Introduction American English acquired international significance after World War II，when the United States assumed a more global role and political，economic and technological developments promoted U.S. influence worldwide. American English asserts a dominant influence on“world English”（cf. British English）largely due to the following：

　　1. Population：U.S. vs U.K.

　　2. Wealth of the U.S. vs the U.K. economy，& influences

　　3. Magnitude of higher education in America vs the U.K.

　　4. Magnitude of the publishing industry in America

　　5. Magnitude of mass media and media technology influence on a worldwide scale

　　6. Appeal of American popular culture on language & habits

　　7. International political and economic position of the U.S.

　　American and British English are both“variants”of the English Language，more similar than different，especially with“educated”or“scientific”English. Most divergence is due to differences in national history and national cultural development，varying regional and local idioms and colloquialisms，and media/advertising influences.

　　The following general categories of difference between standard American English（SAE）and standard British English（SBE）each have their own sociolectic value：

　　I. Different Pronunciation，Although Same Spelling

　　·Advertisement（advert，ad）

　　·Controversy，Laboratory，Secretary

　　·Leisure，schedule，dynasty，dance

　　·Renaissance，oregano，clerk ，ate

　　·'PC'-influence examples：harass & harassment，Uranus，etc.

　　II. Different Spelling，Although Same Pronunciation

　　·Colour—color，Centre—center

　　·Cheque—check（noun form ；verb“to check”the same）

　　·Defence—defense（noun form），Licence（noun form）—license

　　·Alright—all right；Manoeuvre—maneuver；tyre—tire

　　·Ageing—aging；Whisky（Scotch）—whiskey（U.S. & Ireland）

　　·Gaol—jail

　　III. Same Term，Different But Similar Spelling and Pronunciation

　　·Aluminium—aluminum

　　·Polythene—polyethylene

　　·Maths—math（shortening of“mathematics”）

　　·Rise—raise（more money in salary，wages）

　　IV. Same Words，But Different or Additional Meanings

　　·I married a homely girl. The opening of our new play was a bomb！

　　·We all had tea and biscuits.（cf. Harry Potter，'crumpets' vs 'English muffins'，etc.）

　　·The corn harvest was exceptional this year.（cf.“maize”，“sweetcorn”）

　　·We needed a torch for the dark trail.（cf. flashlight，or GB 'electric torch'，flaming torch）

　　·IBM made over a billion dollars last year.（cf.“thousand million”；changing GB standards）

　　·The committee tabled the motion（GB：put it on the table）。

　　·Nigel and Trevor purchased 7-day Travelcard season tickets.

　　·Evelyn took a coin out of purse（GB=male，coin purse；US=female，handbag）

　　·Ralph needs to write an essay for his university course.

　　·Trousers（GB）= Pants（US）；Pants（US）= underwear（GB）

　　·Jumper（GB）= Sweater（US）；Jumper（US）= pinafore （GB）

　　·Shorts（US）= underwear（GB）；Vest（US）= underwear（GB）

　　·Pekka was climbing in the lime tree（lehmus，cf linden，basswood，common lime）

　　V. Grammar，Syntax，Punctuation，General Usage

　　Punctuation

　　·Date writing，number/word order（Never use only numbers！）

　　·Use of commas and periods inside quotation marks

　　·Business letter salutations，colons vs commas

　　·'Honorifics'：Mr. or Mrs. or Dr. Smith（U.S.）vs Mr or Mrs or Dr Smith（GB），etc.

　　Grammar

　　5.（U.S.）Finnair has a flight to London today.（G.B.）Finnair have a flight to London today.（large collective nouns）

　　6.（U.S.）England has（……）played well today，even if it lost.（G.B.）England have played well today，even if they lost.

　　7.（G.B.）The Government are acting like themselves again.

　　8.（G.B.）Have you got your grade in history yet？

　　（U.S.）Have you gotten your grade in history yet？

　　9.（G.B.）He went on a course. How many were on the course？

　　（U.S.）He was in a course. How many were in the course？

　　10.（G.B.）We lived in the High Street.（cf 'street people'……）

　　（U.S.）We lived on Main Street（“on”plus article plus High/Main）

　　11.（G.B.）He's in hospital with a broken leg.（U.S.）He's in the hospital with a broken leg.

　　12.（G.B.）I have got a car. vs.（U.S.）I have a car. I got a car.（different implications）

　　13.（G.B.）We weren't able to catch him up（U.S.）We weren't able to catch him，catch up with him，catch up .

　　14. One was different from/than the other.

　　VI. Divergence and Overlap

　　·To post vs to mail a letter—an art gallery vs an art museum

　　·Autumn vs fall—tap vs faucet，luggage vs baggage，shop vs store，etc.

　　VII. Same Concept，Different Terms or Expressions；（or）

　　Same Word，Differences in Style，Connotation and Frequency

　　·Hire a car—rent a car（hire-purchase vs installment plan）

　　·Petrol—gasoline；Saloon—sedan，Estate car—station wagon

　　·Boot—trunk（storage area）；silencer—muffler（to reduce exhaust noise）

　　·Bonnet—hood；Dynamo—generator；Gear lever—shift

　　·Sweet—dessert；Red whortleberries—lingonberries

　　·Fortnight—two weeks；Goods train—freight train

　　·Barrister vs. solicitor—lawyer，attorney-at-law

　　VIII.“Inventiveness”；Spinoffs；Combinations；Brand Names

　　·Hamburger—cheeseburger，beefburger，fishburger，lobsterburger……

　　·Hotel，motel，floatel，boatel

　　·Hardware，software，firmware，shareware，freeware，vaporware：“treeware……”

　　·Suburb，exurb，cyburb，technoburb；citizen，netizen

　　·Smog，litterbug，'pleather'（fabric），cosmeceuticals，pharming，etc.

