A merican English vs. British English

American English vs. British English Jeopardy Created by Katie Subra, English Language Fellow – Minsk subr0054@umn.edu

Jeopardy Rules of Play • Select the category and the amount. • You will be shown a sentence with a word or clause highlighted in red. Decide if this is an American or British usage. And think of a synonym from the opposite side of the ocean (if it's BE, decide what the AE word/clause is). • If you know both answers, you may say: "What is British (American) English for ?" Fill in the blank with the AE/BE word. If you only know part of the answer, you should still respond in a question form. ("What is BE?" or "What is a ?")

AE vs. BE Jeopardy Adjectives/Adverbs World Englishes Sayings Nouns Verbs Not quite right J Cars Waiting Emphasis $100 Soap in the mouth The letter "i" $200 Romance Attraction A S Out of Work $300 Relax End it Home Where are the facilities? NZ $400 I promise Attraction Cleaning Gotta have it! Great! $500 Calculations SA Let's Eat! Final Jeopardy

$100 Nouns - Cars Put your luggage in the boot.

$100 Nouns - Cars What is British English for the trunk of a car? Also, bonnet (BE) = hood (AE)

$200 Nouns – The letter "i" His specialty is teaching English to international students.

$200 Nouns – The letter "i" What is American English for speciality? Also note the spelling & pronunciation differences in: Aluminum (AE) & Aluminium (BE)

$300 Nouns – Home Let's have the party at your apartment!

$300 Nouns – Home What is American English for flat? Likewise, if you live in a building like this, you may use a lift (BE) or an elevator (AE).

$400 Nouns – Cleaning Put that banana peel in the dustbin!

$400 Nouns – Cleaning What is British English for trash can? Also note the professionals: bin men (BE) = trash/garbage collectors (AE)

$500 Nouns – Let's Eat! Man, I'd really like some cookies with my milk!

$500 Nouns – Let's Eat! What is American English for biscuits? Also, chips (BE) = fries (AE)

$100 Verbs – Waiting If you want assistance, you'll have to queue up !

$100 Verbs – Waiting What is British English for line up or form a line.

$200 Verbs – Romance I'm going over to chat her up.

$200 Verbs – Romance What is British English for pick her up (or flirt with her)? FredericoAndreotti "Flirtation"

$300 Verbs – Out of work The boss is going to lay off half of the workers.

$300 Verbs – Out of work What is American English for make redundant? Both Englishes have their own slang words for boss: Big cheese (AE) Guvnor (BE)

$400 Verbs – I promise I always deliver on my promises.

$400 Verbs – I promise What is American English for keeping a promise?

$500 Verbs – Gotta have it! I fancy some lager right about now!

$500 Verbs – Gotta have it! What is British English for wanting something?

$100 Adjectives/Adverbs – Emphasis Well that programme was jolly good I'd say!

$100 Adjectives/Adverbs – Emphasis What is British English for very or extremely good?

$200 Adjectives/Adverbs – Soap in the mouth Don't you get sassy with me!

$200 Adjectives/Adverbs – Soap in the mouth What is American English for cheeky? Someone who is cheeky is also: flippant, rude, smart-alecky (AE), or a potty mouth (AE)!

$300 Adjectives/Adverbs – Relax You choose the film and the restaurant. I'm easy!

$300 Adjectives/Adverbs – Relax What is British English for easy- going or it's all the same to me? Americans might also show that they're easy-going by saying "whatever" or "I couldn't care less" in informal situations.

$400 Adjectives/Adverbs – Attraction She is one fit bird! I think I'll go chat her up.

$400 Adjectives/Adverbs - Attraction What is British English for a good-looking female? A fit bloke (BE) is a good-looking male.

$500 Adjectives/Adverbs – Great! That meal was the bees knees of gourmet cuisine!

$500 Adjectives/Adverbs – Great! What is British English for something that is fabulous? There are numerous synonyms and slang words that can be substituted. A few others include: ace (BE), brill (BE), awesome (AE), sweet (AE), …

$100 Sayings – Not quite right Look out for that one. He's off his trolley today!

$100 Sayings – Not quite right What is British English for crazy or mad? Other synonyms: off his rocker, gone ape/bananas/postal, just a few fries short of a happy meal (AE)…

$200 Sayings – Attraction My-oh-my, you look finer than frog hair split four ways!

$200 Sayings – Attraction What is (Southern) American English for a good looking (fit) person? Typically, American Southern Dialects are a bit more descriptive than northern ones.

$300 Sayings – End it Well, that rain puts paid to our cricket game.

$300 Sayings – End it What's British English for making something end prematurely? If you want to tell someone else to quit, you might say: knock it off or put a lid on it (AE). To finish a list you could say and Bob's your uncle (BE) or that's all she wrote (AE from Murder She Wrote TV series.)

$400 Sayings – Where are the facilities? I'm going to spend a penny. Cartoon from:http://www.effingpot.com/slang.shtml

$400 Sayings – Where are the facilities? What is British English for going to the bathroom? To be very formal, a woman might say, "I'm going to powder my nose" (AE).

$500 Sayings - Calculations She's smiling at you and waving. You do the math!

$500 Sayings - Calculations What is American English for figure it out yourself or isn't it obvious?

$100 World Englishes - J I wanna be bad like yaz.

$100 World Englishes - J What is Jamaican English slang for a person who is cool? Other Jamaican slang: bag juice = cheap fruit punch fresh = still raw; not ready blood clot = curse word

$200 World Englishes – A You got a new job! That's bonzer mate!

$200 World Englishes – A What is Australian English for I'm happy for you, friend? Other Aussie slang: bag of fruit = man's suit fair dinkum = trustworthy I got the wog = I'm sick

$300 World Englishes – S I bide in Kilburn.

$300 World Englishes – S What is Scottish English for live? Other Scottish slang: fit like min = how are you? Hogmanay = New Years Eve havering = talking nonsense bonnie lass = beautiful girl

$400 World Englishes – NZ I'll enjoy walking on the beach wearing my Jandals.

A merican English vs. British English