American English and British English – Same words different meaning.ppt

American English and British English – Same words different meaning Are you sure you want to wear your vest over your shirt? Some words are cross-variety homonyms, i.e. they mean completely different things in different varieties of English. This can sometimes cause confusion. Here are pictures of some ‘English’ words which mean different things in British and American English. Do you know what the word is and which meaning belongs to which variety of English? For example on the first slide the word is ‘vest’ which in British English is worn under your shirt and in American English is worn over your shirt. In British English a ‘waistcoat’ is worn over a shirt (and usually under a jacket as part of a man’s suit) and in American English an ‘undershirt’ is worn exactly where you would expect. This is a difficult one. You need to know the name of the town with its famous ‘crooked spire’ in Derbyshire. * * * *