This is a list of British words not widely used in the United States. In Commonwealth of Nations, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Ireland, Canada, New Zealand, India, South Africa, and Australia, some of the British terms listed are used, although another usage is often preferred.
Words with specific British English meanings that have different meanings in American and/or additional meanings common to both dialects (e.g. pants, cot) are to be found at List of words having different meanings in American and British English. When such words are herein used or referenced, they are marked with the flag [DM] (different meaning). Asterisks (*) denote words and meanings having appreciable (that is, not occasional) currency in American English, but are nonetheless notable for their relatively greater frequency in British speech and writing. British English spelling is consistently used throughout the article, except when explicitly referencing American terms.
A abseil to descend on a rope (US rappel) Action Man the action figure toy sold in the US as G.I. Joe. afters dessert, informal amongst a synonym of among acceptable in British English while seeming old fashioned or pretentious in American English argy-bargy (informal) a noisy disagreement ranging from a verbal dispute to pushing-and-shoving or outright fighting. as at (before dates) on a particular date
B balls-up (vulgar, though possibly not in origin) error, mistake, SNAFU. See also cock-up. (US: fuck up, screw up, mess up) BAME refers to people who are not white; acronym of "black, Asian, and minority ethnic" (US: BIPOC) bank holiday a statutory holiday when banks and most businesses are closed (national holiday; state holiday in U.S.) bap soft bread roll or a sandwich made from it (this itself is a regional usage in the UK rather than a universal one); in plural, breasts (vulgar slang e.g. "get your baps out, love"); a person's head (Northern Ireland). barmaid *, barman a woman or man who serves drinks in a bar. Barman and the originally American bartender appeared within a year of each other (1837 and 1836); barmaid is almost two centuries older (circa 1658). barmy archaic crazy, unbalanced (US: balmy) barney a noisy quarrel, trouble; origin unknown. barrister * In England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, this used to be the only type of lawyer qualified to argue a case in both higher and lower law courts; contrasts with solicitor. For Scotland, see advocate. Occasionally used in the U.S., but not to define any particular type of lawyer. bedsit (or bedsitter) one-room flat that serves as a living room, kitchen and bedroom and with shared bathroom facilities (US: see SRO; compare studio apartment (in British English a studio apartment – sometimes 'studio flat' – would have a self-contained bathroom) efficiency) Beeb, the Beeb (affectionate slang) the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation). See also 'Auntie' (above). The British band Queen released an album called At the Beeb in the UK and it had to be called "At the BBC" for US release. Belisha beacon orange ball, containing a flashing light or now sometimes surrounded by a flashing disc of LEDs, mounted on a post at each end of a zebra crossing (q.v.); named after the UK Minister of Transport Leslie Hore-Belisha who introduced them in 1934. bell-end the glans penis (slang, vulgar), a term of abuse. berk, burk or burke a mildly derogatory term for a fool or stupid person. An abbreviation of either 'Berkshire Hunt' or 'Berkeley Hunt', rhyming slang for cunt. bespoke * custom-made to a buyer's specification (US:custom-made) bevvy an alcoholic beverage biccie, bicky, bikky a biscuit (US: "cookie") big girl's blouse a man or a boy who behaves in a way which other men think is how a woman would behave, especially if they show they are frightened of something bint a condescending and sometimes derogatory term for a woman (from the Arabic for 'daughter'). Usage varies with a range of harshness from 'bitch', referring to a disagreeable and domineering woman, to only a slightly derogatory term for a young woman. biro a ballpoint pen. Named after its Hungarian inventor László Bíró and the eponymous company which first marketed them. (US: "Bic")
bits and bobs sundry items to purchase, pick up, etc. (e.g. whilst grocery shopping); Britain and US: odds and ends black pudding (US: blood sausage) blag (slang) to obtain or achieve by deception and/or ill preparation, to bluff, to scrounge, to rob, to wing it. A scam, tall story or deception. Derived from the French word blague.blague bleeder derogatory term used in place of bloke ("what's that stupid bleeder done now?"); use has declined in recent years. blimey (informal) an exclamation of surprise. (Originally gor blimey, a euphemism for God blind me, but has generally lost this connotation.) block of flats a large building divided into flats (apartment building in U.S.) bloke (informal) man, fellow. e.g. Terry is a top bloke. Also common in Australia and New Zealand. (US and UK also: guy, US dude). blower telephone blues and twos (slang) emergency vehicle with lights and sirens (emergency services in the UK generally use blue flashing lights and formerly used a two-tone siren) (US: lights and sirens or code) bobby police officer, named after Sir Robert Peel, the founder of the Metropolitan Police in 1829. The word "peeler" of similar origin, is used in Northern Ireland. Bob's your uncle "there you go", "it's that simple"."Bob's your uncle", World Wide Words (Some areas of US have the phrase Bob's your uncle, Fanny's your aunt) bod a person bodge a cheap or poor (repair) job, can range from inelegant but effective to outright failure. e.g. "You properly bodged that up" ("you really made a mess of that"). (US: kludge, botch or cob, shortened form of cobble) See Bodger. boffin an expert, such as a scientist or engineer bog roll (roll of) toilet ("bog") paper (slang). bog-standard * completely ordinary, run-of-the-mill, unadulterated, unmodified. (US vanilla, garden-variety). boiled sweet type of confection (US: hard candy) bollocks (vulgar; originally ballocks, colloquially also spelled as bollox) testicles; verbal rubbish (as in "you're talking bollocks") (US: bullshit). The somewhat similar bollix is found in American English, but without the anatomical connotations or vulgar sense meaning 'mess up'. The twin pulley blocks at the top of a ship's mast are also known as bollocks, and in the 18th century priests' sermons were colloquially referred to as bollocks; it was by claiming this last usage that the Sex Pistols prevented their album Never Mind the Bollocks from being banned under British obscenity laws. Related phrases include bollocksed, which means either tired ("I'm bollocksed!") or broken beyond repair; bollocks up, meaning to mess up ("He really bollocksed that up"); and [a] bollocking, meaning a stern telling off. Compare dog's bollocks, below bonce head (informal) bone-idle * lazy botty, bot a person's bottom (informal or childish) brass monkeys cold – from "cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey". According to a popular folk etymology, this phrase derives from cannonballs stowed on a brass triangle named after a "powder monkey" (a boy who runs gunpowder to the ship's guns) spilling owing to the frame's contraction in cold weather. (This is however incorrect for several physical and linguistic reasons.) The phrase is a 20th-century variant of earlier expressions referring to other body parts, especially the nose and tail, indicating that the brass monkey took the form of a real monkey. brekkie, brekky (slang) synonym of breakfast bristols (vulgar, rhyming slang) breasts; from football team Bristol City = titty brolly (informal) umbrella brown bread (rhyming slang) dead; "You're brown bread, mate!" browned off Fed up, annoyed or out of patience. bruv clipping of brother, used as a form of address for a man (US: bro, bruh) bubble and squeak dish of cooked cabbage fried with cooked potatoes and other vegetables. Often made from the remains of the Sunday roast trimmings. budgerigar or (colloquial) budgie a small Australian parrot (US: not distinguished from other parakeets) buggered (vulgar, literally a synonym for 'sodomised') worn out; broken; thwarted, undermined, in a predicament, e.g. "If we miss the last bus home, we're buggered" (US: screwed or (offensive) fucked). Also used to indicated lack of motivation as in "I can't be buggered". (US: "I can't be bothered.") bugger all little or nothing at all; "I asked for a pay rise and they gave me bugger all"; "I know bugger all about plants"; damn all. US: zip, jack or (offensive) jack shit or fuck all. Usage is rare in the US. building society an institution, owned by its depositors rather than shareholders, that provides mortgage loans and other financial services (US equivalent: savings and loan association) bum bag a bag worn on a strap around the waist (US: fanny [DM] pack) bumble to wander aimlessly or stroll/walk without urgency to a destination; usually synonymous with amble when used in the US. bumf, bumph useless paperwork or documentation (from "bum fodder", toilet paper) bunce a windfall; profit; bonus bureau de change an office where money can be exchanged (US: currency exchange) burgle * (originally colloquial, back-formation from burglar) to commit burglary (in the US, burglarize is overwhelmingly preferred, although burgle is occasionally found). butty (Northern England) a sandwich (esp. 'chip butty' or 'bacon butty'). by-election (US: special election)
C cack (slang) faeces (feces); nonsense or rubbish: "what a load of cack" could equally be used to describe someone talking nonsense or as a criticism of something of poor quality. Also spelt "kak" as used in Afrikaans and Dutch. Derived from an ancient Indo-European word, kakkos, cognate with German word Kacke, Welsh word "cach" and the Irish and Scottish Gaelic word "cac" which all mean 'shit'. cack-handed (informal) clumsy *; left-handed. Derived from cack, meaning "fæces (feces)", with reference to the tradition that only the left hand should be used for cleaning the 'unclean' part of the human body (i.e. below the waist). cafetière device for making coffee (US: French press) caff abbreviation for a cafe; now used mainly for the old-fashioned establishment to distinguish from coffeeshops. cagoule type of lightweight hooded waterproof clothing (US: windbreaker) call minder (rare) telephone message recorder (US and UK also: answering machine; voicemail machine) candidature synonymous with candidacy candy floss spun sugar confection (US: cotton candy); "candyfloss culture" was also used around the late 1950s / early 1960s as a derisory term for the emerging American pop culture,See for example The Q Encyclopedia of Rock Stars by Dafydd Rees and Luke Crampton, Dorling Kindersley, 1999, entry for The Yardbirds on page 1088: "In response to playwright Lord Ted Willis calling their type of music a 'cheap candyfloss substitute for culture' in the House of Lords, the band goes to his house in Chislehurst, Kent, and plays in his back garden ..." similar to "McCulture" or "Coca-Cola culture" in more recent times
caravan park area where caravans are parked (US: Trailer park for near-permanently-installed mobile homes, RV park or campground for areas intended for short term recreational vehicle parking. Trailer parks are typically low-income permanent residencies; RV parks/campgrounds are a holiday (vacation) destination.) car boot storage area of car (US: trunk). Can also mean car boot sale. car hire car rental car park area where cars are parked (US usually parking lot if outdoor, parking garage if indoor). carer a person who cares for another, such as a child, elderly, or disabled person. (US: caregiver) carriageway the part of a road that carries the traffic; see also dual carriageway