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Commonly Used American Slang Expressions in Daily Life vs. British English
Initially, when I moved to US for the first time, in my conversations with Americans, they would use some expressions in that would make me think a little bit and understand based on context or sometimes ask them or look up on the interet for the usage….They were new to me because, either they were used by only Americans in their daily life as slang or they were not british…Anyways, let me share some of the common American Slang expressions. In the same lines, you may read this article : Commonly used American English words in daily life, Some of this may help you with TOEFL or ESL too 
I do not know if the equivalent slang terms that I mention below are exactly from British English, but at least they were used by me when I lived in India. We speak and use British English in India…so just assuming they are the same…
American Slang Expression and their Equivalents in British English |
||
British English Term |
American English Slang Expression |
Explanation |
| Tire is punctured | Have a flat tire | You do not use puncture for tires or tubes in America. You got a flat tire |
| Stand in Queue | Stand in a line | I never heard anyone using queue in US. You just stand in a line at bus stop or in a bank |
| Go to Petrol Bunk | Go to Gas Station | In America, gasoline is the term for petrol and they call it gas in short form. Diesel is still Diesel in America. |
| Put a full stop at end of sentence. | Put a period at end of sentence. | No one uses full stop in US. It is a period |
| I want to post this letter | I want to mail this letter | In America, people use mail for post |
| I passed out in 2000 from Delhi University | I graduated in 2000 from Delhi Univerity | In America, Pass out means faint because of loss of blood, weakness or sometimes after getting drunk too much |
| We are used to saying “hash” for symbol # | In US, “#” means a pound symbol | |
|
Turn left at the signal |
Turn left at traffic lights or just lights |
I have seen many people use lights for traffic siginals |
| Don’t be coward, step up. | Don’t be a chicken, step up. | Chicken is used to signify that you do not have courage or you are bold enough. |
|
“You Bet” |
Some people use, “you bet”, whenever you say Thank you to them for doing a favor. It is like saying “You are welcome” | |
| I am trying, but the phone is engaged. | I am trying, but the phone is busy. | You do not use the word engage in US, just phone is busy |
| I need to buy some alcohol or liquor for tonight | I need to buy some booze for tonight | Using booze is very common for alcohol in slang |
|
Bummer! I can’t go to concert tonight. |
“Bummer” is an expression used to express emotion and it means something that you did not expect happened and you cannot do anything about it. | |
| Look at a place or visit the place. | Lets check out this place or just check out anything. | In slang, people use “check out” for visiting or looking at them with interest. Based on context, it can also mean you have to vacate the place like in “Check out the hotel at 11 AM” |
| He just hung upon me or Just hang up the phone | “Hang up” means just disconnect the phone. It has nothing to do with hanging someone in gallows | |
|
I cannot do this buddy. |
I wish I could do this buddy |
It is tricky here, when some says, “I wish….” it means they cannot do it, but politey saying they cannot do it. |
| Its fine | Its Cool or just Cool | In America, people use “Cool” a lot. It is kind of cool to use cool It has nothing to do with “Cold weather or cool climate” |
|
The bar is empty tonight |
The bar is totally dead tonight | In this context, dead means just empty. |
There are still so many to write, I will write another article some other time. In the mean time you can check this article : How to Greet People in America.
Do you have any other expressions that you would like to share ?
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{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
can anyone tell me what is called “dhoti” in English?
Rohit Varshney,
May not be the same thing, but what about wrap-around.
im learning speaking american, but i have no partner. I feel bored speak in front of my mirror all the time…
well u can use chatrooms n find an american chatmate
i think it helps u alot alot…
n ucan have fun while learning…try it
I’m sorry but I find this very inaccurate on both sides. I visit family in England every summer and a lot of the slang terms you say are strictly American have reached the U.K. Plus, you give a lot of examples of outdated and rarely used American slang. Most of my friends would say the bar is empty not the bar is dead and booze is not a commonly used term. More of a term for college students and people just joking around about alcohol.
British: Wash-room
American: Restroom
————————
British: Lift
American: Elevator
?? This list is 80% inaccurate!!! “To pass out” in the UK means “to faint”.
You would NEVER say someone “passed out of university”. You would say that they “passed” a test, but not “passed out”. Also, “booze” and “to check out” are slang terms used in British English too. We don’t say petrol bunk in British English, we say petrol pump or petrol station. You need to revise this with a native speaker.
Hi – I just read through this article (looking for some ambiguous wordage for a quiz with a UK team and a US team) – I don’t think there was a single term (not one!) that actually needed any clarification – they are all pretty-much interchangable without any loss in meaning either side of the ocean. It may be that we don’t use the same words, but they are close enough not to merit explanation. I am looking for something a bit more challenging – e.g., the word “fanny” means different things in the US and the UK…………….
Good
Nicely done…
I’m American born and bred and I wanted to take exception to one of your included expressions…you state that “booze” is a popular term for “alcohol” or “liquor” and in my experience that simply isn’t true, or at least not true here in the Midwest. While you do hear the term “booze” from time to time, I doubt I have ever actually used it and it is Much less popular than “alcohol” or “liquor”.
Also, generally, the term “booze” carries a slightly more ‘working class’ connotation as well as a nod toward an almost humorous reference to alcohol.
Great job, It’s very helpful for me.
thank you sir,
this is very crucial and we are learning more.
Hi, I’m in Viet Nam. Thanks for your helpful page. I have some friends who are going to immigrate to U.S and i try to help them to learn daily American English conversation. It’s very wonderful if you can show or send me relevant documents
I do not have any documents that could be of any help. Just browse the blog, there are plenty of articles on American English and Lifestyle.
British English: Bill please
American English: Check please
Sir, I come to know about the words from this site thanks for it
I want to add 1 more word it to this list
American English Apartment
British English Flat
please reply me
Hetal, I am glad you found it helpful ! Yes, you are right…