British Words Quiz #2

+10

Level 70

Aug 4, 2015

Don't go down that alley if you keep meeting dodgy blokes!

+5

Level 78

Oct 3, 2016

But we're using the American word to translate to British, not the other way around. In America, the way we use sketchy in the same way you use dodgy. The Oxford dictionary probably wouldn't include the American definition of sketchy.

QuizWol

+1

Level 62

Jul 18, 2019

It isn't how we use it but if it was used in US sketchy would mean dodgy, that is the point of the quiz. What does this word mean in USA not what it means here.

EcceHomo

+1

Level 68

Oct 28, 2020

I tried iffy, which is similar to dodgy. I also tried questionable, dubious and illegal. Is there only the single correct answer? Nice idea for a quiz.

MasterKenobi

+2

Level 45

Dec 31, 2014

Haha that's interesting. We Americans don't use sketchy to mean vague or incomplete but that makes sense (like a drawing that's just a sketch). We use sketchy to mean morally questionable or dangerous (like "a sketchy part of town" or "that guy seems pretty sketchy."

pentamom

+1

Level 26

Feb 26, 2019

A generation ago, sketchy did mean vague, like a sketch. That's what it meant when I was a kid. But it has definitely shifted toward dodgy.

Fuse

+1

Level 70

May 8, 2020

I thought it could mean shady

OwlArm

+1

Level 53

Jan 14, 2021

I'm British, and I'd pretty much use sketchy and dodgy interchangeably when referring to a person or their actions

samwisegamgee

+4

Level 45

Mar 26, 2014

It confuses me greatly why americans only use pounds and not stones... also do they really not use the word bin?

fuanacdc

+6

Level 77

Mar 26, 2014

Why would it confuse you that Americans don't use stones for measurement. To my knowledge, almost the entire world uses kilos or pounds and not stone aside from the UK. That would be like me being confused (as an American) as to why the rest of the world uses the metric system. I know we are weird but I don't assume that everyone else is wrong just because we choose to be different.

+3

Level 81

Mar 28, 2014

Pounds are a unit of weight in the English system of units. So are stone. Thus the confusion. Pounds and kilograms are from different systems.

English units

smartcookie17

+1

Level 50

Jun 16, 2014

He didn't say we're WRONG, he just said he was confused.

smartcookie17

+4

Level 50

Jun 16, 2014

Also, I'm confused as to why WE don't use the metric system.

sprk

+2

Level 64

Oct 19, 2014

smartcookie17 because we dont like changing things. And also, if we did change it officially, everyone would keep using the metric system anyway, so it would just be a waste of time. To be honest, I'm quite happy standing out from the other 200 and something countries

Possums

+4

Level 34

Jun 18, 2016

Except England doesn't really use "English" units. Its called Imperial mostly and we have a weird hybrid of Metric and Imperial units for different things (also depending on age). For example I would measure short distance in cm and meters and never use pounds or stone, yards or gallons; but use Miles per Hour.

Possums

+1

Level 34

Jun 18, 2016

Also we still use pints but not gallons

+5

Level 78

Mar 31, 2017

We already use metrics in some places - the pharmaceutical industry has used it for a long time, (you don't get a tsp of vaccine in your flu shot,) auto mechanics who also work on foreign cars must have two sets of wrenches, and the FDA requires dual labeling on food and drugs. If they would start having schools use a dual system so students would know both systems, and require both systems printed on new replacements for such things as road signs, it would be much easier to slowly change over in the future without a huge cost of conversion. I think it's a much easier system, but it's my understanding the greatest argument against it is the cost of retooling manufacturing plants and construction businesses. I'm guessing those involved in international trade have already added metrics to their businesses. I hope we someday change.

+1

Level 50

Feb 27, 2019

@sprk. People would start using the metric system if you changed, as this is exactly what happened in places such as Canada and New Zealand when they switched to metric. If the metric system was introduced in America it would be no different.

NaethanC

+1

Level 23

Mar 30, 2020

Stone is really only used for human weight. It's being phased out though.

Morpioniste

+1

Level 46

Jan 11, 2021

I suspect it is declining passively as children learn the metric system at school, rather than being actively phased out.

FlickerP

+1

Level 54

Jan 18, 2021

@Morpioniste The metric system was introduced in the UK in 1965 and youngsters leaving school now will still give their weight in stones and the height in feet and inches. I wouldn't say it is declining very quickly

+5

Level 81

Mar 28, 2014

To answer Samwise, the English system is goofy enough even with the simplified version that Americans use. Makes perfect sense to get rid of some of the intermediary units like drams and stones and only use some like pounds and tons. Would make even more sense to adopt the metric system, but Americans are stubborn sometimes.

