Jail & Prison

[JustAlilBit]

Hello teachers, Please explain this to me. What is the differences between these words? or Is there any differences between these words? I don't know which one of these questions sound better. Prison and Jail.

[SlickVic9000]

(Not a Teacher)

They're pretty much the same. When you say "jail", though, I tend to associate it with minor offenses.

[amigos4]

Although the terms “jail” and “prison” are sometimes used interchangeably, most members of law enforcement distinguish between the two.
Primarily, the difference is that a jail is used by local jurisdictions such as counties and cities to confine people for short periods of time. A prison, or penitentiary, is administered by the state, and is used to house convicted criminals for periods of much longer duration.

[philo2009]

Just out of interest, you might like to know that 'jail' is the (now almost universally used) American spelling of a word that used, in Britain, to be spelled 'gaol'.

[emsr2d2]

There are certain phrases which always use one but not the other.

Jailbird = a prisoner/ex-prisoner (also someone who has been in and out of prison several times).
Jailbait = a girl who is under the legal age for sex who is thought to dress provocatively in order to attract a man who, if it is discovered that he had sex with an underage girl, will be arrested and end up in jail.
Jailbreak = an escape from prison (also to gain access to the operating system of an electronic gadget in order to make unauthorised changes).
Jailhouse (US) = the actual building containing the cells.

Apart from the TV show, "Prison Break", none of those phrases ever substitute "prison" for "jail".