American Language Supplement 1
Page 69
*apartment flat9
apartment-hotel service-flats10
*apartment-house block of flats11
appropriation (legislative) vote12
*ash-can dust-bin1
ash-cart, or –truck dust-cart2
*ashman dustman3
*atomizer scent-spray4
*automobile motor-car5
baby-carriage perambulator (pram), or baby-coach6
*baggage luggage7
*baggage-car luggage-van8
*bakery baker’s shop
banked (curve in a road) superelevated9
*bartender barman, or potman1
baseboard (of a wall) skirting2
bath (sea) bathe3
*bathrobe dressing-gown4
*bathtub bath5
*battery (automobile) accumulator6
*beach seaside
bed-bug, or chinch bug7
*beer lager
Beet beetroot
bellboy, or bellhop page, or buttons8
*bill (money) banknote, or note9
*billboard hoarding10
bill-fold wallet11
billion milliard1
bingo house, or housey-housey2
*biscuit scone, or tea-cake3
blackjack life-preserver4
blank form5
blow-torch brazing lamp6
boards deals7
boot Wellington, or Wellington boot8
boulevard, or main road arterial road, or trunk road9
*bouncer chucker-out10
*bowling-alley skittle-alley11
box-car covered waggon12
brief-case portfolio13
*broiled (meat) grilled14
bucket pail15
bug insect1
building (in a proper name) house2
bulletin-board notice-board3
bureau chest of drawers4
business suit lounge suit5
caboose (railroad) brake-van6
cab-stand cab-rank7
calendar (of a court) cause-list8
call-boy (railroad) knocker-up9
can (vessel) tin10
candy sweets11
*candy (hard) boiled sweets
*candy-store sweet-shop12
*cane stick1
*can-opener tin-opener, or key
*car (railway passenger) carriage
carnival fun-fair2
*carom (billiards) cannon
carrousel merry-go-round, or roundabout3
catalogue (school or college) calendar4
catnip catmint5
* chain-store multiple-shop, or -stores6
check (restaurant) bill7
* check baggage (verb) register luggage
*checkers (game) draughts8
check-room left-luggage office, or -room9
cheese-cloth butter-muslin10
* chicken-yard fowl-run, or chicken-run11
cigar-store tobacconist’s shop
*cigarette-butt cigarette-end
city hall town hall, or guildhall1
clapboard shiplap2
clean-up campaign cleansing campaign3
clipping (newspaper) cutting4
clipping-bureau press-cutting agency5
closed season (for game) close season
*closet cupboard
clothespin clothespeg6
*coal oil7 paraffin
*collar-button collar-stud, or back-stud8
commencement (school) speech day, or prize-day9
common stock ordinary shares
commutation ticket season ticket1
commuter season-ticket holder2
*conductor (railroad) guard3
cone (ice-cream) cornet4
confidence game confidence trick5
consent decree (courts) agreed verdict
cook-book cookery-book6
*cop bobby
copy-reader (newspaper) sub-editor
*corn maize, or Indian corn
corner (street) turning7
*cornmeal Indian meal
cornstarch cornflour8
corporation limited liability company9
councilman (municipal) councillor10
*cracker biscuit
cruising (taxi) crawling11
crystal (watch) watch-glass12
custom-made bespoke1
cut (railroad) cutting2
daylight-house sun-trap3
* daylight-saving time Summer time4
*deck (of cards) pack5
delegation deputation
deliveryman (say of milk or bread) roundsman6
* derby (hat) bowler, or hard hat7
* dessert sweet course8
denatured alcohol methylated spirit
detour (road) road diversion, or loopway9
dime-novel penny-dreadful10
dining-car, or diner restaurant-car11
dipper (water) pannikin12
*dishpan washing-up bowl, or washer13
distributor (of merchandise) stockist1
