pinkwang02
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- Jul 20, 2013
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- English Teacher
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Is "Metro" British English or American English?
Metro | Define Metro at Dictionary.comIs "Metro" British English or American English?
Is "Metro" British English or American English?
It is the same here in Canada. Actually, the only "metro" we have in Canada is in Montreal, which is French. In Toronto, we call it a subway and in Vancouver, we call it a skytrain.The names for subway systems in the USA vary from city to city. In New York City, it is the subway. In Washington DC, it is the Metro. In San Francisco, it is BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit). In Chicago, it is the L (or El) because much of it is elevated above the ground. In Philadelphia, it is SEPTA (Southeast Pennsylvania Transit Authority). In Boston, it used to be called MTA, now MBTA.
Would you use Metro in AmE and Canadian English for the systems in places like France?
If that is the name used in France, I would use it.
Exactly - you call it what it's called. I can imagine that if I lived in a place like San Francisco, and I used the BART extensively, I may accidentally use my "home" word for the other place (call the Metro the BART out of habit) but I would be a slip of habit, not a belief that it should be called something other than the Metro.