I’d just finished creating a book trailer for my upcoming release, Accept Me, uploaded it to YouTube, shared it on social media and my street team, and sat back proud of my accomplishment. A few hours later, I got a message from one of my team to let me know she was confused by one of my phrases in my blurb. Even though I’d struggled to get the terminology of “put paid to” or “puts paid to” correct in my sentence, bouncing it off two close author friends and my editor, never once did it enter my mind that the phrase I’d used was British.
I dove onto a couple of online dictionaries, scouring synonyms for “put paid to”. After coming up with nine different options (and I’m sure I could’ve come up with more), I settled on changing the phrase “puts paid to”. Seems I only needed a single word … hinders.
I was born in Zambia in Africa, a British colony at the time (they got independence two years after my birth). That, combined with the fact that my paternal grandfather was Scottish, enabled me to obtain a British passport, which I’m holding onto for dear life. But is that enough for me to claim a British brain? Well, my family are all South Africans and I was raised in South Africa since the age of five and a bit. South Africa used to be a British colony, too, until their independence in … well now, that date is a little uncertain to me because the country became a fully sovereign nation state within the British Empire in 1934, but the monarchy only came to an end on 31 May 1961, replaced by a republic as the consequence of a 1960 referendum, which legitimized our country becoming the Republic of South Africa. Hmmm, maybe my older siblings CAN apply for a British passport as I have, after all.
But dates aside, as a result of decades of British rule, we have retained a lot of Britannia in our culture—I’d go as far as to say most evident in our written and spoken word.
As a result, Americanizing my writing is sometimes challenging, but it was a conscious choice I made when I wrote my first (unpublished) novel. I knew my audience would be mainly American, and a few years down the line, I was right—they are. Ninety percent, or more, of my readers live in the USA. It’s for exactly this reason that I wanted to write with spelling and words and phrases that wouldn’t trip them up. I don’t always get it right, I’m sure, but I’m so thankful for my critique partner and street team who are always there to help me.
I’ve even started Americanizing my writing at times in everyday life, although I do try my best to keep my American and British hats/lives separate. I’m sure half the time my family think I can’t spell. In my book writing, I use Z’s instead of S’s on words like Americanize (not Americanise), O instead of OU like color not colour, and other words like grey have become gray.
I now keep a list of words and their American alternatives in my planning documents to remind me what words I should be using. Guess “puts paid to” needs to go on that list too. I thought you might get a kick out of seeing some of the words that trip me up:
| BRITISH WORD/PHRASE | AMERICAN WORD/PHRASE |
| Adverts | Ads / Advertisements |
| Back garden / Garden | Backyard / Yard |
| Bath | Bathtub |
| Bathroom | Restroom |
| Bedside pedestal or pedestal | Nightstand |
| Bin | Trash can / Waste can |
| Binned | Tossed |
| Booking | Reservation |
| Cabin bag | Carry-on bag |
| Car hire | Rent a car |
| Coldrink | Soda (or pop in many areas … I have a map I refer to) |
| Collecting us | Picking us up |
| Cosy | Cozy |
| Cot | Crib / Cradle |
| Crockery and cutlery | Plates and silverware / Flatware |
| Cutting it fine | Cutting it close |
| Dinner | Supper |
| Double storey | Two story |
| Expiry date | Expiration date |
| Fallen pregnant | Gotten pregnant |
| Fetching | Pick up |
| Frail care | Assisted Living |
| Gown | Robe |
| Hired car | Rental |
| Icing sugar | Powdered sugar / confectioners’ sugar |
| Indicator / Flicker | Blinder |
| Ladies | Ladies room |
| Land up | End up |
| Latex | Nitrile |
| Lounge | Living room |
| Learnt | Learned |
| Meant | Means / Supposed to |
| Pavement | Sidewalk |
| Plate (oven) | Burner |
| Postnatal | Post-partum |
| Pram | Stroller |
| Public transport | Public transportation |
| Sales lady | Sales clerk |
| Spanner | Wrench |
| Surrounds | Surroundings |
| Swop | Swap |
| Takeaway | Takeout |
| Till | Cash register |
| Trainers | Running shoes |
| Travelling | Traveling |
| Top up | Top off |
| Two-plate cooker | Two burner hot plate |
| Vacancies | Employment opportunities |
| Verge | Shoulder |
| Windscreen | Windshield |
My struggle with American English and British English is a daily one. Not only do I have this long and growing list to contend with (my tower of Babel), but I’m continually discovering things like the fact that “sort out” is very British, as are beans for breakfast. And my most recent discovery, of course, “puts paid to”. As the saying goes, we live and learn, and I’m certainly learning something almost every day.