district (legislative) division, or constituency2
district attorney, or State’s attorney public prosecutor3
Dock wharf4
Domestic mails inland mails5
down-town the City6
*drawers (men’s)7 Pants
Dredge dredger8
*druggist chemist9
*drug-store chemist’s shop10
*drygoods-store draper’s shop11
dumbwaiter service lift12
Dump refuse tip13
editorial (noun) leading article, or leader14
electric heater radiator1
*elevator lift2
engineer (locomotive) engine-driver3
Eraser Indian-rubber4
espantoon, or night-stick (policeman’s) Truncheon
Excelsior wood wool5
expelled (from college) sent down
express company carrier6
Extension (university) extra-mural studies
Extension-wire flex7
faculty (school or college) staff8
Fall Autumn9
farm-hand agricultural labourer10
*fender (automobile) wing, or mudguard11
filling-station petrol-pump1
fire-bug fire-raiser2
fire department fire-brigade3
first floor ground floor4
*fish-dealer Fishmonger
*five-and-ten (store) bazaar5
Flashlight torch6
floor-space carpet-area7
*floorwalker Shopwalker8
flophouse doss house
*frame house wooden house9
fraternal order friendly society
*freight-car goods-waggon10
*fruitseller (or -dealer) fruiterer11
*fruit-store, or -stand fruiterer’s12
full time (adverb) full out13
fusion (political) coalition
game (e.g., football) match
garbage can dust-bin1
garbage man dustman2
*garter (men’s) sock-suspender3
*gasoline, or gas petrol4
*gear-shift (automobile) gear-lever
general delivery (post office) poste restante5
*generator (automobile) dynamo6
ginger-snap ginger-nut7
given name, or first name Christian name8
gondola (railroad) mineral-waggon9
grab-bag lucky-dip10
grade (road) gradient11
grade (school) form, standard or class12
grade-crossing (railroad) level crossing13
graduate (of a school)1 old boy
grocery grocer’s shop, or grocer’s2
*ground-wire (radio) earth-wire
guard, or deputy warden (prison) warder
hall, or hallway (in a private house) passage3
*hardware ironmongery4
hardware-dealer ironmonger
hash shepherd’s pie5
*headliner (theatre, and figuratively) topliner
; *highball whiskey and soda
hike (verb) tramp
hitch-hike lorry-jump or -hop6
hockey ice-hockey7
hog-pen pig-sty8
hog-raiser, or -grower pig-breeder9
holdup man, or stickup man, or highjacker raider10
*hood (automobile) bonnet1
hook-and-ladder fire-escape2
hope-chest bottom-drawer3
horn (automobile) or siren hooter4
*hospital (private) nursing-home
hot-water bag stomach-warmer5
house-wrecker housebreaker or house-demolisher6
*huckster7 coster, or hawker
*hunting shooting8
ice-cream ice9
identification-tag identity disk10
Inc. Ltd.11
information-bureau inquiry-office1
inning innings2
*instalment plan hire-purchase system, or hire system3
insurance (life) assurance4
*intermission (theatre) interval
internal revenue inland revenue5
*janitor caretaker, or porter6
jimmy (burglar’s) jemmy7
*junk rubbish
landscape architect landscape gardener8
landslide landslip9
lease let10
*legal holiday bank holiday11
letter-man (college) blue12
life-guard life-saver13
life-preserver life-belt1
limited (in the name of a train) express2
*line up (verb) queue up3
*living-room sitting-room4
*long-distance (telephone)5 trunk
*low gear (automobile) first speed
lumber timber6
lunch snack7
machine-tender, or -operator machine-minder8
mad angry
mail post, or letters9
*mail a letter post a letter
mail-box letter-box, or pillar-box10
robber and mail-wagon are.
