Divided By A Common Language: A Guide to British and American English

We found this book to be interesting, but not always accurate. My social media buddies include one Brit, an Aussie, an American living in the U.K., and Americans living all over the country. We found that many of us Americans use the words he said were British English, and not the words he thought were American. This was particularly true of Americans living in Southern states. Our British friend agreed with most of what the author said, but not always. For example, most of us say grade school, not primary school. None of us wait on line, we wait in line. Our British friend disagreed with his definition of gravel.Still it was a lot of fun. We spent a lot of time talking about it, and enjoyed the book. I’d say, he gets a lot of his idea of American English from New York City

"England and America are two countries divided by a common language." -George Bernard Shaw, quoted on the Table of ContentsChristopher Davies has written a dictionary to bridge the divide. He begins by explaining: "... Most English speaking people are unaware of the vast differences between British and American English. This book is designed to enlighten the reader about these differences, and briefly explain how these differences came about. ... An estimated 4,000 words in everyday use in Britain, have a different meaning or are used differently in the U.S."(p.1)This reader is not a linguist nor lexicographer, but I do read a lot. I have noticed, when reading British books, that my mid-western USA mind is sometimes totally befuddled. This handy-dandy British English-American English Dictionary is a great companion and fun to read! Written with wit and humor (or is that humour?) it also illuminates how the differences came to be:"The early settlers in the U.S. had no verbal contact with the folk they left behind in England, and the division of the language began. Over the years many Europeans settled in the U.S., bringing their languages with them. English remained the dominant language in America, though German was widely spoken in the 1800's. There were numerous French colonies, and New York was originally a Dutch settlement, called New Amsterdam. Each language left its mark on spoken English [this reviewer would here note that Native languages also enhance American English] ...Noah Webster, the well known American lexicographer, forecast in 1789 that eventually American English would be as different from British English as Dutch, Danish and Swedish are from German, or from each other." p. 1-2But with improved transportation and communication, British and American English have remained close enough to cause confusion. In addition to essential cross lexicons, "Rules of the Road," and cartoons with Uncle Sam speak vs. John Bull speak, Mr. Davies provides useful sections on words and phrases with different connotations that can get one in big trouble on the other side of the "pond."And, finally, God Bless the Canadians, who have their own section in the book and an absolutely charming way of pronouncing the "out" sound. Eh? Listen to Peter Jennings.

This is a wonderful reference for someone on either side of the pond. Christopher Davies goes very in depth, and gives some helpful advice for those stumped by the not-so-subtle differences in what is supposed to be the same language. The only downside to this reference is that it's near obvious that Davies learned his American in the South. There are a few phrases brought forward that I never heard until I'd move to Florida, and have never heard anywhere outside the South. Despite this, I'd recommend this book for those curious about linguistic differences, or someone considering relocating from one side of the pond to the other.To the Author: You've done wonderful research, however there is one GLARING mistake in this book (unless you were trying to make it "family friendly". To flip someone the bird is actually to give them the middle finger, not to make a V sign. V sign is thepeace sign - a definite counter-gesture to the middle finger.Thank you for all your hours of hard work. If you're intending on putting forth another edition, I'd be happy to make some contributions.

It has been recommanded by some English person I met in the waiting-room of my veterinary !!! It was a great meeting for me because I have now the answer for so many words used by my son-in-law who is American and the most, from NY (woof ! the accent is terrible)... And I'm French which is a piece of courage to try to understand each other in my own family...lol

I plan to go to the UK next year and wanted to be understand their version of English. I love the show "Doc Martin," and wanted to understand some words I didn't know, such as "jumper" for sweater.

I permanently deleted this book from my Kindle library after about four pages because The United States were always abbreviated as "us" instead of "US". HIGHLY DISRESPECTFUL!

The book is largely a glossary - perhaps almost half - which doesn't exactly make for Interesting reading. Some terms were terribly out of date, others wildly obscure, and at worst, just plain useless and random. I love both the UK and language, and I found this book a badly done bore. Also, shame on the publisher for the crappy formatting. I finished about 60% of it before giving up, and I normally eat this stuff up.

Very interesting book detailing some of the British and Amercan English and helps decifer the discrepancies. It is a wonderful addition to my resource library.

This is an excerpt from page 1, paragraph 1:"Words such as clapboard, bleachers and busboy are everyday words in the US, but they would perplex the average speaker of British English. On the other hand, there are words in British English that an American would find a little strange: mailshot, crosspatch and gymkhana".Right, how is that as a Brit I know all three of the "American" words but don't have a clue what the three "British" words are?The book seems a little bit just knocked together with no bigger plan than to have huge lists in places. Wasn't what I expected.Toodle-o, chaps, I'm off for toad-in-the-hole and a quick how's-your-father at the gymkhana.

Date on book is 2007. A lot has happened since then e.g. electric cars. Brexit. Pandemic. Trump. Even major dictionaries get left behind in such times. Sadly, no print handbook can compete with up-to-date online translation offerings.Since this is intended mainly as a tourist handbook, why the lengthy section comparing the workings of US and UK toilet tanks/cisterns, which tourists seldom open up?The book offers mainly lists of words as used in USA and UK, with pronunciation unclear because shown in the author’s own system, not IPA. The section on rhotic accents misses the mark because the topic is too huge for one chapter.It does try to touch on the vast differences between regional speech forms within the two countries, but merely scratches the surface.

Ho acquistato questo libro per lo sconto e per la velocità della spedizione. arrivato bene e integro e nei tempi indicati. molto soddisfatto.

But this book tells us they are not. I could find many words in this book which I had not been aware to be 'American' or 'British,' and it was my purpose to get this book. But from this book I have learned more than that. The differences between American English and British English are not trivial lexicographical information. The most characteristic feature of this rather little book is that it provides us not only with a substantial word list but also explanations of the cultural differences behind them; we can READ it. Two cultures are compared in several categories, in which some confusing word usages are explained. Seen from this viewpoint, each entry in the lexicon of this book is a gateway to the cross-cultural understanding.

英語の学習をしていると、簡単な単語でもアメリカとイギリスでは違うことがけっこうあるのですが、この本ではそのような単語の違いや発音の違い、またちょっとした文化の違いなども簡単な文で説明されていてなかなか面白いと思います。中級レベルの人以上向けでしょう。