Try telling an American that you're going to pop outside to smoke a fag.

Fred , Hong Kong,

did anyone mention "pram"?
As in Monty Python's Holy Grail "I have to push the pram a lot"?
My English husband had a guy at work ask him "What's a Pramalot?"
Translation "push the baby stroller often!"
pram-stroller

Another one my husband uses:
GAR-edge for gar-AJ, the place you put your car for the night.

Susie, Wayland, USA, NY

Never mind 'wet pants' - what about (in these non-smoking days) 'to pop out for a quick fag' ? Eye brows will be raised.

avispa, Malaga, Spain

You missed out trousers (UK) and pants (USA/Aus). It always makes us laugh when aussie/Canadian colleagues come in from the rain and say they've wet their pants!

Luke Nicolaides, London, UK

Once at a training day hosted by an American company in the UK, the speaker said something was "belt and suspenders", which resulted in a few raised eyebrows.

James, Exeter, Devon

Being an average Briton, I went to a public school; only the better off went private!

Sandiford Booth, Glossop, Derbyshire

I like the difference between courgette and zucchini!! The first is French and the second is Italian.

From an English expat living in Switzerland, having been married to an Italian for over 20 years, I sure do know the difference (or should I say the same!!). What is the English word?

Ba , Geneva, Switzerland

Can you please define, "take the mickey out of him." Thanks from the US

Charon the American, Atlanta, GA, USA

How could you forget knickers versus underpants, or panties? In the U.S., knickers are trousers for men or women, boys or girls, that button -- and end -- right below the knee. Old-fashioned golfing pants.

That's another -- Americans say "pants" for "trousers."

Barbara Elizabeth Stewart, New York, NY

my american colleagues think me very poetic when I say that I'll see them in a fortnight, rather than in two weeks time

charles gaskell, sheffield, united queendom

aerial -- antenna
valve -- (vacuum) tube
spanner -- wrench
side cutters -- dikes
exhaust manifold -- headers
exhaust silencer -- muffler
tyres -- tires

I'm sure there's many more, keep it going !!

Stan(expat), USA,

what about...

pavement vs sidewalk

and

braces vs suspenders
(that one's gotten me in trouble being an American living in the UK, especially when I used the term to describe the dress of an old manager...."wearing his red suspenders...")

Rebecca , Dunkeld, Scotland

Then there are the phrases. Lately the phrase "went missing" has made the trans Atlantic jump and entered the American lexicon. Likewise there are equivalents. For quite a few years now "awesome" has been inescapable over here, while "brilliant" has been the favorite all purpose adjective in Britian. You also didn't mention leaped vs leapt. There are a couple like that, too. And words with no equivalent, like "lot". "Lot" is used for all sorts of things in the UK that have many different translations here.

Dan Hermann, Brooklyn, NY USA

Absorbent cotton? No, no, no...it's a cotton ball.

Loved the list though. I've discovered many of those on my own having married a Scot, but there were many I'd never heard of.

Alicia, Richmond, VA

Most important of all
Pavement sidewalk
Road pavement
As a Canadian when I first came to Britain it was most difficult to tell my children to keep on the pavement, which in Canada, was equivalent to telling them to stay on the road.

Ruth, South Duffield, North Yorkshire

"Bespoke" comes from the verb "to bespeak", the latter meaning to ask for in advance, to reserve beforehand, engage in advance, make arrangements for. It comes from the Middle English "bespeken" (to speak out) which in turn comes from the Old English "besprecan" (to speak about). Courtesy of the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Jose Fernandez-Arroyo, London, UK

Coming from Australia, I thought we'd tend always towards the British, but on reviewing the list we use many of the American terms and even sometimes half Brit and half American eg jump lead — jumper cable, we'd say jumper lead

Gil, Bundaberg, Qld/Australia

Once in the States I was carrying out some repairs and asked for a spanner, to be met only with puzzlement. Deciding to take it myself, they all shouted out that it was a wrench that I had wanted. Clearly, just another illiterate Englishman!

Dick, Durham, UK

caravan = trailer
creche = nursery
jumper = pull over sweater

campaign bed = cot
cot=crib

knock you up = knock on your door
get you pregnant = knock you up

Carolyn Randall, Los Angeles, California USA

You failed to mention Nuclear & nukular.
Amortisation & Amortorisation.
Burgled & Burglarised.

Steve Murray, Vancouver BC, Canada

I remember LBJ's wife, 'Ladybug' Johnson.

Eric, Ottawa, Canada

As an American living in the UK, I can honeslty say this is a great list! But I agree, there are a few important words left out. The American word for "bespoke" is "customised" or "customized" if you are in the US! What about lorry (truck)? Follow-up with a list of spellings; e.g. tyre and tire. I'd print that out and keep in on my worktop! Oh, and can someone please tell me why a ladybug would be called a ladybird? It is a bug!

