The same word, different meaning conversation....

Not necessarily working-class... but more like 'white trash'.

Very much like 'white trash'. Chavs are common. To Brits, the word "common" in the context of denoting somebody's social background is always insulting. Common people wipe their runny noses on their sleeves, mooch around the house in a string singlet (like Onlsow in 'Keeping Up Appearances'), have poor table manners, call napkins 'serviettes' according to my mother-in-law.

Let's not forget fag.

Knock you up in the morning (perhaps not so used nowadays here)

boot       US:footware 
             UK: footware or car trunk

wing       US: thing on a plane
             UK: thing on a plane or car fender

bonnet    US: woman's hat
             UK: car hood

gas        US: car juice 
             UK: house juice (vapour)

cooker    US: one who cooks
             UK: the stove

wardrobe US: contents in a closet
             UK: the closet

draft       US: tapped beer
             UK: flow of air

draught   US: flow of air
             UK: tapped beer

yard       US: lawn 
             UK: work area outside usually paved

first floor US: floor at groud level
             UK: one floor above ground level

post       US: pole
             UK: mail

Also mad = crazy (UK) angry (US)

I would have said mad in the US is also crazy. Thinking of MAD magazine.

Gas is "house juice" in the US, but if the context is confusing, it's called "natural gas".  I've paid my "gas bill", and no petrol was involved.  A lot of Brits don't realise we call it gas as well.

Speaking of "knocked up", I always think that they are talking about women who get pregnant in foreign lands when I hear the name of that "Banged Up Abroad" show.  Just for a split second.  I suppose someone of an older generation might think they are just talking about getting a woman pregnant or perhaps beating her up.

UK-"Call" is usually a visit in person vs. US-"Call" is to use a telephone to contact.  This is probably important to remember for most people.
UK-"Side" can mean a television channel as well as the more well known meanings.
UK-"Bathroom" is the place where you take a bath or shower vs. US-Place where you use the loo (probably been mentioned before)
UK-"Mail" can mean correspondence delivered to your door, but I think "post" is used more often.  At least my MiL always thought I was bringing in the Daily Mail when I said the "mail is on the table".  Like that would happen.
UK-"Tomato sauce" vs. US-"Ketchup" (of course tomato sauce means red sauce in much of the US)

ETA: UK: Bus only means city buses, Coach is what you take from town to town US: Bus is pretty much used regardless of whether it's long haul or city bus.  A coach is a compartment of a train, steerage class (:p), or the thing that Cinderella rides in before it turns back into a pumpkin

The first time I went out for fish and chips (Bryan's in Headingley) with friends, I ordered cucumber, thinking it was salad. Turned out to be a big fat gherkin!

A coach is a compartment of a train

In UK English, a "coach" or "carriage" is the whole vehicle, which may contain compartments (quite rare these days) or be open layout.

steerage class (:p)

I think that must be US usage

flannel (uk) is a washcloth (us)

that one confuses me everytime cause to me a flannel is a shirt

I think that must be US usage

Which is what I said.

Railway(UK)/Railroad (US)


You don't really get chastised for using the wrong one though.

And swede. The vegetable is something else in the US, but I can't think of it right now.

I've never had a problem asking for ketchup if we were out, but I sometimes hear "red or brown sauce" when asking if I'd like ketchup or HP.

Gas is "house juice" in the US....

Where's that one from?  I've never heard it.  (Not saying you're wrong, just curious what weirdo US region uses "house juice".    )

No where that I know. I was using the previous poster's terminology.

I thought of one which is more of a nuance than a meaning difference. "Spaz" in the UK is considered offensive where in the US it doen't have that connotation, probably because it's never been used as a derisive term for the disabled there. It means more along the lines of really clumsy in the US.

flannel (uk) is a washcloth (us)

that one confuses me everytime cause to me a flannel is a shirt

To Brits, yes, "a" flannel is a cloth for washing, but flannel is a type of cloth, woven, with a nap. I believe lumberjacks and grunge fans wear check shirts made of it.

I thought of one which is more of a nuance than a meaning difference. "Spaz" in the UK is considered offensive where in the US it doen't have that connotation, probably because it's never been used as a derisive term for the disabled there. It means more along the lines of really clumsy in the US.

It is offensive though in the US as well.  I stopped using the word when I was a teenager.  My boss at my first job who was slightly disabled (not sure exactly what it was, but her arms and legs were not formed as straight and properly as a fully abled person's) scolded me for using it, and rightly so.

It is offensive though in the US as well.  I stopped using the word when I was a teenager.  My boss at my first job who was slightly disabled (not sure exactly what it was, but her arms and legs were not formed as straight and properly as a fully abled person's) scolded me for using it, and rightly so.

I'm not sure that's universal.  To me, it just means a bit spacey and disorganised, nothing to do with any kind of disability.  That's how my friends and I always used it, and I was really taken aback by DH's shocked horror the first time I used it with him.  It's definitely out of my vocabulary now, though.   

One thing I'm still getting used to is "sick."  To me, it means any kind of illness, but here it refers specifically to nausea.  So if I've got a bit of a sniffle, I tell DH I'm feeling sick and he thinks I mean I'm going to throw up. 

In the UK, "spaz", short for "spastic" is considered offensive by many people, and furthermore nowadays the word 'spastic' is severely deprecated when used for a person with cerebral palsy (Its former 'proper' meaning). I see that Wikipedia reckons that "In the UK it is considered an offensive way to refer to the disabled, while in the US it is more closely associated with hyperactivity or clumsiness and carries few offensive connotations." This isn't a tyre/tire type of thing. In 2007, Lynne Murphy, a linguist at the University of Sussex, described the term as being "one of the most taboo insults to a British ear".

One thing I'm still getting used to is "sick."  To me, it means any kind of illness, but here it refers specifically to nausea.  So if I've got a bit of a sniffle, I tell DH I'm feeling sick and he thinks I mean I'm going to throw up.  

Many Brits call upchucking "being sick". One traditional thing-you-wouldn't-like is a "cup of cold sick".