Glimpses in a British to American Dictionary
A few more:
baggage reclaim - baggage claim
haitch - aitch
letter box - mail box
lovely - okay
maths - math
mobile - cell
petrol station - gas station
toilet - restroom
well done - good job
well, hellooo there - hello
whoops - oops
And for even more, look in Roger Cohen's op-ed:
Here's a comment made by Lee Harrison : English started out a pidgin … a language so much simpler than Saxon, a result of the Norman conquest (the Normans speaking a recently adopted and transformed language). Amusement by Americans at English-English usage and slang pales at the onslaught of the continuing pidginization … the adverb is disappearing. Oscar Wilde's elegant putdown of my ancestors has no modern currency: "They came to do good and ended up doing very well." Languages are owned by the masses who speak them -- Portuguese has been ceded to the Brazilians -- English will be ceded to Indlish and Chinlish -- get used to it.
(A Life in Books)
Labels: Roger Cohen
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