Lexical differences of American variant highly extensive on the strength of multiple borrowing from, what was not in British English.
| British variant | American variant | Explanations | |
| acclimatize | acclimate | акклиматизировать | |
| centre | center | центр | |
| up to the time | on time | Во время | |
| anticlockwise | counterclockwise | против часовой стрелки | |
| yours sincerely | sincerely yours | с уважением | |
| pretence | pretense | Притворство | |
| analyse | analyze | Анализировать | |
| have proned | have proven | доказано | |
| (It) behaves | behooves | ведет себя | |
| underground | Subway | метро | |
| the cinema | the movies | кинотеатр | |
| store | shop | магазин | |
| pavement | sidewalk | тротуар | |
| queue | line | Очередь | |
| football | soccer | футбол | |
| postman | mailman | почтальон | |
| holiday | vacation | каникулы | |
| maize | corn | кукуруза | |
| autumn | fall | осень |
Also claim attention differences in writing some words in American and British variants of language.
For instance, following:
| British variant | American variant | Explanations | |
| honor | honour | честь | |
| traveler | treveler | путешественник | |
| plough | plow | плуг | |
| analyze | analyse | анализировать | |
| centre | center | Центр | |
| apologies | apologize | Извенения |
A special group should highlight those lexical items which we said no equivalent lexical, those words and stable word combinations that are used in the U.S. and as such, have no lexical equivalents in British English.
| British variant | American variant | Explanations | |
| - // - | junior high school | неполная средняя школа, включающая 7 и 8 или 8 и 9 классы. | |
| chemist’s drug-store | drugstore | Аптека, магазин, где наряду с патентованные медицинскими средствами, продаются прохладительные напитки, бутерброды | |
| - // - | rodeo | Популярное в Америке соревнование ковбоев в ловле скота с помощью лассо, езде на необъезженных лошадях и т.п. | |
| Idioms | |||
| - // - | beat one’s brarns out | Ломать голову над чем-то | |
| - // - | be from Missouri | Быть скептиком | |
| - // - | chew the fat | Сплетничать | |
| - // - | do a land-office business | Иметь много клиентов | |
| - // - | drop the ball | Совершить глупую ошибку | |
| - // - | feel like two cents | Плохо себя чувствовать | |
| - // - | Johnny-on-the-spot | Мальчик на побегушках | |
| - // - | Lately-come-lately | Новичок | |
| - // - | Live high off the hog | Жить в роскоши. | |
| Non equivalent vocabulary in American | |||
| barman barmard | - // - | буфетчик в баре буфетчица | |
| bartender (=barkeeper) | - // - | отсутствует указание на пол |
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Probably the major differences between British and American English lies in the choice of vocabulary. Some words mean different things in the two varieties for example:
Mean: (American English - angry, bad humored, British English - not generous, tight fisted)
Rubber: (American English - condom, British English - tool used to erase pencil markings)
There are many more examples (too many for me to list here). If there is a difference in usage, your dictionary will note the different meanings in its definition of the term. Many vocabulary items are also used in one form and not in the other.
| British variant | American variant | Explanations | |
| accumulator | battery | аккумулятор | |
| banknote | b, M | банкнота | |
| barrow | pushcart | тачка | |
| biscuit | cookie | печенье | |
| braces | suspenders | подтяжки | |
| clever | smart | умный | |
| coach | bus | автобус | |
| company | corporation | компания | |
| cram | bone up | зубрить | |
| dinner jacket | toxedo | смокинг |
Once again, your dictionary should list whether the term is used in British English or American English.
For a more complete list of the vocabulary differences between British and American English use this British vs. American English vocabulary tool.
There are also a few differences in colloquial style use including the following:
| British variant | American variant | Explanations | |
| Toget the smelled head | Toget the big head | Важничать, зазнаваться | |
| Enough to make a cat laugh | Enough to make a horse laugh | Умора, потеха | |
| Cheese off | Tick off | Радость | |
| Get one’s cards | Get a pink slip | Быть уволенным | |
| In top gear | In high gear | На всей скорости | |
| Devil of work | Working devil | Трудолюбивый человек. | |
| He did not eat at all. | He did not eat any. | Он ни чего не ест | |
| at the weekend | on the weekend | На выходных | |
| Monday to Friday | Monday through Friday | С понедельника по пятницу | |
| different from/to | different from/than | Отличается от | |
| stay at home | stay home | Остаться дома | |
| write to somebody | write somebody | Писать кому-то |
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Also we have to pay attention to homonyms. American and British English are both variants of World English. As such, they are more similar than different, especially with "educated" or "scientific" English. Most divergence can be ascribed to differing national histories and cultural development, and the way in which the two national variants have changed correspondingly.
| American variant | British variant | |||||||
| I married a homely girl. | ||||||||
| ugly | a good house-keeper | |||||||
| The opening of our new play was a bomb! | ||||||||
| bad, a failure | a great success | |||||||
| We all had tea and biscuits. ('crumpets' vs 'English muffins', etc.) | ||||||||
| a type of bread baked in small round pieces (кексы) SBE crumpet | a thin, flat, dry, usually sweet cake (печенье) SAE muffin | |||||||
| We needed a torch for the dark trail. | ||||||||
| a flaming torch факел | a small electric lamp that you carry in your hand фонарь SAE flashlight | |||||||
| Evelyn took a coin out of [his/her] purse. | ||||||||
| women's handbag дамская сумочка SBE handbag | coin purse кошелек, бумажник SAE change purse | |||||||
| The committee tabled the motion. | ||||||||
| to leave a motion, idea, offer etc to be dealt with it in the future отложить SBE put a motion on the table | to suggest a motion etc for other people to consider предложить SAE suggest, propose | |||||||
| The corn harvest was exceptional this year. | ||||||||
| кукуруза SBE maize, sweetcorn | зерновые культуры (пшеница, овес, ячмень), зерно | |||||||
| Pekka was climbing in the lime tree. | ||||||||
| a tree on which limes (a kind of lemons) grow дерево, на котором растут лаймы | a tree with pleasant-smelling yellow flowers липа SAE linden | |||||||
Occurrence of new value in a word; use of a synonymous word:[32]