English and American

[legyspauk]

Hey guys!
I am doing a school project about British and American English that's why I need you help.it's not so hard you should only choose one word from each pair.
I hope it will be interesting for you too.

"PS
And could you write the country that you are from, please?
Thanks in advance.

Choose please a word from each pair that you use more often

apartment - flat
Baggage - luggage
biscuit - cookie
couch - sofa
elevator - lift
autumn - fall
mail - post
pants -trousers
reserve - book
lorry - track
hoover - vacuum cleaner
shop - store
shedule - timetable
shorts - briefs
line - queue
moovie - film
chips - crisps
railway - railroad
undergroun - subway

 

[Mehrgan]

Hey guys!
I am doing a school project about British and American English that's why I need you help.it's not so hard you should only choose one word from each pair.
I hope it will be interesting for you too.

"PS
And could you write the country that you are from, please?
Thanks in advance.

Choose please a word from each pair that you use more often

apartment - flat
Baggage - luggage
biscuit - cookie
couch - sofa
elevator - lift
autumn - fall
mail - post
pants -trousers
reserve - book
lorry - track
hoover - vacuum cleaner
shop - store
shedule - timetable
shorts - briefs
line - queue
moovie - film
chips - crisps
railway - railroad
undergroun - subway

In the case of last pair, both are used In BrE, with different meanings.

***not a teacher*** Iran

 

[thatone]

You wrote some of them wrong, I fixed them.
American red, British blue, both green.

apartment - flat
Baggage - luggage
biscuit - cookie (but different meanings)
couch - sofa (but different meanings)
elevator - lift
autumn - fall
mail - post
pants -trousers (but different meaninsg)
reserve - book
lorry - truck
hoover - vacuum cleaner (hoover is usually a brand, verb is British)
shop - store (American more often store)
schedule - timetable
shorts - briefs (can be used differently)
line - queue (can be used in AmE when referring to a virtual queue)
movie - film (movie is American, film is colloquial in BrE and formal in American)
chips (different meaning)- crisps
railway - railroad
underground - subway(different meaning)

The differences are not that clear cut.

 

[billmcd]

Hey guys!
I am doing a school project about British and American English that's why I need you help.it's not so hard you should only choose one word from each pair.
I hope it will be interesting for you too.

"PS
And could you write the country that you are from, please?
Thanks in advance.

Choose please a word from each pair that you use more often

apartment - flat (apartment 100%)
Baggage - luggage (luggage 75%)
biscuit - cookie (cookie 100%)
couch - sofa (sofa 60%)
elevator - lift ( elevator 100%)
autumn - fall (50% each)
mail - post (mail 100%)
pants -trousers (pants 100 %)
reserve - book (reserve 90%)
lorry - track (Did you mean "truck"? If so, truck 100%)
hoover - vacuum cleaner (vacuum cleaner 100% unless I am referring to the brand)
shop - store (store 99%)
schedule - timetable (schedule 99%)
shorts - briefs (underwear; I consder "shorts" outerwear unless referred to facetiously or context might influence my choice. Briefs are a type of underwear.)
line - queue (line 99%)
moovie - film (movie 100%)
chips - crisps (chips 100%)
railway - railroad (depends on context)
underground - subway (subway 100%)

AmE/USA

 

[5jj]

I am a speaker of BrE, in his mid sixties,

apartment - flat
Baggage - luggage (though I think 'baggage' is creeping in for me)
biscuit - cookie
couch - sofa : I think I use 'couch' more.
elevator - lift
autumn - fall
mail - post
pants -trousers : I wear pants under my trousers.
reserve - book : I reserve a table in a restaurant, book a flight.
lorry - truck
hoover - vacuum cleaner : both
shop - store : except when I go to a department store.
schedule - timetable : I use both, with slightly different meanings.
shorts - briefs : I use both, with slightly different meanings.
line - queue
movie - film
chips = fried potatoes - crisps = crunchy things in a bag.
railway - railroad
underground = train - subway = pedestrian underpass.

 

[Vidor]

not a teacher

apartment
luggage
biscuit - cookie: mean two different things
couch - sofa: synonyms
elevator
fall
mail
pants
reserve - book: synonyms
truck
vacuum cleaner
shop - store: subtly different meanings, "store" being a place where you buy goods and "shop" implying somewhere where they make goods
schedule - timetable: synonyms
shorts - briefs: different meanings, "shorts" are outerwear and "briefs" are a type of underwear
line
movie - film: synonyms, with the latter being a fancier word
chips
railroad
subway

 

[euncu]

Re: not a teacher

Also note that ˈʃɛdjuːl in BE andˈskɛdʒʊəl in AmE.