+4

Level 78

Oct 3, 2016

I remember back in the late '70s or early '80s there was a big push to change us over to the metric system. We were told we were changing over within a year, and I taught a class on it to our extension club. Those gentle ladies turned into wild, rebellious women. Some moaned, some ranted, but not one said they would accept it, and they didn't even try to learn it. I thought it was a lot easier, personally, but the attempt to switch us over turned into a disaster nationwide, and to my knowledge no one has made the attempt since. (However, the medical field and liquor industry operate on metrics, we are used to hearing about 5K runs, my measuring cups now read with both, so we are slowly being conditioned toward acceptance.)

someone2018

+1

Level 83

Jul 24, 2018

And I bet if you asked any of those old ladies how many gallons in a container 7 inches by 6 inches by 11 inches, none would have had a clue. They probably would stop and think and correct each other over how many tablespoons in a gallon, even if they measured in the kitchen every day.

tom88

+1

Level 67

Apr 12, 2016

it confuses me why anyone would use stones and not just go with the metric system.

kiwiquizzer

+1

Level 65

Aug 31, 2016

Yeah, just go metric! Like NZ - in 1969. (But it was much easier to introduce change to a country of just 3 million people).

omgitsolivia1

+2

Level 37

Apr 26, 2018

Europe (EU regulations). we also go in between and use both the imperial and metric system.

TwoWheels

+1

Level 43

Feb 24, 2019

The UK is special.

So it needs a weird hybrid system.

OwlArm

+1

Level 53

Jan 14, 2021

It comes down to what you have learnt. Give me a weight in stones, and I can understand what that would roughly relate to, however, if you gave me a weight in kilograms, it means virtually nothing to me! The same as height in feet and inches makes sense to me, but centimetres mean nothing!

Lillyrose333

+5

Level 23

Mar 26, 2014

Okay, like half of these are wrong...... Don't get me wrong I live in London. We never ever say serviette, that's French. We say napkin or paper towel. I don't know what spanner is, but we say wrench. For us, it's drunk driving and we also say Fat Tuesday. Most of the UK uses kilos, any way.

Berney

+9

Level 72

Mar 27, 2014

Agreed about the napkin which is much more widely used in Britain than serviette. I would always say napkin. I've never heard anyone say wrench in the UK - we do not use it as standard, it's almost universally spanner in any garage I've ever been to as well as the DIY shops. It's also typically drink driving, but maybe "drunk driver".

TheWombat

+1

Level 74

Jul 8, 2014

Erikthev...a monkey wrench is called an adjustable spanner in the UK. I like 'monkey wrench' better.

+4

Level 81

Mar 28, 2014

The British English text books we have at the polytechnic I've been teaching at use "spanner," designated as UK English, and specifies "wrench" as American English. My British coworkers measure their own weight in stone. I've also heard them say "drink driving." Maybe you live in the American section of London? Though American culture is ubiquitous so Americanisms will start seeping in no matter where you live.

+1

Level 70

Apr 26, 2016

Usually in UK a person gives their weight in Stones & Pound eg '9stone 3pounds'. I think most of the scales that people weigh themselves on are marked in Stones & Pounds and its easier to remember than break it down to 129 pounds etc.

+4

Level 81

Sep 5, 2017

Erik and Helen, maybe you live in the humorless section of the UK?

omgitsolivia1

+1

Level 37

Feb 26, 2018

dude, we use both words for most of these. pants are "panties or kninkers" we say dunk driving far more than drink driving because of grammar, we ONLY ever call it a serviette if we are out somewhere super posh, otherwise, its a napkin or tissue. and dodgy and sketchy are the same word, we use them both. i have never even heard of zee or zed, we have trucks and lorrys, changing depending on the size (smaller ones are trucks big ones are lorrys) we call our garbage trash as well as rubbish and we also call it a wrench as well as a spanner, a cookie and a biscuit are too different things, cookies are delectably soft and yummy where biscuits are hard and crunchy. lift is just slang for elevator. 14 pounds is the equivalent of 1 stone but we still use pounds. for example 2 stones and 5 pounds. we are measured in pounds as babys. another word for trousers is simply bottoms as we don't care for call them all different things.

this is coming from a born and bred Brit from Leicester.

ruftytufty

+2

Level 73

Apr 23, 2018

There's no humorless section of the UK. There may be a humourless section, but I've never found it.

TWM03

+3

Level 63

Oct 1, 2018

All of the UK is humorless. Few parts of it are humourless.

+1

Level 81

Feb 23, 2019

Whether they can spell or not aside, I've run in to many Brits with no sense of humor including a few above, obviously.

MarlowePI

+3

Level 70

Feb 23, 2019

@omgitsolivia1 - Wait, you've never heard of zee OR zed? What do you call that last letter of the alphabet then?

Rozzi

+3

Level 55

Feb 24, 2019

omgitsolivia1, I live in Leicester and am very surprised by your use of language: lift is most certainly not slang, lorry is British, truck has crept in from the US. How can you not know about zed? I feel this makes you more than a little unreliable in terms of language.

babseddie

+1

Level 45

Jan 5, 2020

not as long as we keep teaching 'the kids' not to use Americanisms.

leonora

+5

Level 23

Sep 23, 2014

No, we DO say serviette, as I've just explained. Also we don't say Fat Tuesday, we say Shrove Tuesday (or occasionally Mardi Gras). In Northern Ireland people say wrench, but on the mainland it is a spanner.

Swanbabe

+1

Level 41

Jun 19, 2016

The great thing about Australia is we're such culture importers that we generally use both American and British terms, which make these kind of quizzes pretty easy. And then you get the red herrings here and there.

Cliffa

+1

Level 38

Sep 5, 2017

I'm Canadian. It is us Canadians with a French and British history that use Serviette more than our American counterparts. So saw that, and agreed it is not a British thing

Cliffa

+1

Level 38

Sep 5, 2017

If it's paper, we call it a napkin. If it's cloth, or a fancy dinner, then we call it a serviette.

