Tej Kohli , who has lived in both the US and the UK, says that there is a considerable difference between the English vocabulary and usage in both the nations. So, just being proficient in UK English needn’t necessarily mean that learning American English would be easy, and vice-versa. Let’s take an example: In the US or American English, the phrase pass out means to distribute or to lose consciousness, but in the UK English the same phrase means to graduate. In fact, some words might even have totally contradictory meanings, like, “to table a measure” implies postponing consideration in the US, as against commence discussion in the UK, and “public school” means a school run by the local government, unlike a private school in British English. Similarly, the word “school” can be used to refer to universities or colleges, and not just grammar school. Again, in the UK English, the abbreviation S.O stands for Sex Offender, while in the US it expands to significant other, a spouse, or girlfriend/boyfriend.
English usage among the US populace often differs from the grammar we learn in school. You will also notice significant dialectal variations throughout the nation. Besides, you will find many Americans, who do not follow some of the prescriptive rules of grammar they were taught in elementary school. Rules that disallow split infinitives and ending a sentence with a preposition are often overlooked. Unlike the UK English, American English is continually evolving as Americans interact with people from all over the world.
The usual response to ‘thank you’ is ‘you’re welcome’, but the same phrase has a different meaning in British English.
So, if you’re considering an education in the US, keeping a small pocket dictionary would be useful. You can also refer to any free American English Dictionary and thesaurus on the web. For example, you can use command define:school to find the definition of school.
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