Well, I’d better run … I’ve just noticed some words that need changing in my current manuscript.
Oh, and if you’d like to see the book trailer that sparked this blog, here it is:
USA Today bestselling author, MARION UECKERMANN’s passion for writing was sparked when she moved to Ireland with her family. Her love of travel has influenced her contemporary inspirational romances set in novel places. Marion and her husband again live in South Africa and are setting their sights on retirement when they can join their family in the beautiful Cape.
An Australian brain is pretty much a British brain.
Being Aussie most of the time I relate better to British spelling, and it probably shows in my Facebook posts and book reviews, lol.
In this day and age we’ve all become Americanised to some extent, but I still chuckle at some of their word choices.
Hi Marion, I totally relate to your struggles. It was interesting to read your list and realise how Americanised we’ve become in Australia. Nitrile was the only US word I didn’t recognise, and in some cases the Aussie word is different to both the US and British words. Talk about confusing, lol.
This afternoon I read an Aussie play from the 1970’s that my daughter is studying for English. I translated many of the colloquial/slang expressions that we no longer use. Thanks for sharing your list with us, and congrats on your new release. :)
Absolutely, Mary. Stems from the colonial days and our British roots :)
LOL, as I’m sure they chuckle at ours :) And for sure, Hollywood is probably the biggest culprit for Americanizing us a fair bit.
Thanks, Narelle, and for sure it is all confusing. We can only do our best, I guess, and pray we’re forgiven when we slip up :)
Hi Marion! As a German American and a retired German and English teacher, I enjoy researching and reading about the nuances of languages. The Oxford English dictionary is my friend because it states whether the English word is American, British or Australian. In my German classes we used the Oxford / Duden dictionaries, since most Germans learn British English. In USA, as most countries, there are regional dialects. I live in the Midwest and our English is different than the coasts or the south. One word is soda versus pop. A few British words on your list are used but are outdated – till, trash bin, cutlery. Teaching English to high school freshman, I always taught language changes. Every 10 years we replaced school dictionaries because of vocabulary or word changes. Even as an American, I am with Narelle and have not heard the word nitrile – we say latex gloves. Thanks for an informative post.
As a reader, I appreciate your dedication to writing in American English. As a language person one of my pet peeves when authors do not take the time to check for the right word. Just read a translation of a Swedish work for my book club tonight and the translator uses miles per hour not kilometer per hours. Makes me wonder what else isn’t translated correctly. Best wishes.
Great post, Marion! I have always enjoyed reading authors from other cultures so the wording doesn’t always trip me up, but I can see how it may for others!
I…have never seen the word nitrile. But latex? For sure. Latex gloves. Latex allergy. You might double check with your street team about that because I am thinking more Americans know Latex than nitrile.
And just for fun, I have no issue with puts paid to. I’ve used that expression. As have people on my family and friends circle – so some of it may well be a vocabulary size issue. (I get comments from readers now and then saying they have to look up words in my books. So I could just be a word nerd )
If you’re writing in the US I think it’s great that you’re making sure to use US English. But I do wish more Aussie and Brit (or other nationalities) writers who set their books in Aus or GB (or non US places) would leave the language alone. I know I (and other readers I know) love the flavor it adds, and we can look up words we’re unfamiliar with or just go based on context like they taught us in school :)
LOL, yes, I have an image that I keep which shows me where to use pop and where to use soda :)
Latex vs nitrile, I always wrote latex, but somewhere goodness knows how many books ago, I was told that nitrile was the word to use. The advice was likely more from a medical point of view of what is now preferred in hospitals. See this interesting comparison: http://www.quickmedical.com/blog/post/latex-vs-nitrile
So probably, in the situation I’d used the word nitrile, it was likely the correct choice.
Sigh, often so hard to know what word is the best to use :)
Thank you, Paula :)
LOL, word nerd. I love that.
