english types don't all speak like hugh grant, I am sick of watching american films with so called english people in talking like stuck up fools.
Take micheal cane for instance he is from london,
pierce brosnan from ireland,
antony hopkins from wales,
ewan mcgreggor from scotland,
so I guess that person didn't have a clue what was being said in many james bond films, batman begins, the island, and silence of the lambs for example.
I was shocked to read that americans don't even consider them selves to have an accent, it is the rest of the world that does, ie does george w bush talk like a person from louisiana (NO).
I don't quite know why so many people said they liked the way english people spoke, does that mean you would like to speak like that your self, and where in england, (like america where in america?)
Yes I accept that most americans are not that stereotypical or haven't even given the matter any consideration. But can I just say come here first, before making up your mind about us, really we are not that different. After all in 200 years how much can two races change, maybe you have become a little culturally diluted, as people from spain, france, china, japan, etc. etc. have settled there so I suppose your dialect is a mixture of all that.
Why do we sound like australians? I mean does an ozzy accent sound any thing like an english one.
As you have many steriotypes for us, we two have many of you. Ours including: obesity, fast food, unintellegence (ie. george bush regularly making grammatical errors), don't give a sh!t about: global warming, renewable fuels, the rest of the world. Yours including (I imagin) us all being like the royal family.

→ Posted by: england at June 23, 2007 1:43 PM

Returning to the origin of this entire discussion, I thinky Tracy had a bad experience and is tarring British speakers with the same brush. The height of intolerance. Maybe we could apply that to U.S.A. films, where every villain has to have an English accent? The U.K. got over the entire Revolution thing years ago-soem in the U.S. havent and they won! It's no wonder much of the world can't relate to Americans.

→ Posted by: Andrew at June 24, 2007 11:19 AM

Brits have odd words and they are just plain odd all around. I worked in Europe for NATO (God help me) and the British Army were the worst in the world. You want to talk about arrogant???? Good lord! These freaks really believed they were better than the rest of the world. I just reminded them periodically that they are from an island and should probably stay there.

I mean, please, who the hell says 'WHILST'? That is just gay! And I refuse to call the hood of a car a bonnet or the trunk a boot! Get real people! I will NEVER, EVER call a parking lot a CAR PARK! And why the hell don't Brits rinse dishes after they wash them? That is just gross! Nothing like taking a glass for water and seeing suds rise up as you pour water into it. NASTY! Oh yeah, Brits have bad teeth as well. I don't know why but they do. Most anyway.

Not all Americans think the British accent sounds cool or smart. In fact there are as many stupid-ass Brits as there are anywhere. The Queen is stupid and Princess Dianna was a whore. Who cares? Stay on your little Island and eat your shit food. The Brits really contribute nothing to the rest of the world. I mean, what do they manufacture that is unique? Mainland Europe is far better off. Germany is a far better place. I feel bad that Germans learn Oxford English in school. 'WHILST' there I had to teach them the 'real deal' because they wondered why they never heard the English they had been taught in school in movies. DUH!!!! Nobody in the normal world talks like that!! Besides, Brits have no real freedom of speech either. They can go to jail for calling someone a nigger or a fag. How gay is that!!?? I'm glad we took our independence from that silly little island when we did!

YEE HAW!!

→ Posted by: American and Proud at June 30, 2007 9:51 PM

Remember independence was granted to you after a civil war where YOU were largely helped by the French amongst a few others, a fact that American history has seemed to gloss over; WHILST we were fighting in many places around the world introducing the British way of life along with the English language which YOU speak, funny that!

Anyway I'm not into cousin bashing as it may seem, because thats what we are. Your views are of a small, closed minded person. I believe the majority of Americans are not like you in any way thank god.

→ Posted by: Colin at August 12, 2007 2:21 AM

I'm english and never before have I met someone quite like you "American and Proud".
If you don't like 'whilst' don't use the word, it's as simple as that. It's not gay, it's part of the language. It's the same with the rest of the words you don't want to use. And likewise I do not wish to use "diaper" or "pacifier".

And i'm sorry if you were stayed at the worst possible accommodation in Britain, I suggest you make a better living rather than sitting on that arse of yours and insulting the british. However, I can assure you that the rest of us have excellent teeth and clean up after ourselves.

I have realised many things after reading those comments and one of them is that is you americans are so fixated on sterotypes and how the British one is so true. Well then, I am going to put myself in your shoes and look at america how you looked at britain. Americans are all fat, unintelligent and don't give a crap about the rest of the world. And I am sure that many will now disagree with me, but remember that the next time you say "the british have bad teeth" "they all speak like royalty".

Another thing, I have been insulted in the past by americans making fun of my english accent, as I speak the queen's english. And you see, one would expect the british to mock it due to the fact only a few percent speak like her. Well, this wasn't the case, no british person had made fun of it. However, when I went to America the ridicule was amazing. They consisted of "go make where you came from white boy" "faggot" etc. And believe me, if you americans think that those are insults, you should come and speak to some chavs over here. But rest assured, those americans didn't get away with insulting my accent.

The british are very proud of how we are and if you don't like it we don't care. You can shove off back to where you came from.

Have a good day.
=D

→ Posted by: josh at November 26, 2007 10:32 PM

RUBBISH THE WHOLE LOT OF YOU

Haha, there is NO SUCH THING as an American accent. That one really made me giggle-snort. There is a Texas accent, a Minnesota accent, an Alabama accent, a Georgia accent, a New Jersey accent, a Pennsylvania accent, a New York accent, a Washington accent, ET CETRA.

All of this is too generalized and/or nonsense.

My circumstances: I'm RUDE AND LOUD NEW YORKER OF COURSE who is in love with a British guy.

→ Posted by: unbewegt at January 10, 2008 4:26 PM

Haha, there is NO SUCH THING as an American accent.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Guess what? there is NO SUCH THING as a British accent.

ENGLAND:
RP accent
Cockney London accent
Bristol and West Country accent
Birmingham accent
Manchester accent
Midlands accent
Yorkshire accent
North east accent (geordie, mackem)

Then you have Scottish and Welsh accents....

→ Posted by: north_tribe at April 22, 2008 11:29 AM

i love being english its great.

the first thing you want to do when learning a new language is to learn swear words.

here you go and enjoy:

http://www.viz.co.uk/profanisaurus/profan_front_index.php

→ Posted by: hellosmithy at May 29, 2008 12:24 PM