| George Bernard Shaw famously said that the | | | | UK: |
| British and the Americans were "two nations | | | | The company has not issued any shares, bonds, |
| separated by a common language". | | | | stock options or securities this year. |
| Below are some examples of different usage in | | | | US: |
| British and American English. You may already be | | | | The company has not issued any shares, bonds, |
| aware of some of these differences, others may | | | | stock options, or securities this year. |
| surprise you. | | | | The next table shows some grammatical |
| UK / US | | | | differences: |
| Bank holiday / Legal holiday | | | | UK / US |
| Fortnight / Two weeks | | | | I will write to him next week / I will write him |
| Ordinary/extraordinary general meeting (of the | | | | next week |
| shareholders) / Regular/special shareholders' | | | | It was nice to talk to you / It was nice to talk |
| meeting | | | | with you |
| (Memorandum and) articles of association / | | | | I am meeting the union representatives tomorrow |
| (Articles of incorporation and) bylaws | | | | / I am meeting with the union representatives |
| Profit and loss account / Income statement | | | | tomorrow |
| Chairman / President/Chairman | | | | I live in Main Street / I live on Main Street |
| Managing director / Chief Executive Officer | | | | Let's go and see a film / Let's go see a movie |
| Estate agent / Realtor | | | | Different from/different to / Different than |
| Bureau de change / Currency exchange | | | | different from |
| Property / Real estate | | | | I have already eaten / I already ate |
| Post code / Zip code | | | | Look out of the window / Look out the window |
| Prison / Penitentiary | | | | River Thames / Hudson River |
| Stand (for office) / Run (for office) | | | | Another interesting example is the third person |
| Unit trust / Mutual fund | | | | singular form 'one': |
| Cheque / Check | | | | "one does what one is told to do". |
| Current account / Checking account | | | | This is still in use in the UK in formal language, but |
| These are just a few examples. It is often | | | | is very rarely heard in the US . |
| worthwhile establishing whether your audience/the | | | | Familiar speech forms can also differ greatly. |
| recipients of your document would prefer British | | | | Whereas Americans might say "I sure could use a |
| or American terminology, as although many US | | | | drink", the British would say "I really need a drink" |
| terms may be understood by a British person and | | | | or even "I'm dying for a drink". |
| vice versa others may cause confusion and a | | | | You are much more likely to hear an American |
| need for time to be spent on further explanations | | | | say "sure can" or "will do" when asked to do |
| clarifications. | | | | something, while a British person might say "yes, |
| As well as the differences in vocabulary we just | | | | of course" or "leave it with me". |
| looked at, it is also possible to spot differences in | | | | Although such usage may be specific to one |
| grammar and country-specific structures in 'British' | | | | country, in most cases it is readily understood in |
| and 'American' documents. Often there are no | | | | the other. Indeed, with today's increasingly 'global' |
| hard and fast rules, it is simply a question of | | | | culture, many British people are now using |
| usage and a result of how the language has | | | | 'Americanisms', although the opposite is rarely |
| developed in each country. | | | | true! |
| Dates are one well-known example: | | | | Lastly, words are often spelt differently in |
| UK / US | | | | American and British English. For instance: |
| 29 September 2003 / September 29, 2003 | | | | UK / US |
| 29/9/2003 / 9/29/2003 | | | | -s organise / -z organize |
| Helpful Hint: It may be worth writing a date out in | | | | -our favour, behaviour / -or favor, behavior |
| full, to avoid confusion: | | | | Mistakes can easily be avoided by selecting the |
| 3/9/2003 - 3 September 2003 or March 9, 2003 | | | | appropriate language (British or American English) |
| ? | | | | in your word processing software and running a |
| The use of the comma in a list is also different. | | | | spell-check. It sounds obvious, but is easy to |
| Note the extra comma in the US version of the | | | | forget! |
| following sentence: | | | | |