I always think it’s good to use new words and widen our vocabularies, as long as one isn’t sitting with a dictionary beside your novel (which did happen to me once).
See my comment to Renate regarding latex.
Hmm, maybe I should write my next SA books in British English :) I think whichever way one goes, there will always be readers who either love or dislike your choice.
I really enjoyed your post and the list of words. My grandparents were both born in England and moved to the U.S. when they were children. My grandmother used some of the British words you listed.
Love this. It’s interesting to see where Canada has kept her British roots and where we’ve gone with our neighbors to the south. I have my spellcheck set to American English so that picks up some of the nuances (colour vs color). And, like you, I rely on American beta readers to point out other errors.
I’ve never heard of Nitrile, either! In most cases in your list (but not all) Canada would use the American wording, though cutlery is more familiar to me than flatware, so… confusing!
I think you meant blinker instead of blinder, though, if the Brit word indicator is any indicator of context. We put blinders on horses to block their peripheral vision so they don’t get distracted and overwhelmed. Some days I need a pair of those. Focus forward, Valerie, focus…
Elizabeth. This avid reader and word nerd agrees with you last paragraph. I enjoy reading international books that stay true to the setting in word choice, food, customs and traditions.
What a fun post! I’m impressed that you sounds so American in your writing! Do you read a lot of American books? Watch shows?
As other commenters have stated, there are many regionalisms with the states alone. My editor will frequently ask if a term is unique to Minnesota (the latest was food shelf, which other states refer to as a food bank or foot pantry.)
As for your list, I use some of the British terms, too. One example is supper/dinner. In our region, if you grew up on a farm or in the country, your meals were breakfast / dinner / supper. Supper was always the evening meal. City folk eat breakfast / lunch / dinner, with dinner being the evening meal. In the country, lunch was something you had in between each meal, which on the farm, there was a lot of *lunching* going on!
So, anyway, I can’t imagine trying to write for a different part of the world! Kudos to you for doing it very well!
Living in the Caribbean we tend to lean on the American way of spelling though in primary school we were taught the English way of spelling and yes its very confusing as I have an app that continues to highlight words spelt the English way and not the Americanized way. I enjoyed reading this ,thank you .
Marion, this is such an interesting post. I did not understand the phrase, “puts paid to.” I’m glad you explained it. It is interesting that even in the United States, there are regional differences. When we moved to Massachusetts in the 1990s, I learned that a drinking fountain was called a “bubbler” and if I was looking for “pop” or “soda” I needed to look in the “tonic” aisle of the grocery. My son-in-law who grew up in Boston calls his athletic shoes “sneakers” while I call them “tennis shoes.” He says “dinner,” and I say “supper.” Couch or sofa? Cart or buggy? It is interesting how we come up with different terms for the same thing.
Glad you enjoyed the post, Lori :)
Ha, yes. I’ve no idea where blinder came into play. I have already fixed that in the book I used it in (I think … might’ve been on my list, LOL, my brain is mush chasing a deadline). I will definitely need to check through my manuscripts and fix that if I’ve used it :) I happened to notice it as in my WIP I wanted to use the work blinker.
Thanks, Brenda. The books I read are all by American authors, and we do watch a lot of American shows.
LOL, it’s all quite a challenge and we definitely can’t get it right for everyone :)
Thank you, Angeline. So glad that you enjoyed my post :)
LOL, hopefully between all the muddle, our readers know what we actually mean :)
I also read a lot of classics and Regency romance — Jane Austen is my favorite author — so many of the British words you listed were familiar to me. As a lover of words, these kinds of differences always fascinate me.
Like is mentioned above, there are differences between regions of the United States. Moving from Idaho to North Carolina when I got married was a big difference. I learned the hard way that “iced tea” in the South automatically “sweetened iced tea.” In the Northwest, “iced tea” automatically means “unsweetened” (which we usually shorten as just “unsweet” even though many spell-checkers consider it a misspelling of “unsweetened”).
Latex vs. Nitrile: I agree with the previous posts about latex. I had to Google was nitrile was. There must be a difference for someone in the medical field.
Bathroom vs. Restroom: it still depends, both are used in America. I think the more polite way to refer to it in public is “restroom.” But between our family members (at least us lower middle class), or speaking of a room in a house (3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms), we still use “bathroom.”