 

[Tdol]

I am a speaker of BrE, in his mid sixties,

apartment - flat
Baggage - luggage (though I think 'baggage' is creeping in for me)
biscuit - cookie
couch - sofa : I think I use 'couch' more.
elevator - lift
autumn - fall
mail - post
pants -trousers : I wear pants under my trousers.
reserve - book : I reserve a table in a restaurant, book a flight.
lorry - truck
hoover - vacuum cleaner : both
shop - store : except when I go to a department store.
schedule - timetable : I use both, with slightly different meanings.
shorts - briefs : I use both, with slightly different meanings.
line - queue
movie - film
chips = fried potatoes - crisps = crunchy things in a bag.
railway - railroad
underground = train - subway = pedestrian underpass.

I use both movie and film, apartment and flat, and the rest that same as Fivejedjon. I also use settee rather than couch/sofa, but do use sofa sometimes.(BrE speaker)

 

[suikerbossie]

Hey guys!

"PS
And could you write the country that you are from, please?
Thanks in advance.

Choose please a word from each pair that you use more often

apartment - flat
Baggage - luggage
biscuit - cookie
couch - sofa
elevator - lift
autumn - fall
mail - post
pants -trousers
reserve - book
lorry - truck
hoover - vacuum cleaner
shop - store
shedule - timetable
shorts - briefs
line - queue
moovie - film
chips - crisps
railway - railroad
underground - subway

From South Africa originally but have lived over 25 years in Italy.

 

[5jj]

I use both movie and film, apartment and flat,[...] I also use settee rather than couch/sofa, but do use sofa sometimes.(BrE speaker)

After thinking about it, I have realised that I probably do use movie and apartment occasionally, too. I also use settee, but less often than the other two.

 

[Vidor]

not a teacher

Never heard "settee" before.

 

[suikerbossie]

After thinking about it, I have realised that I probably do use movie and apartment occasionally, too. I also use settee, but less often than the other two.

In South Africa we also used to say settee much more often than couch/sofa.
But that was quite some time ago...

 

[5jj]

In South Africa we also used to say settee much more often than couch/sofa.
But that was quite some time ago...

Well, I am not quite as young as I used to be.

 

[mykwyner]

I am a 61 year-old American English speaker.
The bold words are the ones I hear or say most commonly, except where noted.

apartment (always) - flat
Baggage - luggage
biscuit - cookie (different items in AmE)
couch - sofa (interchangeable, usually couch)
elevator (always)- lift
autumn - fall (interchangeable)
mail (always)- post
pants (always)-trousers
reserve - book
lorry (never)- track (always truck)
hoover - vacuum cleaner (always)
shop - store
shedule - timetable (interchangeable)
shorts - briefs (shorts are short pants; briefs are underpants)
line (always)- queue
movie - film
chips (always)- crisps
railway - railroad
undergroun - subway (always)

 

[Vidor]

I remember reading once how interesting it is that in England the Royal Mail delivers the post and in America the Post Office delivers the mail.

Regarding "fall" and "autumn"--fall is the word you're going to hear in casual conversation. Someone will say "I've booked a trip to Hawaii this fall". If you were writing a news article about seasonal rainfall, OTOH, you might well say "autumn", or a Macy's brochure about seasonal fashion might say "autumn".

Fall and autumn are an example of what people say about American English preserving some usages. IIRC "fall" was used in England to describe the season up until the middle of the 19th century or so.

 

[JMurray]

apartment - flat flat
Baggage - luggage luggage
biscuit - cookie biscuit
couch - sofa (both)
elevator - lift lift
autumn - fall autumn
mail - post mail
pants -trousers pants (mostly) trousers (sometimes)
reserve - book book (mostly) reserve (sometimes)
lorry - truck truck
hoover - vacuum cleaner vacuum
shop - store shop
schedule - timetable timetable (mostly) schedule (sometimes)
shorts - briefs shorts
line - queue (both)
movie - film film (mostly) movie (sometimes)
chips - crisps ..usually say potato chips for "crisp" type, and chips for "fish & chips" type.
railway - railroad railway
underground - subway subway

New Zealander, also lived in UK, Europe and Australia.

 

[Raymott]

I concur largely with JMurray.
shorts - briefs: Shorts are short pants, briefs are undies.
movie - film: Mainly movie.

 

[birdeen's call]

apartment - flat (75%)
Baggage - luggage (100%)
biscuit - cookie (almost 100%)
couch - sofa (90%)
elevator - lift (not sure, probably 50/50)
autumn - fall (100%)
mail - post (100%)
pants -trousers (depends on who I talking to)
reserve - book (100%)
lorry - track (truck 100%)
hoover - vacuum cleaner (80%)
shop - store (60%)
shedule - timetable (70%)
shorts - briefs (100%, didn't know the other word)
line - queue (70%, depends on who I'm talking to)
movie - film (50/50)
chips - crisps (95%)
railway - railroad (80%)
underground - subway (not sure, depends on who I'm talking to)

Poland, some time spent in both the UK and the US.