Anzi

+2

Level 71

Feb 23, 2019

And yet we’re the other way around where I came from in Yorkshire. The choice is napkin (cloth) or paper napkin which is also called a serviette...

Morpioniste

+1

Level 46

Jan 11, 2021

Exactly - the paper one is the serviette and napkin is the nice one you fold and put in your napkin rings when you're pretending to be posh

msliv

+4

Level 32

Jan 8, 2018

I'm going to have to disagree with you there on spanner and Shrove Tuesday... never ever ever heard "Fat Tuesday" before coming to this website. No one anywhere in the UK I've ever lived or visited has called it "Fat" Tuesday, and never heard a Brit call a spanner a wrench either. I've heard spanner used as slang like plonker, though

Rozzi

+1

Level 55

Feb 24, 2019

msliv absolutely!

AVB

+3

Level 67

Feb 5, 2018

Never heard Fat Tuesday, except as a translation of the French "Mardi Gras". Shrove Tuesday is and remains the usual English word. "Serviette" is certainly used in England, but is looked down upon as a "non-U" word. Most English people I know, including me, still give their weight in stone, but that might be an age thing.

+1

Level 48

Jan 28, 2021

Yes, I was trying to think of how to describe serviette - "non-U" is the exact phrase.

Hoiawjdnwi

+1

Level 31

Nov 8, 2018

Napkins - yes, I agree with you here (serviette used, but less commonly).

Kilos - yes (in younger age groups).

Wrench - no, but have heard it a small handful of times.

"Fat Tuesday" - absolutely not (this one I've literally never heard used!).

FlickerP

+1

Level 54

Jan 18, 2021

@Lilyrose You say you live in London but you definitely do not sound like you listen to those who have been raised in the UK if you have not heard of the word spanner. Wrench is rarely used outside of a garage or workshop, Fat Tuesday has never been used by anyone I know and it is most definitely drink driving not drunk driving

ConnorIsBoss

+8

Level 16

Mar 27, 2014

British words? Don't you mean proper english words

+2

Level 81

Mar 28, 2014

Not at all. There is absolutely no basis for calling the dialect British English "proper English." Though English is a living dynamic language and thus it is completely erroneous to assume that newer forms are more degenerate or less pure, if we make that assumption, then American English has changed far less over the last four hundred years than British English has. There are 5x more people in the USA than there are in the UK, and all over the world most people learning English prefer learning American English over British English, as American is the preferred standard. Also, the entire reason that English remains relevant today and is considered the international language is certainly not because of England. If not for the USA we would no doubt be communicating in German, Japanese, Russian, Spanish or Mandarin right now. Though how we would be doing so without the American-invented Internet is a mystery.

Trackles13

+4

Level 58

Mar 29, 2014

I think that it's a broad assumption to say that people "prefer to learn American English"! In Australia we use all the same words you have here for "English", except "Lorry". We also use English spelling (eg.colour, labour etc.). I think in countries where English is not the main language they may learn English from, or be influenced by, American movies, television and other media, which would explain the Americanisms. I notice little kids here often use Americanisms but they usually grow out of it as they get older. Oh, and before we adopted the metric system, we also used "Stone" as a form of weight. Most of us in our 40s and over still say our weight in Stone, and baby birth weights are still often spoken about in pounds.

+2

Level 81

Mar 30, 2014

It's broad but it's not an assumption. I've worked as an English teacher all over the world and apart from some Commonwealth countries like Australia and most countries in Western Europe, American English is preferred. The number of those in the former category is falling all the time. Why do people learn English? Because they want to do business with American companies, they want to attend American schools, they enjoy American popular culture, and so on. The reasons don't matter that much. The end result is the same. The majority of informed linguists will back up what I said above. There is no standard or "proper" English dialect but if there were one American English has a stronger case for being it than British English does.

AfroChick

+6

Level 44

Jun 5, 2014

Having lived all over Africa, I can attest to the fact that we (Except the Liberians) prefer British English to "American English". Oh and British English is English English i.e Proper English. My 2c

GhostRider

+1

Level 39

Jun 13, 2014

LOL! Quite a discussion you're having in the comments section of an obscure quiz on an obscure website.

TheWombat

+5

Level 74

Jul 8, 2014

Amm...much as I hate to say it, being both British and Australian, the British way of spelling many words is arguably less 'correct' than the American way. For example, words ending in -or in American and -our in British generally come from the Latin, in which they were spelled (or spelt, if you prefer) -or. When those words were put through the Norman filter they attracted the (superfluous) 'u', so in fact the American spelling is closer to the original. The same is often true of words containing double vowels, such as oesophagus, archaeology and leukaemia, though the reason for this is more complicated and involves the transition from Greek diphthongs to Latin monophthongs and, frankly, I'm beginning to bore myself...

relessness

+1

Level 47

Sep 2, 2014

The internet is American invented, Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web.

+1

Level 81

Sep 5, 2017

Amm: wrong

Lcfr: yes that's what I said. France being in Western Europe.

