 | Regional differences in formal written English: Encyclopedia II - Regional differences in formal written English - Lists of variations in formal written English
Regional differences in formal written English - Lists of variations in formal written English
What follows is a list of expressions and constructions that appear in formal written English and are given different meanings in different countries. Differences in pronunciation, in slang and colloquial expressions, and in regional and specialist terms are dealt with in other articles. Where it is disputed that a word or expression qualifies to be used in formal writing, it will be omitted from this list and appear instead in one of the articles on spoken regional variations.
Lists of differences in spoken English, as well as most English dictionaries, mark words as colloquial, slang, vulgar and so on to guide the speaker on when it may be inappropriate to use certain words. This list does not include such distinctions because, describing only formal written English, it excludes these categories of words.
Equally, the lists below do not include words with which people in one or another country would simply be unfamiliar. The average speaker has a vocabulary of around 8,000 words. There are many words he or she has not yet come across and dictionaries are available to provide these meanings. To qualify for inclusion a word or structure must be widely familiar in more than one country and yet have different meanings in different countries when used in formal written English.
Lastly, regional differences in punctuation are not included as they are dealt with in other articles.
Country abbreviations used in the lists are:
Regional differences in formal written English - Differences in the meaning of individual words
Differences in the meaning of individual words are among the most significant.
This list includes such words as "pavement" because this word means the paved area at the side of a road set aside for pedestrians in British usage but the paved surface of a road in U.S. usage.
The list does not, however, include "sidewalk" because this has the same meaning in both U.S. and British usage. The distinction is that although "sidewalk" is generally understood in Britain it is almost never used since the word "pavement" is the usual term. A non-native learner of English might therefore decide always to use the word "sidewalk" to avoid being misunderstood in different parts of the world.
Regional differences in formal written English - Differences in grammar
This section is for differences in grammar that may cause confusion or misunderstanding. These will be listed in the table below, though none has been identified so far. As with the meanings of individual words, they are not listed if they are widely understood in a country even though used rarely.
Regional differences in formal written English - Differences in spelling
These differences are the least significant in practical terms since they rarely represent any obstacle to understanding. Those that may cause misunderstanding are listed first.
Other related archivesAmerican English, American and British English differences, American and British English spelling differences, Auckland, Australia, Australian English, British English, California English, Canada, Chicago, Illinois, Cornwall, Edinburgh, England, English, English language, English speaking Europe, Forms of English, General American, Glasgow, Harare, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, List of dialects of the English language, London, Melbourne, Native speakers, New Delhi, New York, New Zealand, North Carolina, Northern Ireland, Ottawa, Oxford English Dictionary, Received Pronunciation, Scotland, Seattle, Shakespeare, Sydney, Tennessee, The Economist, The Moonstone, Toronto, Uncle Tom's Cabin, United Kingdom, United States, Vancouver, Wilkie Collins, accents, dialects, mother-tongue, punctuation, slang, website
 Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Lists of variations in formal written English", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki |
