American uses of English (E-F)

American/ Canadian

British

Notes

E
editorial	leader	Article in newspaper or magazine expressing the opinions of the editor. The American usage is not uncommon in BE.
eggplant *	aubergine
eighth note	quaver	Music.
electrician's tape	insulating tape	Sometimes called "electrical tape" or even "sticky tape".
elementary school	primary school	Attended by children from about 5 to 10.
elevator	lift	If it's for goods only BE has the word "hoist". A "grain elevator" is called a "silo" in BE.
engineer	engine driver	Person controlling a locomotive. Otherwise BE uses "engineer" in the same way as AE.
England	United Kingdom	The American habit of saying "England" when the United Kingdom is meant is mildly annoying to people who live in England and EXTREMELY annoying to people who live in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. A correspondent has suggested that this American habit is becoming less common. See notes on "Brit".
entrée	main course	In British usage "entree" means first course sometimes known as starter or in posher circles "hors d'oeuvre".
eraser	rubber	Used to remove marks made by pencils, British pronunciation is eraZer, American is eraSer.
excise laws	licensing laws
exit	junction	Usually numbered location where you enter (BE) or leave a limited access highway. In North America exit numbering normally reflects the distance in miles (US) or kilometres (Canada) from the start of the highway except on the East Coast. In the UK junctions are numbered successively with new junctions built since the road was first laid out having numbers such as 7a and 11b. Exit in the sense of "way out" inside a building is the same in BE and AE.
expressway	main road	See notes on "interstate".
Exxon	Esso	Petrol company. Now ExxonMobil.
eyeglasses	spectacles, specs	Usually just plain "glasses" in both AE and BE. Now where did I put them ?

American/ Canadian

British

Notes

F
fair	show	There is no direct British equivalent of a state or county fair. The nearest are agricultural shows held in rural districts. In BE a fair is a travelling collection of rides and amusements that is set up for a few days in a convenient location.
fall	autumn	Both words are used in CE.
fanny pack	bum bag	Small bag worn around the waist and resting on the bottom. In BE "bum" is a slightly vulgar word for "bottom" and "fanny" is a distinctly vulgar word for the female genitalia.
faucet *	tap	Strangely in AE tap water comes out of the faucet unless you're in Pennsylvania where, apparently, its the register.
fava bean	broad bean	Vegetable (vicia faba).
fedora	trilby	Soft felt hat. There are slight differences.
feminine napkin	sanitary towel	The word "tampon" has the same meaning in both British and American usage. "Maxi Pad" is an American proprietary term.
fender	wing	Part of car.
	mudguard	Part of bicycle.
field	pitch	A sports ground.
fire hall Can	fire station
firehouse	fire station
fire starter	fire lighter	Small packet of readily combustible material.
fire truck *	fire engine or fire appliance	Professional fire fighters deprecate the usage "fire engine" and refer to "fire appliances" (BE) or "fire apparatus" (AE). The phrase "fire engine" is also used in America.
first floor	ground floor	In British usage the floors of a building are numbered starting at zero rather than one. So an American reference to the "second floor" would correspond to a British reference to the "first floor".
First Nations *Can	American Indians, Indians	The native (pre-Columbian) population of America.
flagstaff obs	flag pole	"flagpole" as a single word is common American usage.
flashlight	torch	With a bulb and batteries.
flatware	cutlery
float home obs	house boat
float plane Can	sea plane	An aeroplane adapted to land on and take off from water. The British usage "flying boat" is obsolete. There are differences in nomenclature depending on whether the main fuselage is intended to touch the water (a flying boat or sea plane) or whether the only part intended to touch the water are floats in more or less the position where a normal aircraft would have wheels (a float plane).
floor lamp	standard lamp	Domestic lighting appliance consisting of a tall pole with a lamp on top.
football	American football	See "soccer".
four way (stop)	cross roads	A place where two roads intersect. In America in the absence of traffic lights, priority is given to vehicles in order of arrival and, if two arrive at once, to the vehicle on the right. In the United Kingdom one or other of the roads will have priority, priority is indicated by road markings.
freeway	motorway	Limited access high speed trunk road. American usages "freeway", "highway", "beltway", "causeway", "express way", "parkway" all have similar meanings that are not differentiated in British usage. "freeway" often implies that it isn't a toll road or turnpike. Apart from a few bridges, toll roads are currently unknown in the UK, although the countries first toll motorway is opened north of Birmingham in 2004. See "interstate" entry for details on British road numbering.
freight elevator	hoist, goods lift
french fries	chips	Sometimes just plain "fries" in AE. The variants "home fries", "steak fries" and "shoestring fries" don't map into BE, they're thick-cut chips, thin-cut chips and whatever you get in MacDonald's.
freshman	no equivalent	In BE "freshman" or "fresher" is sometimes used to refer to a first year undergraduate at a university. See notes on "high school".
fridge pack	no equivalent	See entry for "two-four".
funeral director	undertaker
furnace *	central heating boiler	Domestic use only. In BE "furnace" is industrial.