Can English-speaking folks understand each other? I know this title is totally STUPID...xD What I really mean is the vocabulary differences between different English dialects are amazingly surprised L

Vulanyenir

Can English-speaking folks understand each other? I know this title is totally STUPID...xD What I really mean is the vocabulary differences between different English dialects are amazingly surprised Let me list some words I found in Oxford Dict. British E American E quad bike four-wheeler inverted commas quotation marks quieten down quiet down queue line to fill in a questionnaire to fill out a questionnaire pyjamas pajamas windscreen windshield camp bed cot cot crib[baby bed] cotton wool absorbent cotton cot death crib death potato crisp potato chip dumper truck dump truck consumer durables durable goods dust sheet drop cloth dustman garbage man aubergine eggplant some of these are slightly different, and some of these are entirely different like aubergine and eggplant Can an American understand an Englishman?...Can a British person know what it means if an American says he likes eating eggplant?

Mar 11, 2014 4:24 PM

Answers · 13

Speaking for myself, I don't have much trouble understand British English speakers. Occasionally there's a slang word I have to look up, but generally Americans are exposed to enough British TV, books and film to have a working knowledge of the differences. Of your list,m the only one I wasn't familiar with was quad bike, but the name is descriptive enough for me to guess the meaning. You can find plenty of dialect differences just within the US.

March 11, 2014

British English and American English don't differ that much that one cannot understand the other. The biggest difference is the pronunciation of words (accent) and certain terms, but apart from that the two are mutually intelligible. I would keep in mind that some regional accents can pose a problem, (Southern American) or(Northern English), but these are considered non standard forms of the same language. An educated Englishman can usually understand an educated American. Parts of Scotland and Ireland have very thick accents that may take awhile to decipher, but are usually understandable. Australian, New Zealander, S African are easy to understand. Standard Caribbean English can be easy to understand, but non standard can pose a problem.

March 11, 2014

If we're not sure, we ask. :) I'd say, assuming we use the standard British or American (or Canadian, or Australian, or New Zealand...) English, it's very rare that we misunderstand each other. In many cases we're aware of both variations but prefer one.

March 11, 2014