EFL teacher David Appleyard
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American > British Glossary | B

Smoothing and improving transatlantic communication
Index of Americanisms
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Briticisms

 

AmericanAmerican term or expression BritishBritish equivalent, or explanation
baby buggy pushchair
baby carriage pram (abbr. of perambulator)
bachelor party stag party, stag night
bachelorette party hen party, hen night
backhoe mechanical digger, excavator, JCB™
backpack rucksack, backpack
backsplash tiles (to protect kitchen wall) splashback tiles
backup lights (on vehicle) reversing lights
backward (adv.) backwards
backward (as in 'he wore his cap backward') back to front
backyard back garden
bacon slice rasher of bacon
bag of potato chips packet of crisps
bag (v.) [colloq.] discontinue using something
baggage luggage
baggage car (on train) luggage van
baggage reclaim (at airport) luggage reclaim
baggage room left luggage office
baked potato jacket potato, baked potato
balcony (highest theater floor with cheapest seats) gallery
ballpoint (pen) Biro™, ballpoint (pen)
balls [slang] bollocks, goolies, balls [all slang] (testicles);
bullshit, crap [both slang] (utter nonsense)
ballsy [slang] (as in 'she was a ballsy lady') having attributes traditionally expected of the ideal male, like toughness, courage and determination
baloney [colloq.] (foolish nonsense) rot [colloq.], codswallop [slang],
cobblers [abbreviation of rhyming slang
                 'cobbler's awls' for 'balls' (see above)]
Band Aid plaster [C], sticking plaster
bangs (hair) fringe
bank (by road or river) embankment
bank teller cashier, bank cashier
barrette hairslide
baseboard skirting board
basket of strawberries punnet of strawberries
bathing suit swimming trunks (men); swimsuit (women)
bathrobe dressing gown
bathroom [as euphemism] lavatory, toilet
bathtub bath
beach, the seaside, the
beach resort seaside resort
beano [colloq.] (bingo using beans as markers) bingo
beat it [slang] (get away) scarper [slang]
Beat it! [slang] (Get lost! Go to hell!) Bugger off! Naff off! Piss off! Sod off! [all slang]
beauty parlor/salon/shop (women's) hairdresser
beaver [slang] (female genitals) fanny [slang]
bedroom community dormitory town
beeper [colloq.] (pager) bleeper [colloq.]
beet beetroot
bell captain head porter (at hotel)
bell pepper (vegetable) pepper
bellhop, bellboy, bellman porter
belt up buckle/fasten your seatbelt
beltway (bypass encircling a city or town) ring road
bias tire, bias-ply tire cross-ply tyre
bicycle seat saddle
bicycling, to bicycle cycling, to cycle
bicyclist cyclist
Big Dipper, the (constellation) Plough, the
bike lane, bicycle lane cycle lane
bill (paper money) note, banknote
billboard hoarding, advertising hording
billfold men's wallet, notecase
billing invoicing
blacktop (asphalt) tarmac
blanket bath sponge bath
blender liquidizer, blender
blind alley (cul-de-sac) close, cul-de-sac, dead-end road
blinders (leather shields attached to either side of
               a horse's head so it can only see forward)
blinkers
blowout (in a tire) puncture, flat tyre
blubber (v.) [colloq.] (weep loudly) blub
bobby pin (flat hairpin with ends close together) hairclip, hairgrip
bobsled; bobsledding [slang] bobsleigh
bomb bad failure, disaster
bond (as in 'he was released on a $10,000 bond') bail (as in 'she was released on £10,000 bail')
boner [slang] (penile erection) stiffy, hard-on [both slang]
boob tube [slang]  (television set) telly, goggle-box [both slang]
booby hatch [disparaging] (psychiatric hospital) loony-bin [slang]
bouillon cube stock cube, Oxo™ cube
bowl (bowl-shaped structure) large stadium for sports events and concerts
box cutter, utility knife craft knife, Stanley knife™
box wrench box spanner
boxcar (on a freight train) goods wag(g)on (enclosed type)
braces (leg supports) callipers
braids (as in 'Mandy wears her hair in braids') plaits
brainstorm (great new idea) brainwave
brass knuckles knuckleduster
bread box bread bin
break in a new car's engine
    (by not driving too fast at first)
run a new car in
bridge loan (kind of short-term bank loan) bridging loan
brigadier general (U.S. Air Force) air commodore (Royal Air Force)
brigadier general (U.S. Army & U.S. Marine Corps) brigadier (British Army & Royal Marines)
britches  (pants ending just below the knee) breeches
broad [slang] (woman) bird [slang]
broil grill on a gridiron or rack
broiler grill
BS (which also stands for 'bullshit' in the U.S.) B.Sc. (Bachelor of Science)         
buck (C) [colloq.]  (cf. U.K. quid) dollar $
buckeye conker (the hard core of a horse chestnut)
buddy, bud mate, chum, pal
sunshine, sonny Jim, mush [slang]
                  (used condescendingly)
buffet (as an item of furniture) sideboard
bug insect
bulletin board noticeboard
bullhorn loudhailer, megaphone
bum, bummer [both slang] tramp (vagrant); layabout (habitual loafer or idler)
buns [slang] buttocks
bureau chest of drawers
burglarize burgle
bus (long-distance type with extra comfort) coach
busboy a kind of assistant waiter
butt [slang] (buttocks) arse [slang], bum [colloq.], bottom