Difference Between BE and AE

The difference between British English (BE) and American English (AE) exists not just with the spellings, but also with the usage of words and phrases. Many people who don't have adequate knowledge of English believe that the difference between BE and AE is just with spellings. This is true only during schooldays when all you would be taught are the differences between the spellings of some words in BE & AE and to some extent, the words that completely change their forms. Below are some of the examples that you all know just to refresh your memory about BE and AE (main explanation about the difference between BE and AE will follow these examples).

British English    American English

colour                                 color

biscuit                                 cookie

petrol                                  gasoline or gas

flat                                      apartment

taxi                                     cab

wallet                                 billfold

zebra crossing                 crosswalk

lift                                       elevator

rubber                                eraser

tap                                     faucet

ground floor                     first floor  

postman                            mailman 

mum                                  mom

railway                               railroad

toilet                                  restroom

pavement                          sidewalk

post code                          zip code

While the above spellings and words in BE and AE will help you score good marks in your English subject, the main differences between BE and AE are as follows.

Main Differences between BE and AE:

1. Phrases

2. Past participle forms

3. Spellings

4. Euphemism

1. Phrases:

While many people have fun playing with the spellings of BE and AE, not many realize that much more fun is possible using the phrases that people use in American English. Pipe down, sun down, throw up, hangout, chill out, etc. are some of the phrases that people use in AE. If you just follow BE, I am confident that you are going to get the meanings of these phrases completely wrong. Now, let's see the real meanings of these phrases that are frequently used in American English.

Pipe down  - to be quiet or less noisy. (Click here to know more on the history of 'pipe down')

Sun down   - the time when the sun sets (sunset).

Throw up   - about to vomit.

Hangout     - spending time with friends at a particular time or place.

Chill out     - feel relaxed.

having a blast/ball - having a great time.

2. Past participle forms:

'Got' is the past participle of get in BE and 'gotten' is its past participle in AE. While Americans say 'gonna', Brits say 'going to'.

3. Spellings:

Spellings are the basic difference between BE and AE. Some common words like colour, centre and litre in BE have the spellings color, center and liter respectively in AE. Remember that, spellings are of less importance as nowadays, many word documents follow the spellings of AE. For an example, if you type the word 'colour' in a word document, it will be highlighted as an error, whereas the spelling 'color' will not be considered as a spelling mistake in most word documents.

4. Euphemism:

Euphemism is art of being professional with your choice of words. AE has a lot of phrases that will help you follow euphemism. For an example, the word, toilet in BE is restroom in AE. 'Would you like to go to the restroom?' sounds better than 'Would you like to go to the toilet?' 

'Pipe down' is also another example of this.

Click here for some common phrases in AE that will help you understand better the difference between BE and AE.