Booking vs. Reservation: for the noun, yes, we use “reservation.” But for the verb, we “book a reservation.”
Gown vs. Robe: it depends on what kind of robe. For hospital stays, some of us still say “hospital gown.” For after baths or showers, we usually say “bathrobe,” which I think is one word. We use gown to mean a really fancy dress, like an “evening gown.”
Icing sugar vs. Powdered sugar/confectioners’ sugar: I learned this one by watching the Great British Baking Show on Netflix. :) We Americans also use “granulated sugar” for Britain’s “castor sugar.” We also use “brown sugar” for your “muscovado sugar” or “dark born sugar” for “demerara sugar.”
Sales lady vs. Sales clerk: This is a politically correct change. Many of us still use “saleslady” [Grammarly is saying it’s one word] or “mailman” or “trashman.”
Till vs. Cash register: This might depend on how old the reader is. ;) I think “cash register” is used more now. But “till” wouldn’t be wrong–I learned the till during my first job at McDonald’s.
Hello Marion Thank you for the wonderful post today and I love your books!
Marion, thank you for such an interesting post. Your life story is fascinating!
I loved looking at your comparison list. Learned some new ones. Thank you.
I can see it could be confusing.
That’s funny 😄 I can relate!
I’ve learned British English in school…after moving to US, I’ve had to re-learn lol
Kids are still making fun of my pronunciation. Hey English is my second language so I’m forgiven lol
That would be challenging for sure! As an American, I love reading British words and phrases so although I may not understand all of the phrases I would still find them fascinating. 😊
I use blinker for an indicator that I’m turning, and all “cokes” are coke, not soda! It’s fun to see how you use different things for the same things! However, I use bathrooms instead of restrooms, unless I’m at a mall or restaurant, and then I use the restroom! Lol!! Even here in the states, we can mean different things with our words! My niece lives in New Zealand with her three Kiwi’s (her hubby and their 2 kids), so I learn a slightly different language with them, too!
I am a History and English teacher at a classical school, and we read a lot of primary documents that have been translated into English from various languages. Usually, the English is British English—which tends to trip up my students.
We are always struck by how important a “common language” or definition is when reading for understanding.
great post!
I’ve been reading British books for years, so I’ve become accustomed to knowing the differences in our English language.
Oh, wow! I am in word nerd heaven! I grew up with two parents who were language teachers among other creative endeavors, so word play and figuring out usages and meanings and origins was all part of the family fun. The nitrile vs. latex is a very technical difference with nitrile being the word to use if you want to emphasize current medical or technical expertise. “Puts paid to” could be replaced with “nixes” or “rules out” as well as “hinders”. “Blinker”, in my experience, would be “turn signal” (Hey, Wilbur, is my turn signal workin’? Yup, no, yup, no, yup, no). I had a British friend in college who had NEVER been exposed to American language usage and had a job as a teaching assistant for American undergraduates. The poor guy would stop by every day or so with a tale of some new thing that had made him the target of his students’ laughter. “Zed” for the last letter of the alphabet, using the French pronunciation of the Iowa city, Des Moines (we say De Moyne, not Day Mwahn). The regional differences I’ve encountered within the US have been as notable as many of the common ones you’ve listed for British vs. American English. While visiting in Lancaster county in south central Pennsylvania, a waitress asked us if we “wanted to order a while”. “A while” meant “now” (not related at all to “for a while”). In southwestern Pennsylvania, where I went to school, the lunch meat, bologna, was called “jumbo” by the locals. “Pavement” for “sidewalk” is used in some places like Baltimore, Maryland where the colloquial “skirt da hase on a payment” means to “squirt the hose on the pavement” :) Although perhaps not as wide spread, the use of brand names instead of generic terms can be confusing, too. If someone in America asks for a Kleenex, they want a paper tissue to blow their nose. I think it’s safe to say there is no such thing as an American English where one size fits all. You’ve got a rollicking good list to work with for a large part of it. If someone has a problem with a turn of phrase you didn’t catch, let them “Google” it! :P I do like Renate’s idea of the Oxford English Dictionary. My dream house would be an English manor with a 2 story library with a fireplace, a wing back chair and ottoman, filled with mysteries, romances and dictionaries!