Jacqueline Cooper, Taunton, UK

Setting off on an outing with an American friend and her baby I suggested we put the pushchair in the boot. She stood beside the car with a puzzled frown and then burst out 'Oh, you mean put the stroller in the trunk'. Another friend here in Sweden was teaching English as mother-tongue language to an American boy. He told him that for the next lesson he should bring a pencil and a rubber. Of course the same evening he received a call from an irate father wondering why he should come to class with a condom.

Claudia Brännback, Eskilstuna, Sweden

What about the jumper/sweater divide?

Julia, Gloucester, UK

pants -- underpants
trousers -- pants.

Being caught with your pants down is more serious in England!

Also important

rubber -- eraser
condom -- rubber

Charles, Charlottesville,

We in America ask one question about the English and the English language: What do they know about it, anyway?

James, Jacksonville,

Trousers - pants. The most obvious, and amusingly slapstick one.

Kyle, London, UK

Great entertaining list! My wife and I have been here (Canada) for seven years, After about two years people stopped assuming that we were tourists - we realised that this was probably because we had started using North American terms. My favourite dilemma was in Home Depot when I needed rawl plugs for plasterboard to hang some shelves. It took me and the assistant (Associate) ages to work out that what I needed were drywall fixings. When we went shopping for a cooker hob, that floored all the staff. What we finally decided on was a cooktop.
Freshly Half Assimilated North American

Ken Jackson, Niagara On The Lake, Ontario, Canada

How about a Norfolk translation? Ladybird - Bishy Barnaby!

A Davidson, Guernsey, CI

--"There's a story, probably apocryphal, of a Beatles tour around London. At one point the guide said, "And here is where George Harrison once had a flat" And several of the Americans promptly started taking photographs of the pavement/sidewalk (which isn't even in your list!)"--

That's becaues we Americans usually call pavement/ sidewalks.... get this.... pavement or sidewalks!! I think that story is a figment of the imagination..... A good number of Americans call single story dwellings within a multifloor building flats, whereas connected multi story dwellings are town homes or row houses. Most Americans aren't as stupid as our friends over the pond like to think..... Hollywood and congress don't represent the intelligence of a majority of Americans.

Cindy, Jacksonville, FL

Even though there are these differences some english people do say the american way.
There are a few missing:
Flat-Apartment
Trousers-Pants
'Well good'-'Whack'

Laura Pattison, New York, USA

A Popsicle isn't a lollipop, it's an ice lolly.

Hannah, Washington, DC

In Norfolk, a ladybird is a bishybarnabee - so much for the English language in the UK...

Sandra, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire

bespoke = custom made

also

pacifier= binky

Chris, Highlands, NJ. USA

Regarding "bespoke" - I think that the USA equivalent is "custom made." Have never understood where "bespoke" came from and have frequently asked Brit friends - they don't know either.

Bill, Yerevan, Armenia

There's a story, probably apocryphal, of a Beatles tour around London. At one point the guide said, "And here is where George Harrison once had a flat" And several of the Americans promptly started taking photographs of the pavement/sidewalk (which isn't even in your list!)

Ian Kemmish, Biggleswade, UK

Love it. Let each choose one from column A and one from colum B. It enriches the language of writers, but makes you hungry for speaking and reading one hour later.

Eugene, Heidelberg, germany

You forgot "bespoke". I still don't quite know what the American version is...

Brian D Brown, Seattle, WA USA

A couple of times, in mixed company, I've said my pants were wet. Eyes and jaws dropped. Rain does that to trousers...and shoes.

Jane, Tokyo, Japan

I`m a student of English-Spanish translation and find these differences fascinating!
Thank you for the new material for my students!

Silvana, Buenos Aires, Argentina

If you really want to muddy the waters try and introduce Australian and New Zeeland translations

Noel Burgess, Sydney, New South Wales

Amongst others you omitted is: aluminium - aluminum

Steve Symmons, Melbourne, Australia

You left out plaster - band aid! and corriander is solantro... just a couple of my favourites as a Brit living in the USA :)

LuLu, NY, NY

I have to laugh. I am a big fan of the Inspector Linley mysteries authored by Elizabeth George. However, there are words and phrases common to British English that are not shared with American English, particularly those used by "cockney" detective Barbara Havers (my favorite). I figure them out - eventually. For example, rozzers, are apparently law enforcement officers. Who knew?

Mary Knight, Pittsburgh, USA

give way (on road) = yield
gone to hospital = gone to THE hospital
way out = exit
cats eyes = road reflectors
rubber = eraser
condom = rubber (gotta watch those two)

Love the differences!

Dr. Keith J. Caserta, Cincinnati, USA

How about - Goose pimples / Duck bumps.

Robin Huggins, Avranbhes , France