Differences in Vocabulary

Differences in Vocabulary

     Ask someone from England what a fag is and he/she will tell you it's a cigarette. Asking an American the same question, however, could put you in a rather embarrasing situation. You see, in American English, a fag is a highly derogatory and offensive term for homosexual.

     The above example shows that sometimes the same word has different meanings in England and in the US. So, if you were in England and wanted to buy candy, you'd have to ask for sweets. In the United States, a person asks for dessert after dinner, while a person in England may ask for a sweet or a dessert.

     There is a story about an Englishman visiting New York for the first time who stopped a man and asked how to get to the underground. The answer he received from the New Yorker was a very blunt and rude. "I don't know. Why don't you try killing yourself?" The New Yorker mistakenly thought that the Englishman was interested in meeting Lucifer himself. Little did the New Yorker know that in British English, the underground (also called tube) is nothing more than the subway.

     Underground is a good example of the many words in England which are different from their American equivalents. Scholars interested in those lexical differences have actually compiled British/American - American/British dictionaries. Observe a list of some of the most common words we offer you (see above).     

American	British	Portuguese
airplane	aeroplane	Avião
apartment	Flat	Apartamento
area code	dialing cod	Código de área
Bar	Pub	Bar, taverna
billfold	Wallet	Carteira
busy	Engaged (phone)	Ocupado (telefone)
candy	sweets	Doces
cookie/cracker	Biscuit	Biscoito
corn	sweet corn, maize	Milho
crib	cot	Berço
crazy	mad	Louco
crosswalk	pedestrian/zebra crossing	Faixa de pedestre
cuffs	turn-ups (on trousers)	Bainha de calça
diaper	nappy	Fralda
drugstore, pharmacy	chemist's	Farmácia, drogaria
elevator	lift	Elevador
eraser	Rubber, eraser	Borracha (escolar)
Fall/autumn	autumn	Outono
first floor, second floor etc	ground floor, first floor	Térreo, primeiro piso...
flashlight	torch	Lanterna
Flat (tire)	Flat tyre, puncture	Pneu furado/vazio
french fries	Chips	Batatas fritas
garbage/trash	rubbish	Lixo
garbage can, trashcan	dustbin, rubbish bin	lata-de-lixo
gas/gasoline	petrol	Gasolina/combustível
highway, freeway	main road, motorway	Estrada, rodovia
hood (of a car)	bonnet	Capô
intersection	crossroads	Cruzamento (de rodovias ou ruas)
mad	angry	Enfurecido
Mailbox	pillar box	Caixa de correio
mean	nasty	Mesquinha
movie, film	film	Filme cinematográfico
movie theater	Cinema	Cinema
pants, trousers	trousers	Calças compridas
Parking lot	Car park	Estacionamento
pavement	road surface	Calçamento, pavimentação
pitcher	jug	Jarro(a)
potato chips	crisps	Batata frita (em fatias)
railroad	Railway	Ferrovia
raise	rise (in salary)	Aumentar
rest-room, bathroom	(public) toilet	Toalete, banheiro (em restaurantes, hotéis etc.)
sidewalk	pavement	Calçada
resumé	CV	Currículo profissional
schedule, timetable	timetable	Horário
sneakers	trainers (=sports shoes)	Tênis esportivo
Stand in line	queue	Fazer fila
store/shop	Shop	Loja
**subway	Underground*	Metrô
trunk (of a car)	Boot	Porta-malas
truck	lorry, van	Caminhão
two weeks	fortnight, two weeks	Duas semanas
vacation	holiday(s)	Férias
vest	waistcoat	Colete
zee	zed	"zê" - o nome da letra "z"
zipper	zip	Zíper, fecho de correr

Profa. Darlene