LOL, Lila, the more one delves into it, the more confusing it all becomes :)
Thank you so much, Sarah. Glad you enjoyed the post today (and my books). That makes me happy :)
Glad you enjoyed it all, Alexa :)
My pleasure, Pam. It’s a growing list :)
Totally, Lucy :)
LOL, so glad you’re on the same page as me, Natalya :)
So glad you enjoy our vernacular, Rebekah. I’m thinking more and more that my next African set book should be written with British English. Although I might find that a challenge now LOL :)
LOL, Trudy, it’s quite mind-boggling. And my blinders was a blunder … that should’ve been blinkers :)
That’s interesting, Sarah. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you, Charlene :)
Wonderful, Denise :) Of course with Kindle’s and online dictionaries, it’s easy enough to quickly look up a word if one is stuck :)
LOL, you had me laughing with your comment! I loved it. Thanks so much for sharing. I think I might just have a few more words to add to my list. And yes, there is always Google :)
PS. I LOVE your dream house :)
Like some others, I had to look up nitrile. Nitrile gloves are latex free for allergy purposes. I can see that term being used in the medical field. Interesting article and word lists! Thanks for sharing.
Having lived in Hong Kong 19 years, I mix up British and American wording a lot! I enjoyed reading your post, and your list. I think some of the American words are “recent,” because I grew up (in the US) using the older British words. I remember one time I asked someone for dinner on Sunday, and meant at noon (we always had Sunday dinner at noon, and no supper on Sunday night). They came at suppertime :-) So I learned to specify the time of day as well as the meal.
What an interesting post! I have read a few books that have given me trouble understanding words because of this factor! Awesome that you are so aware of the problem!
I laughed reading this and all of the comments! Out here on the West Coast we use our own terminology (or maybe I am the product of a Dad who grew up on the Canadian border and went to school in Canada and moving around a lot before I turned 9). I know what nitrile gloves are, but would say latex or rubber gloves. I don’t know whether I spell the color grey or gray, and my list goes on. The one that I live is what you call the shopping cart at the grocery store: buggy, cart, basket , there may be more; I think that one is very regional.
I so enjoy your books!
Sometimes it can be hard just going to a different state and talking to someone and trying to figure out what they mean with certain words. Thank God for the internet to look up the words. :)
Ooh, can you imagine the tangle you’d get into? It’s taken us long enough to “convert” our thinking to Americaneze. Like you, I often battle to figure out which way to spell words as I also try to keep my two writing brains apart.
Loved this, and I enjoyed all the comments too. Of course, I’m in the same boat as you. (Hmm . . . hope our American readers understand that!) I was born in Scotland, raised in the then-called Rhodesia, also a British Colony, and then moved to S.Africa. But I write for an American market. I have my books published locally as well, and I did consider “translating” them to British English but way too much work – and then I’d need a whole new set of beta readers! So where the Americans are (mainly) happy, my own South African friends just agree I’m a lousy speller!
Marion,
I totally enjoyed reading this post. I never realized you have to go through so much when you write. It’s interesting how even though you speak English(ish) you’re also in a foreign country from us and have to switch your brain off and on. WOW! Kudos to you Lady!
I personally feel that ANY book you write, no matter how it’s written, I’ll read!
(ssshhh . . . Looking sheepishly around . . . PS . . . I think I remember the video conversation! Sorry if it caused you stress.)
Thanks, Lisa. Glad you enjoyed it.
It’s so interesting when one starts noticing the various differences. Glad you enjoyed the post, Margaret.
Thank you, Linda. And I’m so glad you enjoyed this post.
Yeah, our shopping carts are trolley’s here, although I do think I saw that same terminology when I visited New Zealand two years ago. The British influence again, no doubt. So glad you enjoyed this post, and yes, some of the comments were a real hoot :)
Absolutely. What did we do before Google? I don’t think we really have a problem in South Africa between the different regions. Then again, we are a WAY smaller country than the USA :)
PS. And I’m really glad that you enjoy reading my books, Teresa :)
I totally agree, Shirley :) Glad you enjoyed reading this post.