AfroChick: ignorant and wrong

lam: common but laughably erroneous misconception you are propping up there. The World Wide Web is not the Internet. The Internet absolutely is an American invention.

kdc: I understand both. I hope you're responding to Connor. He's the insufferable dingbat asserting (incorrectly) that the funny degenerate dialect he speaks is "proper" English.

Pirellyn: no, absolutely not. Not even close. Read about it sometime.

+8

Level 50

Jul 25, 2018

I think that Amm and AfroChick are making very reasonable points based on their knowledge and experience, just as you are making points based on your knowledge and experience. Calling them wrong, without having an actual reason for doing so seems very petty to me.

+4

Level 50

Jul 25, 2018

Also the reason English is still spoken widely is not just to do with the USA as you and many others like to suggest. The reason English is spoken widely at all is because of the British Empire and the spread of the English language, which brought English to America in the first place. It continues to be widely spoken today, not just because of the USA, but also because of the UK, Canada, Australia and many other countries where English is a commonly spoken language. Also why, exactly, would those of us in the UK be speaking a language other than English, if not for the USA. I would appreciate some clarification on this statement.

+3

Level 50

Jul 25, 2018

In addition to this you assert that it is a good thing that there are many languages worldwide and that they continue to be spoken, because it keeps the culture alive. I completely agree with this and think that the same applies to different versions of English.

TWM03

+4

Level 63

Oct 1, 2018

It is interesting to consider why English is used so much as a lingua franca nowadays. To say it is mainly because of the USA would imply that without the USA it wouldn't be. Had the USA never existed at all (say if they just never declared independence from the British Empire) I think it is impossible to say how history might have played out. At first it seems an advantage to the British Empire - which might still be the most powerful country today in some possible outcomes. It is relatively clear that Canada and Australia would still be speaking English regardless of what happened to the USA - but their populations are comparatively pretty small. Who invented the Internet and the World Wide Web are relevant for the lingua franca of the Internet to a certain extent, but I doubt that if Hungarians had invented it first I would be typing this in Hungarian. I see the World Wide Web as a more significant invention though, as the Internet is just the ability of computers to communicate.

+1

Level 81

Feb 23, 2019

CaoMaur: it is impossible that AfroChick has experience that led to her discovering that British English is "Proper English" because that is simply flat out wrong. No amount of experience could make it otherwise. She is being ignorant by asserting this. As to her experience living all over Africa, I doubt that, but I'm sure many of the British Commonwealth countries there still use British English. And that's a good chunk of them.

The British Empire existed, yes, but then there was stuff that happened after that, you realize, right? If not for the USA the dominant superpower in the world would not be English-speaking. We would be speaking some other language because the British Empire would have long ago been overrun or rendered obsolete by the Nazis, the Soviets, the Imperial Japanese, or the Chinese. Or if none of that would have happened Spanish or Arabic or Hindi may have become more relevant. Take America out of the picture and history and the world would be very different

+2

Level 81

Feb 23, 2019

TWM: Before the World Wide Web was invented at CERN (Switzerland) in the 1990s, the Internet had already existed for decades in America. It was being used to conduct important research. We already had Internet domains, html, Internet pages (later came to be known as web pages), e-mail, Internet bulletin boards, usenet, news servers, Internet chat rooms, Internet dating, online gaming, and consumer Internet services like Prodigy, Compuserv, and America OnLine.

Literally all the world wide web did was to accelerate the commercialization of technology that had already long since existed. That's it. The biggest contribution that those who developed it made to the Internet was the invention of the hypertext link (which was significant, yes, but saying that this was more significant than the invention of the Internet itself is like giving credit to the guy who invented seat belts for inventing the automobile). Your smartphone today uses the Internet. It doesn't use the world wide web

+1

Level 81

Feb 23, 2019

And, though this is all fairly silly hypothetical, when I am talking about history without America what I am imagining is if all of the land mass that would become America simply up and vanished in 1776. Britain would have ceased getting anything from them, even the benefits of trade, and they would have no impact on the course of world events afterward. WW1 and WW2 would have played out differently. The Soviets would have had no significant rival. No Hollywood. No silicone valley. No New York City. No Detroit. No Apollo. No Manhattan Project. The innovations made there would have been made somewhere else if at all, and the center of gravity in the worldwide economy would have been in Russia or China or Germany.

If, on the other hand, the British Empire was able to somehow retain control over their colonies there instead of having them declare independence, that would be different.

+1

Level 81

Feb 23, 2019

final note: of course without the British Empire there would have been no USA. And it was the British Empire that started turning English into the lingua franca of the world. Still, one comes after the other. add emphasis on "started."

+2

Level 50

Feb 25, 2019

I can agree with most of what you are saying here, but you seem to missing my main point, which is that English is widely spoken today because of other English-speaking countries, their culture, and their influence, as well as the USA. These include the UK, Canada, Australia, and also many countries where English is an important lingua franca. People do not learn English just because they want to move to America, enjoy American culture and work for American companies. They learn it because they want to interact with people from other English-speaking countries as well.

+2

Level 50

Feb 25, 2019

As a side note I think it is also worth remembering that a very big part of the British Empire's decline after WW2 was due to the USA demanding that the UK pay back debt owed immediately after the war. This was the reason why the UK was on rationing until 1955. I'm not trying to suggest that empire is a good thing, but if the USA was not involved, it is actually quite likely the British Empire would still be a superpower today and it is certainly not true to suggest that the UK would have been overrun by Nazis, or the Soviets. To be sure, English likely would not have the worldwide prevalence it does today, but it would certainly still be a very important world language.