　　·Sexploitation，cityscape，zeroscaping（xeriscaping；xeric plants）

　　（also 'hard landscaping' and 'soft landscaping' to 'hardscape' and 'softscape'）

　　·“Half and half”：“A six-pack of PBR tallboys……”（cf.“short dogs”）

　　·“Let's go and visit the Colonel……”（Colonel Sanders & KFC vs military）

　　·（Roz，on Frasier）：“I'm going to climb into a hot tub with my good friends Ben and Jerry”

　　IX. Euphemistic References

　　·Senior citizen，emeritus professor

　　·Sanitary engineer，environmental technician（janitor）

　　·Security officer，hair stylist，household manager

　　·Powder room，ladies' lounge；motion discomfort bag

　　·Pre-owned car，“Culturally-deprived area”

　　·“The loved one……”（cf death and funeral jargon generally）

　　·“Air support missions”，“ordnance delivery”，“pacify an area”（cf military generally）

　　·“To deselect，dehire”employees；to“downsize，right-size”the company

　　·an“involuntary conversion”of our 727 equipment（plane crash）

　　X.“Equality”Vocabulary

　　·Fireman—firefighter，Policeman—police officer

　　·Mailman—mail carrier，Salesman—sales person

　　·Manmade—artificial，synthetic，manufactured

　　·Maid—house cleaner. Stewardess—flight attendant

　　·Chairman—chairperson，Chair，presiding officer，（chairperchild—cf“PC jargon”）

　　XI.“Politically Correct”Terminology（Jargon）

　　·Elderly or“old”people vs 'senior citizens'；seniors；'older' adults，adults 55 & older

　　·Differently-abled or physically-challenged（vs“handicapped”）

　　·People of Color vs“blacks”（or any non-whites）：“Canola”vs“rapeseed target=”_blank“>

　　·Animal companion vs“pet”，Native American vs“Indian”

　　·International Wildlife Conservation Park（former Bronx Zoo—“zoo”connotations）

　　XII.“Black English”（specific terminology in cultural context）

　　·Everybody look down at they feet；I ain't afraid of nuthin'

　　·You ugly，man；I the baddest cat around；He be good.

　　·Boy，Nigger，Soul food，Honkie，rapping，gig，cool！

　　XIII. Yiddish Influence

　　·Schlock，Goy，Schlemiel，schlep，chutzpa，nebbish，shtik

　　·He should live so long！I should have such luck！

　　·He's complaining yet！This I need？All right already.

　　·Fat-shmat，so long as she's happy. Smart，he's not……

　　XIV. Other Ethnic Influences Abound……

　　·“Gay”liberation movement（drag，closet，fairy，fruitcake，'to out'—'he was outed'）

　　·Organized crime，crime syndicate（vs“Mafia”）

　　·“Chicano”（vs 'Latino' or 'Hispanic'）culture vs“wetbacks，”etc……

　　XV. Jargon：“Professional”influences，Media conveyance……

　　·Computer：ASCII text，fonts，justified margins，a windowed environment，mouse-compatible，on-line access，upload/download，e-mail“flaming……”

　　·Drugs：Cocaine（coke，leaf，snow，angel dust）；crack，valise，kilos，brick，'trips'

　　·Social Position：Yuppie，Buppie，Puppie，Dinks，Woofs……

　　·Business：Power breakfast，Valium picnic，warm fuzzies……

　　·Youthisms：dork，nerd，geek，dweeb；psyched，pumped，barf……

　　·Technology and Media in Culture：technocrat，technopeasant，techno-potato，tech-nomads；digerati，virtual corporation，telecommuting，edutainment，'terrestrial' TV（vs satellite）； 'narrowcasting'， 'multitasking'

　　XVI. Regional and Class Terminological Stereotyping

　　The South vs California

　　·“bourbon and branch，”“blues，banjos，Billy Bob，Bubba & Baptists”“good ole' boys，”“ice tea，grits & red-eye；pecan pie”

　　·“Awesome，”“mondo，”“tubular”（Rhonda，Kim，Tracy，& Kelli ）

　　Terms for general，unknown，'anonymous' or 'stereotypical' persons

　　·“Uncle Sam”（U.S.）vs“John Bull”（U.K.）

　　·John Doe，John Q. Public，Joe Citizen

　　·Joe Blow，Joe Shmoe，Joe Six-Pack，“Mac”，“brother”，“sister”

　　varying implications（region，education，ethnic）of“non-grammatical”language

　　·（a）“He ain't done nothin' yet”（uneducated，rural？）

　　·（b）“He done et over at th' Hatfields”（hillbilly……）

　　·（c）“You be late……the food be cold.”（Black English）

　　XVII.“Four-letter words”，Obscenities and Implied Obscenities

　　·Damn，fart，piss，crap，turd，shit，****，cunt；vs GB bloody，bugger，bollocks，sod，etc.

　　·“A five-letter woman married to a four-letter man.”

　　·His daughter was a thespian who matriculated at the state college. She came to the party with a homo sapiens！

　　·The dean said he was an extrovert. He masticated during the meal.