LOL, Marylin. I’m SOOO grateful that you pointed that out to me because it had totally gone right over my little British head :) And just think, if you hadn’t said something, this blog post wouldn’t have been written, and I think you’ll agree that we’ve all had fun reading it and commenting :)
It never ceases to amaze me how we are all speaking English, yet at times it is completely incomprensible to other English speakers. Personally I grew up with anglo-australian-south australian english. In different parts of Australia as in America and I imagine South Africa there are regional differences. The latest was a friend who put up on social media that her father had given her a fabulous golden gaytime, which she enjoyed immensely. Her international friends were completely shocked that her father had given her a fabulous ice-cream, what dirty minds, lol!
LOL, that’s funny, Dianne. I guess the differences do make for lots of amusement :)
Awesome post! I live in the Northeastern US and I’m always fascinated by the differenf words used in different regions to talk about the same thing! I grew up watching British Comedy shows on our local PBS station, and I still love to read books and watch movies/TV shows set in England or other countries that use British-English, so I’m not often confused by British words or phrasing, but I always love to learn something new! 🙂
I am so late but I remember being in Canada and asking my friend where is the Ladies to which I got blank stares. I realised they don’t say toilets (like we would do) and its not public toilets. I found out it was rest room, I think in one place I went it was wash room.
It was the same with a meal. I found out an entrée is what we would call the main meal where as were we call an entrée the first course or what American’s call an appetizer. Got confusing when I wanted the entrée size and not the main course size cos I ended up with the larger size.
The other phrase that got me was when my pen pal was here. She said I wanted to do a tour on the Saturday and I lucked out. I said I am so sorry you missed out. to which she said No I am going I get picked up at 12 pm. I was Oh here we to luck out means you are out of luck. We would say I was in luck.
Oh add Jumper for sweater.
Thongs for flip flops
I think reading books written by more non-American authors over the past few years means little slip ups in wording are a lot less of a big deal, but I do tend to notice them. I imagine the fact that America is so big and we have regional words/phrases as well that others part of the country may or may not use would add to the confusion. I must admit, there were a couple of American words on your list that I’m not familiar with in an every day way. For example, nitrile. I would use the word latex and most, of not all, of my friends and family would as well. However, I think it’s fun reading books from international authors that are set in America and usually enjoy the little slip ups. I’m more likely to be annoyed by a non-Southern author writing a book with a southern character and messing up the dialect and colloquial phrases.
It’s interesting to me how, in certain ways, British and American english are very different. I can definitely see how you are continually findi g words to add to your list. I’ve been watching a sporting event recently with a British announcer and it’s interesting to hear the phrases he uses to describe things that are different from what we use in the US.
Sorry, I meant to add this comment at the bottom.
So glad you enjoyed the post, Caitlyn :)
LOL, thanks for the jumper for sweater, Jenny. I just realized by current WIP had 4 sweaters :)
Nitrile gloves are probably what would be used more in hospitals today because of latex allergies (at least that was what I read). I did originally write with latex until someone (can’t remember who) alerted me to the fact that nitrile gloves were more likely to be used in hospitals :) So I guess, medically speaking, it’s probably correct to use nitrile, but I’m wondering now from a reader point of view whether latex wouldn’t be a better word choice.
Understandable, my mother was born and raised in Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, so I can understand your delemma. We have relatives in both Zimbabwe and South Africa and I grew up, now 64, hearing them speak and so I can usually understand what is being said even though wording is a bit different. First time I remember hearing about terms meaning something different in British vs American was when my grandparents were coming to visit. They lived all their adult lives in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe, 1920 until about 1980. One of my brothers had a registered English Bulldog named Buger and mother knew that if not explained before someone mentioned the dog it would offend my grandparents. Mother talked to them so they would not think we were all using a bad word. We laughed about this later.
I love reading British authors, as well as other European authors.
Love the difference in words and all the different accents!
I loved this article. It reminded me of a social faux pas that I commented when I was first married. My husband and I were living in TN and our pastor invited us to come to his house for supper. We were confused about it and showed up at noon instead of at 6 pm. He thought it was pretty funny and we ended up staying for sandwiches. I still get confused about dinner and supper.
Thanks so much for sharing, Nancy :)
Sure makes life interesting, Suzanne :)
Lol, absolutely, Suzannah.
Speaking of pastors, our onecpastir was preaching in the USA as a visiting pastor and spoke of how he loved visiting pawn shops (pawnbrokers). Of course to the congregation, it sounded like porn shops LOL.