A study found the British have no idea about words like sandlot, boondocks, cilantro and more.
The U.S. and England ostensibly speak the same language. (English, FYI.) But each country’s version of English has evolved over centuries, taken in different directions by cultural, social, regional and media forces. And some beautiful and horrible accents.
I mean, American dictionaries are adding street slang like colony collapse disorder and geocaching; I don’t know that those hip terms have made it over there.
So who can provide us insight into the biggest differences in the two versions of English? The Belgians. Obviously.
The Center for Reading Research at Belgium’s Ghent University conducted a study to test which words Americans knew that British people don’t understand and vice versa. More than 600,000 people from the two countries weighed in.
This article is my follow-up to my previous post about 11 British Words That Americans Don’t Know. It’s time to see how the other side of the Atlantic is doing.
11 American words British people don’t understand
Here are 11 words that exhibit significant spread in awareness between the United States and the United Kingdom.
By “spread”, we’re talking about a difference of more than 50% in understanding for each word between both countries.
1 | sandlot (known by 97 percent of Americans vs. 32 percent of the British)
In the U.S., we often engage in informal sports games in vacant lots, just like the scene depicted in the image above. These lots were filled with sands which are soft and prevented us from injuries.
The real tragedy here is how few British people are aware of a tremendous movie — especially one that’s part of an extinct film breed (modest budget sports movies).
When they hear Benny “The Jet” they probably think of the Elton John song. (Then again, when we hear of Reginald Dwight, we mistake him for the guy who was attacked during the Rodney King riots.)
2 | Staph (86% American / 25% British)
They probably understand this as “staff”. Staph is short for Staphylococcus, a type of bacteria that can cause a variety of infections.
You don’t say, “I have an infection on my arm” when in the U.S. You say, “I have a staph infection on my arm.”
So our infections don’t sound posh enough? I searched but couldn’t find what word is used in place of “staph” in the U.K.; it must be something because it’s not like an entire country can avoid them. Are you telling me not a single British kid ever goes swimming in a pond filled with hypodermic needles and sewage runoff?
3 | Kwanzaa (91% American / 24% British)
Kwanzaa is a cultural holiday celebrated in the United States, particularly within the African-American community. It takes place from December 26th to January 1st as a way to honor African heritage and promote unity.
Now, you may wonder why Kwanzaa is more well-known in America than in Britain. Well, the primary reason is that Kwanzaa is deeply rooted in African-American history and culture. This means it has its strongest presence in the United States. While there is a significant African diaspora in Britain, the specific cultural and historical context of Kwanzaa is more closely tied to the African-American experience.
Nine out of 10 Americans have finally heard of Kwanzaa. Maybe we’re not a country stuffed to the seams with racists!
4 | Coonskin (88% American / 31% British)
But it’s true that hunting raccoons was popular in the U.S. back then. Coons were even named after a high school mascot (which they realized was offensive). Their fur was widely used in making hats, and coonskin caps became a trendy fashion accessory. However, this trend didn’t catch on across the Atlantic primarily because the U.K. have very few raccoons, and the word “coonskin” had a different meaning and association for the British audience.
Oh, never mind. We still cling to our terms that sound vaguely to not-so-vaguely racist.
5 | Goober (96% American / 37% British)
An American slang for a lite insult AND a type of candy to eat mindlessly during a movie? They’re really missing out.
6 | Boondocks (96% American / 37% British)
“Boondocks” is a great American word because, depending on your perspective, it can refer to a comic strip, an Adult Swim cartoon, a popular country song or the remote area where you and/or your relatives live. In all four cases, it’s impossible to escape.
This term originated in the Philippines. During the war, Filipino soldiers shared intelligence with the U.S. about mountainous regions in the Philippines. The effort helped fight against the Japanese.
The British, being engaged elsewhere, didn’t catch on with this term.
7 | Cilantro (99% American / 40% British)
This word has caused a bit of confusion when American recipes mention cilantro, leaving our British friends scratching their heads and wondering
So what ingredient do British women complain about then? They are probably right about that since cilantro is known to make you less horny.
8 | Crawdad (86% American / 20% British)
I assume this means a lot of British people have never known the joy of eating crawfish. Here’s the executive summary: Ton of work, very little food as a result, but if you’ve ever wanted to eat 300 animals in one sitting without getting full, these freshwater crustaceans are hard to beat!
9 | Flub (89% American / 31% British)
“Flub” is fairly colloquial, and its first recorded usage was 1904 in America. There was really no reason for it to cross the ocean. They don’t understand this American word because the British have plenty of their own adorable slang terms for “botch,” although I don’t know any, they’re usually little rhymes like, “bops and tops” or “flibits and ribits.”
10 | Acetaminophen (92% American / 36% British)
How is it possible that 92 percent of Americans know Tylenol’s maiden name? I mean, I know we love our drugs, but still. I’m shocked at that side of the equation, not the relative lack of knowledge in England, since they use paracetamol for this term. Is it possible that our country is secretly full of geniuses?
11 | Provolone (97% American / 36% British)
Provolone seems like such a standard cheese over here. I mean, it’s the default at Subway. It’s weird to think all of England is going without it. Of course, our entire country is going with cereals that have under 200 grams of sugar in a serving, so we’re missing out too.
