Divided by a Common Language: A Guide to British and American English

Don't drop a clanger-make a big faux pas-when traveling in the U.K or the U.S.! This book is a terrific read for anyone planning a trip to Britain. Amusing and useful, I would recommend DIVIDED BY A COMMON LANGUAGE to anyone hoping to "say the right thing" from pubs to politics and television to travel. This book is a gem that will keep you in the know. Cheers!

This a diverting book, but not really a serious look at the differences between American and British English. Most of the book is simply a series of lists giving British and American expressions side by side. As such it is useful for reference occasionally. But there are no 'vast differences' between the two forms of English. The central core of grammar, punctuation, spelling and vocabulary is the same in both languages, as professional students of language know quite well. There are only a few thousand differences in vocabulary, and in a language with as many words as English that amounts to a small proportion. But the author is not a professional linguist, and if you accept the book as a light-hearted romp that is fine.

Any American who wants to get past what you can learn about British words and phrases in a dictionary will benefit from this book.

Divided by a Common Language helped me overcome long-term misunderstandings about what I had been reading in English books. Some British words have an ordinary meaning in American English that is quite different from their British meaning. For example, the British "marrow" is a "large zucchini." For decades, I have been expecting to find beef marrow on my plate in England because of that misreading. I also thought that the British "paraffin" meant a petroleum-based wax as it does in the U.S., whereas it means "kerosene" in the U.K. In reading about someone going for paraffin in novels, I have been wondering what on earth they were going to make with all that wax. If you read this book, you will probably find your own examples of where you thought you knew what was going on . . . but really didn't. I suggest that you start with the British/American Lexicon to learn the most words with the least effort.

The book also has a useful section on British and American phrases, that should help you avoid inadvertently saying what will be perceived as vulgarities across the pond. For example, refer to "retrieving and returning baseballs" rather than "shagging flies" (make your own guess as to what that means, but it isn't nice).

In the vein of the potential for humorous miscommunications, there are a number of cartoons that show what John Bull and Uncle Sam are thinking about when the same word or phrase is said. "My wife loves pot plants, Sam" conjures up John Bull thinking about potted flowers while Uncle Sam imagines a garden full of marijuana plants.

I found four weaknesses in the book that you should be aware of. First, the food equivalents aren't really very precise in some cases. So you may get some surprises. A scone and a biscuit are described as the same, which most of us in the U.S. would argue they are not. A burrito is described as meat and salad in a tortilla, while most would agree that it is as likely to have beans and cheese with sauce as it is to have meat and salad. Second, the book mostly focuses on the contemporary British language so it is less helpful than it might be if you are reading older British books. Third, the U.K. words more represent the usages of English people than they do on what you will encounter in Scotland or Wales. Fourth, some U.K. terms described here are actually in common usage (at least in the northeast and in California, the areas I know best) in the United States. "Pins and needles" is the way many Americans would describe the feeling of blood circulation returning to an limb that has gone numb, but is described as a British term here.

I don't feel competent to review how helpful this book would be to a British person, so I will, of necessity, skip that perspective.

The book covers how the languages came to diverge, tips for tourists, detailed information about important daily subjects (cars, telephones, plumbing, electricity, food, shopping, schools, sights, and measurements), etiquette, driving terminology, pronunciation, spelling, "what not to say," idioms and expressions, and a U.K.-U.S. and a U.S.-U.K. lexicon. There's also some information about Australian, Canadian, New Zealand and South African variations.

Good luck in explaining yourself to those in the U.K.

When I first picked up this book, I was like a kid in a candy store. All those British mysteries that I had fumbled through trying to pick meaning from context came flooding back to me Finally when Agatha Christie's Miss Blacklock became a chartered accountant, on page 119 it is the equivalent of a CPA
Next my mind wanders as I browsed the pages and could hear Hannibal Lector saying he was going to eat my liver with some, page 32, broad beans. The book is divided in to useful subjects.
Being cautious, I was not going to let author Christopher Davies pull the wool over my eyes; so I had an international admissions officer from the local collage look at the section on British schools. I had to wrench the book back. It had passed scrutiny.
Finally I made the mistake of showing it to my wife. Now I have to sue for custody

I recently came back from a trip to Australia. Not only was this book invaluable for everyday communication, but the section on Australian slang saved me from being totally lost when talking to Aussies. A must for any traveler to a country where British English is spoken. The comprehensive list of word comparisons make this a serious reference book, but the expressions and idioms are what make this book fun to read! Explanations on acronyms such as ZIP code and Amtrak, as well as unraveling the mystery as to why Americans drive on the right and Brits on the left make this a great book for resolving disputes. My only criticism is that I would have liked to have seen a few more of the humorous illustrations which help to lighten up the book.