+1

Level 50

Feb 26, 2019

Oh, and with regard to the internet I think it's fair to give both the UK and USA as well as countless other countries credit for inventing it.

+1

Level 81

Mar 2, 2019

CaoMaru: To your first comment, I don't think it would be that way without America, though. Young men in India would be learning Chinese, Russian, German or Japanese. English would become a relic of their past the same way that Spanish is in the Philippines. The Spanish Empire colonized the Philippines and for hundreds of years Spanish was an official language there, but now, nobody speaks it anymore.

You honestly think that Britain would have won WW1 and WW2 without the US's involvement? You think they would have been able to beat Hitler and keep the Japanese from taking over India and Australia at the same time without Midway? And then been able to go toe to toe with the Soviets after that? I know that Europeans love to downplay the significance of what Americans meant for the final outcomes of those wars, but, really?

The Internet was invented in the United States of America. Full stop. It's not even ambiguous. Credit where credit is due. Read about it.

+2

Level 50

Mar 3, 2019

Well, firstly, I can see that another language - Chinese, German, Japanese, Spanish - might very well be a lingua franca in the way English is today if not for the USA, but I don't think English would decrease in importance that much either. True, Spanish is no longer spoken in the Philippines, but Portuguese is widely spoken as a lingua franca in Angola and Mozambique - former Portuguese colonies - despite the fact that Portugal is not a world power today. In the same way, I think that if the USA was not in the picture, English would still be spoken in former British possessions such as India. After all, even if the UK was the world's only English speaking country, it is far more influential in the world today than Portugal, so this seems a reasonable assumption.

+2

Level 50

Mar 3, 2019

As for the wars, we know that the UK would not have been beaten by Hitler because he tried and failed before the USA joined in with the war effort. So no, I really do not think that the UK itself would have been invaded if it were not for America.

Having said that it is true that Japan would almost certainly have controlled India and Australia without America's involvement. I am not trying to downplay America's significance in the war, but the truth is that the UK survived before America joined in, and it is also the truth that America demanded repayments for this involvement, meaning that the UK was on rationing longer than any other country.

+2

Level 50

Mar 3, 2019

As for after the war, I doubt that the Cold War would have taken place. In 1940 the majority of the British public trusted Russia more than America, and even during the Cold War anti-Russian sentiment was not nearly as high in the UK as in the US. I think that at some point Germany would have realised it could not beat Russia, and a peace treaty would have been agreed between the UK, Russia, and Germany. This would have probably led to Germany withdrawing from parts of Europe, but remaining as a great power. I would predict that there would then be several great powers, all of around equal strength. These would be Germany, Japan, Russia, the UK, and later on, India and China. Without the USA involved, Brazil would likely be a major world player as well.

+2

Level 50

Mar 3, 2019

Of course this is all hypothetical, but my main point is still the same. People learn English for many different reasons, and a large number of those people interact with UK companies and people, or want to study or live in the UK. Therefore, I do not believe that American English has a stronger case than British English for being a standard dialect. I also do not think that American English has a poor case - the above statements are certainly true of America as well. Rather, I think that having different variations of English - across internal regions as well as internationally - makes life interesting and helps keep culture alive, as do the many other languages and variations of them around the world.

JSWTW21

+1

Level 40

Oct 7, 2020

@CaoMaru - This is over 1 1/2 years later, but I agree with everything you have said and I appreciate you defending the "British/English" language.

Koult45

+1

Level 51

Oct 26, 2020

I think something both kalbahamut and CaoMaru are not realizing is that the Soviet Union would have beaten Germany with or without the US and the UK's help. It was only a matter of time: i.e., the war would have gone on longer, but it would have ended the same way. Nazi Germany certainly would not have made a peace treaty with Russia, they would have gone down in flames as in our timeline. People continuously underestimate how fanatical and irrational Germany's leadership was. They would not have attempted to conquer the Soviet Union in the first place if it were otherwise. Also, probably no "West Germany" vs "East Germany" business. Germany would have become a full communist country, and its occupation post-war would have been 100x more brutal since without the US and UK's tempering hand, Stalin would have subjected the German people to a terror that made the Great Purges look tame. (Another reason why Germany would never have surrendered until the bitter end, because they knew this)

+1

Level 48

Jan 28, 2021

This exchange makes me wonder - what's the American equivalent of "chippy"?

Tramp

+3

Level 71

Mar 28, 2014

I prefer "American English" and "English English"

+1

Level 81

Mar 30, 2014

If you also make reference to "Scottish English" and "Irish English" then that seems reasonable. If you're using "English English" as another way of saying "proper English" through reduplication, then that's not accurate.

leonora

+1

Level 23

Sep 23, 2014

I'm a translator! That means I not only need to check differences between American usage and British usage, but between English usage and Scottish usage.

+1

Level 81

Sep 5, 2017

okay. But is Tramp?

+3

Level 50

Jul 30, 2018

I agree. English spoken in Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England varies wildly. Having said that, English spoken in England varies wildly as well.

Irreality

+4

Level 69

Apr 23, 2014

Kept trying to enter widdershins for counterclockwise. Anticlockwise is much less interesting.

