100+ Differences between British and American English | British vs. American Vocabulary Words

Very interesting. As to the term ‘roundabout’, that is the term we also use where I live.

Something I’ve often wondered about — when I was a child (1950’s) growing up in southern USA everyone called the trunk of a car the ‘boot’. As in ‘put the luggage in the boot’. I was told it was a British term. Is that true? No one ever refers to the trunk as the boot in this day and age.
 

MountainRa said:
Very interesting. As to the term ‘roundabout’, that is the term we also use where I live.

Something I’ve often wondered about — when I was a child (1950’s) growing up in southern USA everyone called the trunk of a car the ‘boot’. As in ‘put the luggage in the boot’. I was told it was a British term. Is that true? No one ever refers to the trunk as the boot in this day and age.
Click to expand...
yes it's a British term.. we call it the Boot of the car.. and the front of the car is called the Bonnet !:D
 
I think most of those British words are still used enough here so that most people know what is meant.

As to the roundabouts they are still in use here and there is a street near me where there are several with two more under construction. Some people really dislike them but they work well enough if there's not too much heavy traffic.
 
hollydolly said:
always wondered why you call it a Restroom.. do people go there to rest ? :LOL:
Click to expand...
I can't speak for the rest of the country but until the 1970's Washington State required employers to provide female employees with a cot, chaise or bed in all female restrooms so the women could rest on their breaks, during female cycle issues, or whenever life just got too stressful. This was a holdover from the times when women first became a major constituent of factories and offices. There was no such provision for male employees.

When I returned from the service, all that had gone away.
 
Last edited:
Myrtle said:
I think most of those British words are still used enough here so that most people know what is meant.

As to the roundabouts they are still in use here and there is a street near me where there are several with two more under construction. Some people really dislike them but they work well enough if there's not too much heavy traffic.
Click to expand...
lol.. we ave so many roundabouts I wouldn't be able to hazard a guess as to how many.. we can have anything up to 20 in one street..in 2017 there were 30,000 in the uk, goodness knows how many now!!

The first roundabout was built in a garden city town near me 114 years ago... and one of the most difficult ( altho' I don't find it difficlut ) roundabouts in the UK.. if not the world.. is also in my county.. ...

It's one large Roundabout, with 6 mini roundabouts on it..

b25lY21zOmVkODczMjMxLTU3NmEtNDlkYi1hOGU0LTA1MThmZGY3ZTY1MTphODVmMDllOC01YTgzLTQ1MmUtYWJkNS1hMTI1MTY2YmQ3NzY=.jpg
 
Last edited:
I think ours are generally simpler, hollydolly. The recent ones are on a road with lots of cross streets. Without them there would be too many stop signs or traffic lights relatively close together. Here's one of the more recent ones at a time when traffic was light.
 

Attachments

  • download.jpg
    download.jpg
    10.5 KB · Views: 3
Llynn said:
I can't speak for the rest of the country but until the 1970's Washington State required employers to provide female employees with a cot, chaise or bed in all female restrooms so the women could rest on their breaks, during female cycle issues, or whenever life just got too stressful. This was a holdover from the times when women first became a major constituent of factories and offices. There was no such provision for male employees.

When I returned from the service, all that had gone away.
Click to expand...
I absolutely love those kind of bathrooms! They still exist here and there. The other day I was in a nice department store called Von Maur and it had a lovely pink women’s restroom that had soft couches and a special little room to take care of babies and a beautiful marble toilet area, and it was so clean and pretty.
 
Llynn said:
I can't speak for the rest of the country but until the 1970's Washington State required employers to provide female employees with a cot, chaise or bed in all female restrooms so the women could rest on their breaks, during female cycle issues, or whenever life just got too stressful. This was a holdover from the times when women first became a major constituent of factories and offices. There was no such provision for male employees.

When I returned from the service, all that had gone away.
Click to expand...
Llynn, are you old enough to remember the attendants? The nicer restrooms always had an attendant that kept things clean and neat and she had a dish on a counter where you left a tip. I think the tip was usually a dime and my mother would let me put the coin in the dish. There were attendants in some restrooms on trains also.

