American Words Versus British Words
The Show Went Down a Bomb! Photo by Gareth Cameron. Differences in expressing ourselves can depend on culture and environment and on certain character traits that evolve as part of our national heritage. The influence of culture upon the variations in language used between America and Britain is raised in The Oxford Manual of Style. The (anonymous) author offers the following explanation: “Many Britons feel more at home with botanical than medical terminology, while many Americans feel the reverse, the result being that a Briton might have a “heart attack” while planting “antirrhinums” and an American would, more likely, have a “myocardial infarction” while planting “snapdragons.” On both sides of the Atlantic, the place where you can safely cross the road can be described as a pedestrian crossing. While Americans also use the word crosswalk, Brits frequently resort to the picturesque term “zebra crossing” signifying the crossing’s black and white stripes, or even “peli...