+2

Level 78

Mar 31, 2017

I've heard that word but never knew what it meant. Thanks for sharing!

pjh

+1

Level 42

Nov 26, 2020

me too! widdershins for the win

jakecornish5

+1

Level 19

May 6, 2014

I'm British and I got four wrong, the "sketchy" one is utter nonsense.

Atkinson

+1

Level 60

Nov 10, 2016

Agreed, sketchy means indistinct, while dodgy means potentially illegal or illegitimate.

+7

Level 78

Mar 31, 2017

You aren't comparing UK words to UK words. In the US sketchy does mean dishonest or just on the edge of being illegal, so it seems that dodgy would be the UK equivalent.

jmellor13

+4

Level 66

Feb 23, 2019

"Sketchy" in the US has the same meaning as "dodgy" in the UK. That's what the quiz is asking for. The question is correct.

Berney

+2

Level 72

Sep 19, 2018

You're reading the quiz wrong. You need to compare the American meaning of 'sketchy", i.e. disreputable, dishonest, almost illegal - and find a British word for the same thing, i.e. "dodgy".

luxint

+1

Level 60

Feb 23, 2019

rubbish! the dodgy iclue is fine and, like, totally works!

leonora

+1

Level 23

Sep 23, 2014

About 'napkin' and 'serviette'. One is supposed to be posher than the other, but I can never remember which is which, so I use NAPKIN for the cloth ones and SERVIETTE for the paper ones. The cloth ones are really nice!

Lemons

+2

Level 27

Dec 27, 2014

I am british and i never use the word serviette.

+2

Level 70

Dec 30, 2014

It is now considered bad form to use Serviette ....... Napkin is preferred.

Berney

+1

Level 72

Sep 19, 2018

That can't be true at all. Serviette is just fine in the UK, as is napkin.

Nige

+1

Level 48

Jan 31, 2015

leonora is correct - napkins are made of cloth and serviettes are made of paper. You would never get serviettes in a reputable restaurant, and you don't get napkins in a greasy spoon. There's another classic English phrase for you!

Quizmaster

+2

Level ∞

Feb 1, 2015

Greasy spoon is a term that originated in America. :)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greasy_spoon

Lemons

+3

Level 27

Dec 27, 2014

i am British and we call knickers, pants as well so can you accept that please.

MasterKenobi

+3

Level 45

Dec 31, 2014

Yeah, I tried pants first too, but being an American I think get what Quizmaster (who's also American I'm pretty sure) was going for. In America, panties is a word we only use for female underwear (unless we're trying to be funny). Is that the case for knickers? Pants is the more general term for anybody's undergarments. We just call that underwear

+2

Level 78

Oct 3, 2016

Lots of people here getting their panties into a wad.

Anzi

+2

Level 71

Feb 23, 2019

Don’t you mean getting their knickers in a twist? :D

MasterKenobi

+2

Level 45

Mar 6, 2015

GUYS!!! At the top of the quiz under the instructions, the quiz maker clearly said that "this does NOT suggest that all British people use these words 100% of the time." Please don't get angry!

AlexThirkell

+1

Level 65

Nov 30, 2020

2 l8 m8

0rachael0

+1

Level 36

Mar 6, 2015

never heard of serviette but the rest are correct

Polo69

+1

Level 12

May 9, 2015

I have never heard anyone ever say serviette! we say handkercheif or tissue.

although we may use dodgy in replace for sketchy sometimes but there is far too many other words we use instead of that so I would really not include that.

half decent attempt

+3

Level 70

Mar 31, 2017

Serviette isn't used in place of handkerchief or tissue, it is what is placed on your lap in a restaurant or nowadays under your coffee cup or a pile on the counter in a café. I saw a lady giving a lecture to a group of young women on classy speech and she said not to use 'Serviette' but that 'Napkin' was now considered the approved term in upper circles. (for right or wrong)

Bubblecat

+2

Level 67

May 18, 2015

Bit of trivia for you: the "cookie/biscuit" thing isn't as straightforward as biscuit meaning cookie. A cookie is actually a type of biscuit. Biscuits can be of any shape (most commonly round or rectangular), and usually hard in texture, whereas cookies are more crumbly, and always round, and usually contain chocolate chips or a similar filling. So a bourbon biscuit or a custard cream isn't a cookie, but a Maryland chocolate chip cookie is :)

+1

Level 78

Oct 3, 2016

Cookies aren't always round - there are bar cookies, ball cookies, and Christmas cookies are any shape the cutter makes - stars, Christmas trees, etc.There are tons of different recipes for cookies - peanut butter, jam print, thin mints, macaroons, oatmeal raisin, shortbread, ginger snaps, snickerdoodles,'nilla wafers, sugar cookies, sandwich cookies with filling (think Oreos), etc. Only chocolate chip cookies contain chocolate chips. I think our cookies are usually sweeter than your biscuits. Cookies can be hard, crisp, or they can be removed from the oven sooner and made chewy. They can be frosted or sprinkled with sugar and/or cinnamon or eaten plain. That's all up to personal preference. But I agree with you, biscuits and cookies don't exactly mean the same thing.

tom98784

+1

Level 28

May 19, 2015

I wasn't sure about sketchy, so assumed it was another word for an etch a sketch...

