American > British Glossary | F
Smoothing and improving transatlantic communication
| Index of Americanisms |
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O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z | Briticisms |
 American
term or expression |
 British
equivalent, or explanation |
|---|---|
| face card (king, queen or jack in deck of cards) | court card |
| faculty (personnel) | university department staff |
| fag, faggot [disparaging slang] (homosexual man) | bender, poof, poofter, fairy, nancy, nancy boy |
| fall (the season) | autumn |
| fall guy [slang] | scapegoat |
| fanny (posterior) | buttocks, bum [colloq.] |
| fanny pack | bumbag |
| far-sighted | long-sighted |
| fare collector | conductor (on city bus, etc.) |
| faucet | tap |
| fava bean | broad bean |
| fender (wheel cover) | wing (on
vehicle); mudguard (on bicycle or motorcycle) |
| fender bender [slang] (minor vehicle collision) | prang [slang] |
| Ferris wheel | big wheel |
| Fiddle-faddle! (That's nonsense!) | Fiddlesticks! |
| field day (for students) | sports day |
| field hockey | hockey |
| figure | reckon, guess |
| figure on | count on, expect |
| file cabinet | filing cabinet |
| file for bankruptcy protection | go
into administration (and if an outside specialist administrator cannot save an insolvent UK company, it goes into receivership or liquidation) |
| fill a prescription (at a pharmacy) | make up a prescription (at a chemist) |
| fill out a form | fill in a form |
| fink [colloq.] (police informer) | grass [colloq.]; |
| fire (v.) [colloq.] (dismiss an employee) | sack, give someone the sack, give someone the boot, give someone their cards (i.e. the tax and insurance documents held by an employer for the duration of someone's employment) |
| fire cracker | firework |
| fire department | fire brigade, fire service |
| fire truck | fire engine |
| firefighter | fireman, firefighter |
| firehouse | fire station |
| fireplug | fire hydrant |
| first floor | ground floor |
| first grade | first form |
| first grader | first-former |
| first quarter (moon phase) | half moon |
| fiscal year | business year, financial year |
| fish dealer | fishmonger |
| fish stick | fish finger |
| fitness club | sports centre |
| flashlight | torch |
| flat [colloq.] (flat tire) | puncture, flat tyre |
| flatware (compare AmE hollowware) | cutlery or silverware |
| flextime | flexitime |
| Fleet Admiral (U.S. Navy) | Admiral of the Fleet (Royal Navy) |
| floor lamp | standard lamp |
| floorwalker
(person in large store who directs customers and supervises sales staff) |
shopwalker |
| flophouse [slang] (extremely cheap rooming house) | dosshouse [slang] |
| fly (extra canvas sheet over tent to keep out rain) | flysheet |
| fly (front opening in pair of pants, jeans, etc.) | flies, fly |
| FM radio (cf. AM radio) | VHF, FM |
| fold-out couch | sofa bed |
| food stamps | government vouchers made available to poor people to exchange for food |
| food to go | takeaway food |
| football | American football |
| football player | footballer (in soccer) |
| for sale (available to buy) | on sale, for sale |
| forward slash / | oblique stroke / |
| foyer (area between front door & downstairs rooms) | hall |
| fraternity | university society for male students |
| freeway | motorway |
| freight train | goods train |
| freight truck | goods lorry |
| French doors | French windows |
| French fries, fries | chips |
| freshman, frosh [colloq.] | first-year
US high school or college student; fresher [colloq.] (at UK college or university) |
| fritz (as in 'on the fritz') | on the blink, not working properly, about to conk out |
| front desk | reception |
| front desk clerk | receptionist |
| front walk | garden path |
| front yard | front garden |
| frosh [colloq.] (freshman) | first-year student, first-year undergraduate |
| fruit and vegetable store | greengrocer('s), greengrocery |
| fruit dealer | fruiterer |
| fuel truck | tanker, petrol tanker |
| funeral home, funeral parlor | funeral parlour |
| furniture mover(s) | furniture remover(s), removal(s) firm [both formal]; movers [informal] |
