American English vs . British English By Lee Hyon - soo I learned English in Korea . Not until I left Korea did I realize what I learned was American English . The first batch of English - speaking settlers ( that is , 102 Puritans from Plymouth , England ) arrived in what is now the United States in 1620 by Mayflower . They were later followed by successive waves of immigrants from England as well as other parts of Europe who brought their own languages . And the English language spoken in the United States gradually evolved into a new version , which is referred to as American English as contrasted with British English . Over time American English diverged from British English noticeably - so much so that George Bernard Shaw quipped that England and America are two countries separated by a common language . Oscar Wilde also wisecracked , “ We have really everything in common with America nowadays , except , of course , the language . ” Let me elaborate on different aspects between American English and British English . First , on top of words borrowed from Native American and European languages , many new words and phrases were coined in the United States , thereby enriching the vocabulary of American English . Some examples are : slum , sweat shop , escalator , typewriter , holdup , crook , rush hour , traffic jam , hot dog , billboard , movie , movie star , silver screen , black market , task force , brainwash , call girl , playboy , airplane , airline , aviator , airmail , jet lag , jumbo , baby boom , etc . Of all the new words to issue from the United States , the quintessential Americanism without any doubt was O . K . , according to Bill Bryson . The following is quoted from his book titled “ The Mother Tongue ” : “ Arguably America ’ s single greatest gift to international discourse , O . K . is the most grammatically versatile of words , able to serve as an adjective ( “ Lunch was O . K . ” ) , verb ( “ Can you O . K . this for me ? ) , noun ( “ I need your O . K . on this . ” ) , interjection ( “ O . K . , I hear you . ” ) , and adverb ( “ We did O . K . ”). It can carry shades of meaning that range from casual assent ( “ Shall we go ? ” “ O . K . ” ) , to great enthusiasm ( “ O . K . !”), to lukewarm endorsement ( “ The party was O . K . ” ) , to a more or less meaningless filler of space ( “ O . K . , can I have your attention , please ? ” ) . ” O . K . is an abbreviation of “ Oll Korrect , ” which is a facetious alteration of “ All Correct . ” Second , Americans and Britons use different terms for the same things in some cases . Given below are American terms , followed by equivalent British ones in parentheses . apartment ( flat ) , elevator ( lift ) , airplane ( aeroplane ) , truck ( lorry ) , cell phone ( mobile phone ) , subway ( underground / tube ) , hood of a car ( bonnet ) , trunk of a car ( boot ) , tow truck ( breakdown van ) , parking lot ( car park ) , movie theater ( cinema ) , guardrail ( crash barrier ) , gasoline ( petrol ) , line ( queue ) , lawyer ( solicitor ) , buddy ( mate ) , candy ( sweets ) , diaper ( nappy ) , etc . Third , some words are spelled differently , as illustrated below ( British spellings in parentheses ) . - ize ( - ise ) in words like agonize ( agonise ) and apologize ( apologise ) ; - or ( - our ) in flavor ( flavour ) and honor ( honour ) ; - er ( - re ) in center ( centre ) and theater ( theatre ) ; - og ( - ogue ) in catalog ( catalogue ) and analog ( analogue ) ; - yze ( - yse ) in analyze ( analyse ) and paralyze ( paralyse ) ; - se ( - ce ) in defense ( defence ) and license ( licence ) , etc . Fourth , American idioms are phrased differently from British ones , as shown below ( British idioms in parentheses ) . Sweep under the rug ( Sweep under the carpet ) ; Can ’ t see the forest for the trees ( Can ’ t see the wood for the trees ) ; Skeleton in the closet ( Skeleton in the cupboard ) ; A home away from home ( A home from home ) ; Beating a dead horse ( Flogging a dead horse ) ; A new lease on life ( A new lease of life ) ; A tempest in a teapot ( A storm in a teacup ) , etc . Last but not least , there are some minor differences in grammar , punctuation and pronunciation between the two languages . Given the foregoing , anyone who speaks American English needs to know how his English is different from British English . The Korea TimesJanuary 2018