LauraMaryEllen

+1

Level 20

May 21, 2015

'Fat Tuesday' or 'Shrove Tuesday' is actually more commonly called 'Pancake Day' here in the UK.

+1

Level 70

Aug 4, 2015

I tried 'Pancake Tuesday' but didn't get it.

kiwiquizzer

+1

Level 65

Aug 31, 2016

Same! Pancake Tuesday is what I've always known.

sussexval

+2

Level 60

Jun 18, 2016

Got them all but I agree that carryout should be accepted because that is what they say in Scotland. I would also take issue about napkins because we use that term in UK too. It is considered 'more correct' than serviette - got to love the British class system!

stylus

+2

Level 57

Oct 7, 2016

I'm British, and I thought of most of the answers as correct, but I've always called them napkins

CostingMoney

+1

Level 32

Mar 14, 2017

I'm from Singapore so I use both

PHG1960

+1

Level 65

Sep 5, 2017

The British have made every attempt to ruin the language. Most of the American words on the list are better--shorter or clearer--than the British equivalent. I'll take lift, nappy, Shrove Tuesday, dodgy and bin as better than the American equivalents. Car park is silly since other things than cars can park in a lot. A motorway is too generic. Maths has a needless extra letter. Rubber gives no clue as to the use, unlike eraser. Surname requires knowing what "sur" means. Serviette is taken from the French. Not all pavements are sidewalks. Panties and knickers are both unworthy terms that should be pushed to the side. Drink driving is just poor grammar. Lorry reminds me of the old actor. A torch is a long piece of burning wood held in your hand. A wrench doesn't span anything--it grips the edge of something.

+2

Level 50

Jul 25, 2018

Actually English was spoken in the UK before it was spoken in America, hence it's name. ENGLISH. I'm not saying that either version is better, but to suggest it was the British that have made every attempt to ruin it is somewhat misguided.

HPaddict

+1

Level 30

Nov 6, 2018

X-D

+2

Level 81

Feb 23, 2019

I think both the British and Americans deserve some recognition for their attempts to ruin the language.

+4

Level 78

Feb 23, 2019

American English is full of crazy things. For example, we drive on a parkway and park on a driveway.

fitheach

+3

Level 58

Feb 25, 2019

So a language must be completely literal and transparent, and words cannot be used to refer to more than one thing (e.g. torch in your list). How do you cope with metaphors, words with a whole range of possible usages (are you unable to use context?), and turns of phrase? Life must be one long struggle for you.

QuizWol

+2

Level 62

Jul 18, 2019

Well Flashlight is totally ridiculous when you want nice steady light.

+1

Level 48

Jan 28, 2021

Why is "highway" less generic than "motorway"? Are American motorways all on stilts or something?

DeludedRhino

+1

Level 55

Sep 5, 2017

Should really say English instead of British, in Scotland we don't say many of these at all

+2

Level 81

Feb 23, 2019

There are different dialects in America, too, but they're all still American.

+1

Level 50

Feb 25, 2019

I agree. I think that Scottish English and English English are definitely different enough to be separated if Australian and New Zealand English are separated.

Wickedangel

+1

Level 23

Nov 19, 2017

I live in South Africa and we use all these words except for shrove Tuesday I didn’t know what that was

yorksguy1865

+3

Level 38

Dec 15, 2017

I don't know about all of Britain but the bit that I am from, people use the word spanner to mean idiot, usually preceded by the f-word it must be said...

BigDave73

+1

Level 29

Dec 22, 2017

I'm from Australia and just wrote what we say in Australia and they all worked. But never heard of either Fat or Strove Tuesday.

Margles1

+2

Level 44

Feb 7, 2018

I use sketchy and dodgy interchangeably. I don’t think of one as American and one as British.

Margles1

+1

Level 44

Feb 7, 2018

Also dicey, all the same thing more or less.

cmn3y0

+1

Level 47

Apr 23, 2018

No one says "serviette" other than rich people (in the UK they're called "middle class" or "posh"); 90% of people in the UK say "napkin". And Americans say "dodgy" as well, I don't think that's a British thing.

fitheach

+3

Level 58

Feb 25, 2019

Rich people do not say serviette - napkin is the word used by the toffs. Look up "U and non-U" on Wikipedia for a list of different words used by different classes in 20th century Britain (although it was much criticised).

dobz95

+1

Level 24

Apr 23, 2018

Is Shrove Tuesday not also known as Pancake Tuesday?

redheadinadress

+1

Level 53

Apr 23, 2018

To add to this sketchy/dodgy debate. I'm British and grew up in the South West but now live in London, and in my usage of both words I would say they mean the exact same thing. I've only ever used the word sketchy to mean dodgy (unsafe, a bit weird etc). I've never heard of sketchy being used to refer to vague ever.

Also, Shrove Tuesday = Pancake Day, not Pancake Tuesday.

stone222

+1

Level 52

Sep 24, 2018

i have only heard sketchy meaning vague.. it was my choice before i hit Give Up.......the witness gave a very sketchy description of the robber.... have lived in the UK and Aus, and never heard it used to mean dodgy

AJB2002

+1

Level 31

Oct 30, 2018

I'm English and I haven't a clue what a 'Zed' is nor what a 'Zee' is, I must be missing something!