I think they were called restrooms because we all used to be too genteel to refer to what they were really used for. :ROFLMAO:

Amelia B said:
I absolutely love those kind of bathrooms! They still exist here and there. The other day I was in a nice department store called Von Maur and it had a lovely pink women’s restroom that had soft couches and a special little room to take care of babies and a beautiful marble toilet area, and it was so clean and pretty.
Click to expand...
I think our old department stores that had those restrooms are gone now, replaced by the big chains that are about to be on their way out in turn. I wonder what will replace them, maybe just the Internet. :(
 
Myrtle said:
Llynn, are you old enough to remember the attendants? The nicer restrooms always had an attendant that kept things clean and neat and she had a dish on a counter where you left a tip. I think the tip was usually a dime and my mother would let me put the coin in the dish. There were attendants in some restrooms on trains also.

I think they were called restrooms because we all used to be too genteel to refer to what they were really used for. :ROFLMAO:


I think our old department stores that had those restrooms are gone now, replaced by the big chains that are about to be on their way out in turn. I wonder what will replace them, maybe just the Internet. :(
Click to expand...
I am certainly old enough but I was never allowed in the Women's facilities (unlike the junk going on today) so I can't really say but I know for certain the Gent's I visited had no such creature. Of course you have to realize I grew up in a logging camp and the stores I visited in my youth were not exactly the creme de la creme of retail establishments.:LOL: Sears was jaw dropping fancy to me.
 
I worked for a time in the office British company in New Jersey. The employees were a mix of brits, americans and some others. It was said that if you worked there long enough you would develop a "mid-atlantic accent".
 
Amelia B said:
I absolutely love those kind of bathrooms! They still exist here and there. The other day I was in a nice department store called Von Maur and it had a lovely pink women’s restroom that had soft couches and a special little room to take care of babies and a beautiful marble toilet area, and it was so clean and pretty.
Click to expand...
we have those in some places.. but they're still called Bathrooms.. :LOL:
 
Llynn said:
I am certainly old enough but I was never allowed in the Women's facilities (unlike the junk going on today) so I can't really say but I know for certain the Gent's I visited had no such creature. Of course you have to realize I grew up in a logging camp and the stores I visited in my youth were not exactly the creme de la creme of retail establishments.:LOL: Sears was jaw dropping fancy to me.
Click to expand...
Oops! I apologize for misgendering you. I understand you can get in a lot of trouble doing that these days. :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO:

Sears was our most often used store as well as Montgomery Ward, which I still miss, but it seemed like there was always one hoity toity store in a city. Also, we often traveled by train (on free passes) because my father worked for the railroad. So you see, there was no real money there. :unsure:
 
MountainRa said:
Very interesting. As to the term ‘roundabout’, that is the term we also use where I live.

Something I’ve often wondered about — when I was a child (1950’s) growing up in southern USA everyone called the trunk of a car the ‘boot’. As in ‘put the luggage in the boot’. I was told it was a British term. Is that true? No one ever refers to the trunk as the boot in this day and age.
Click to expand...
that is correct just incase no one returned your call?
 
Amelia B said:
I absolutely love those kind of bathrooms! They still exist here and there. The other day I was in a nice department store called Von Maur and it had a lovely pink women’s restroom that had soft couches and a special little room to take care of babies and a beautiful marble toilet area, and it was so clean and pretty.
Click to expand...
that was the dawning of the age of eloquence I think - just that moment in time when we ugly males had learned to fully respect women and meet their every needs - how wonderful - and then we descending into hell!
 
Myrtle said:
Llynn, are you old enough to remember the attendants? The nicer restrooms always had an attendant that kept things clean and neat and she had a dish on a counter where you left a tip. I think the tip was usually a dime and my mother would let me put the coin in the dish. There were attendants in some restrooms on trains also.

I think they were called restrooms because we all used to be too genteel to refer to what they were really used for. :ROFLMAO:


I think our old department stores that had those restrooms are gone now, replaced by the big chains that are about to be on their way out in turn. I wonder what will replace them, maybe just the Internet. :(
Click to expand...
In some pubic Bathrooms in Spain , Italy and Greece there are still women who stand at the entrance with a dish, waiting for payment.. . she's also the cleaner..

When I was very small my grandad worked as a Lavatory attendant.. in those days all public toilets had attendants.. but I had no idea that's what he did for a living. I suspect it was a job he took in retirement, but I didn't learn of it until after his death and I saw his death certificate ..stating his occupation at time of death
 


Back
Top