Jubby

+1

Level 30

Nov 5, 2018

the pronunciation of the letter "z" is different: it is phonetecized as either "zee" if you are American, and "zed" for everyone else

Jubby

+1

Level 30

Nov 5, 2018

"sirname" and "sir name" and "sir-name" for "surname"?

fitheach

+1

Level 58

Feb 25, 2019

There's no such thing as a sir-name.

AlexThirkell

+2

Level 65

Nov 30, 2020

That's how we spell it here in Suriname.

+1

Level 20

Dec 21, 2020

No

HPaddict

+1

Level 30

Nov 6, 2018

I'm american, and the only two reasons I know these are 1, from my username, you can probably tell that I read and watch Harry Potter constantly, and 2 I have relatives who are British.

stubart409

+4

Level 62

Nov 8, 2018

I'm Australian and we use most of these words as well; except for 'Lorry' and 'Knickers'. Some other differences I know of: the English have 'duvets' and we have 'doonahs'. They also call 'capsicums' 'peppers', and 'zucchinis' they call 'courgettes'. The 'sidewalk' or 'pavement' is called a 'footpath' here. I also have absolutely no idea what 'Fat Tuesday' or 'Shrove Tuesday' is.

Sifhraven

+2

Level 67

Dec 8, 2018

Im missing "unmentionables" for underpants. Allways loved it when I see/hear that word used on television.

There was another fun synonym for it I heard the other day, but I forgot..

+1

Level 48

Jan 28, 2021

Yes, or "undercrackers"

JayWing1218

+1

Level 31

Dec 30, 2018

I had no idea Americans called Shrove Tuesday "Fat Tuesday!"

beks

+1

Level 55

Jan 20, 2019

Who than says Mardi Gras?

+4

Level 81

Feb 23, 2019

The French or people in New Orleans?

Anzi

+1

Level 71

Feb 23, 2019

Never thought how much less embarrassing it must be to be caught with your pants down in the USA than the UK ;)

Irishrepublic

+1

Level 16

Feb 23, 2019

Irish people don't say lift we say elevator and some children in all countries say pancake day. WEIRD.

Eamo

+1

Level 65

Aug 22, 2019

Interesting comment. I'm Irish too but say lift, never elevator. Maybe it's an age thing. There's no doubt that the huge spread of American culture since the 1960s and beyond has increased the use of American English in the UK and Ireland. Most persons under 35 (and some much older) speak like they've just walked off the set of Friends.....

tbolt

+1

Level 71

Feb 23, 2019

Thank you TOP GEAR. I learned many of the British equivalents to American words by watching your show.

Freezek

+1

Level 33

Feb 23, 2019

A lot of these things are wrong... We say elevator aswell, and cookies are completely different to biscuits.

MarlowePI

+5

Level 70

Feb 23, 2019

Okay, yes, in Britain, a biscuit and a cookie are two distinctly different things, but what British people would call a biscuit, American people would call a cookie.

Rozzi

+5

Level 55

Feb 24, 2019

oh dear, here we go again - this was covered higher up in the comments. Elevator is American, just because we understand American words it doesn't make them British. The British term is 'lift'.

naughtynick

+1

Level 35

Feb 24, 2019

KNICKERS to your silly quiz. It is PANTS !

Jozi

+1

Level 58

Feb 24, 2019

What is Fat Tuesday about?

+1

Level 20

Dec 21, 2020

Tuesday that is fat

Kaz60

+2

Level 50

Mar 23, 2019

Wrench is an adjustable spanner. Fat Tuesday I've never heard before and we use serviette but most of the English language is derived from European languages. We need to accept our differences tho, not bicker!

EvieT

+1

Level 18

Aug 16, 2019

the quiz has many mistakes

Sifhraven

+1

Level 67

Nov 24, 2019

Sketchy is too broad a term, I would suggest changing it, or atleast accept more meanings. Like shady and iffy. It is like asking for pretty, the synonyms can be beautiful, nice, gorgeous, handsome, fabulous, goodlooking etc. Just accepting one of those and not the others would not be fair/correct.

JSWTW21

+1

Level 40

Oct 7, 2020

I'm British and I say cookie (biscuits and cookies are different), last name and surname, truck and lorry, spanners and wrenches are different, napkin, and dodgy and sketchy mean different things

EcceHomo

+2

Level 68

Oct 28, 2020

For all of your hot air, neither American English nor British English (including its variants) have any justifiable claim to be any more 'correct' than the other. Anyone who knows anything about the history of English will tell you that lexicographers on both sides of the pond, including Noah Webster and Samuel Johnson have laid claim to the 'better' orthography and 'more logical' ways of spelling.Neither has 'won', because the language changes in different ways in different parts of the world. Not only that but different parts of the countries. No words are more or less correct than others just because some internet bully says they are. Language is language; it ebbs and flows, and it mutates constantly. There is one incontrovertible English phrase that underlines this notion, and it goes like this: "Vive la différence".

feverfin

+1

Level 34

Feb 5, 2021

finally! yes!!! why do people choose to argue about this??

AlexThirkell

+3

Level 65

Nov 30, 2020

Well this comment section really cleared everything up nicely, didn't it?

+1

Level 20

Dec 21, 2020

I got all correct