mail-car, or railway-postoffice postal van1
*marriage certificate marriage lines2
master of ceremonies (of a show) compère3
maybe perhaps4
*molasses treacle5
*monkey-wrench spanner, adjustable spanner, or screw-spanner6 ” motorman
driver7
*movie cinema8
moving moving house9
*mucilage gum10
*muffler (automobile) silencer
napkin (table) serviette11
*necktie tie1
newsdealer news-agent
*newsstand kiosk2
notions fancy goods, or novelties, or haberdashery3
oarlock rowlock4
*oatmeal (boiled) porridge5
occupant (of a building) occupier6
office (doctor’s or dentist’s) surgery7
office (lawyer’s) chambers8
*oil-pan (automobile) sump
on (a street) in9
one-way ticket single ticket
operating cost running, or working expense10
*orchestra seat (theatre) stall11
ordinance (municipal) by-law1
overcoat greatcoat2
*package parcel3
pantry larder4
paraffin white wax5
parking-lot car-park6
parlor-car saloon-carriage7
parole (for a criminal) ticket-of-leave8
patrolman (police) constable9
peanut monkey-nut10
*pebbly beach11 shingle
penitentiary prison12
pen-point nib13
period (punctuation) full stop1
personal (business) private2
*phonograph gramophone3 ”
*pie (fruit) tart4
pin-boy (bowling) thrower-up5
*pitcher jug6
plumbing, or sewerage (house) drains
porch-climber cat-burglar
porterhouse (steak) sirloin7
postpaid post-free8
*poolroom billiards-saloon9
*potato-chip crisp10
pot-pie meat-pie11
preferred stock preference shares12
president (of a corporation) chairman13
pry (to raise or separate) prise14
public comfort station public convenience
public-school council-school1
publisher (newspaper) proprietor2
pumps court-shoes3
puncture (tire) flat
*pushcart barrow
*race-track race-course4
*radio wireless5
railroad railway6
*raincoat mackintosh, or mac, or waterproof
*raise (in pay) rise7
rare (of meat) underdone8
recess (school) break1
*roadster (automobile) two-seater2
*roast (of meat) joint3
*roller-coaster switchback-railway or scenic-railway4
roll of bills sheaf of notes
room-clerk (hotel) reception-clerk
*roomer lodger5
rooster cock6
rotogravure intaglio7
roundhouse (railroad) running shed8
*round trip return trip9
rubber-check stumer-cheque10
*rubberneck-wagon, or car, or bus char-a-banc11
*rubbers galoshes
*rumble-seat dickey
*run (in a stocking) ladder12
run (political verb) stand
rutabaga Swede1
*saloon public-house, or pub2
saloon-keeper publican
scab (labor) blackleg3
*scallion Spring onion4
schedule (railroad) time-table5
scholarship studentship6
school-ma’am school-mistress
*scrambled eggs buttered eggs
scratch-pad scribbling-block
scrimmage (football) scrum7
*second floor first floor8
*sedan (automobile) saloon-car9
sell out (verb) sell up10
*shade (window) blind11
shingle (sign) brass plate12
shoe boot13
shoe-clerk bootmaker’s assistant1
*shoestring bootlace, or shoelace2
*shot (athletics) weight
*shoulder (of road) verge
sidewalk pavement3
silent partner sleeping partner4
*silverware plate5
sirloin rump6
*slacks bags
slingshot catapult7
*smoked herring kipper8
snap (a bargain, a sure thing) snip9
*soda-biscuit, or -cracker cream-cracker10
soda-fountain soda-bar1
*soft drinks minerals2
*spark-plug sparking-plug
special delivery (post-office) express delivery, or express post3
speed-cop mobile police4
*spigot (or faucet) tap5
spool (of thread) reel6
sports goods sporting requisites7
*squash vegetable marrow8
*stairway staircase, or stairs9
stenographer shorthand-writer10
*store shop11
straight (of a drink) neat12
straw hat boater1
stream-lined swept-out2
street-cleaner road-sweeper3
*string-bean French bean4
student (school) schoolboy, or -girl5
*subway underground6
*sugar-bowl sugar-basin
surplus (corporation) reserve7
*suspenders braces8
*sweater pull-over9
sweet (of butter) fresh10
*syrup treacle11
*taffy toffee
taxes (local) rates
*taxi-stand cab-rank
telephone-booth call-box12
*tenderloin (of beef) undercut, or fillet
*tenpins ninepins13
thriller shocker1
*thumb-tack, or push-pin d
rawing-pin2
ticket-agent (railroad) booking-clerk3
ticket-broker (or speculator) library4
*ticket-office (railway) booking office5
ticket-seller booking-clerk6
tie (railroad) sleeper7
tie-up (traffic) hold-up8
*toilet lavatory, or closet9
*top (automobile) hood
touchdown (football) try
tracklayer (railroad) platelayer
trained nurse hospital nurse10
*transom (door) fanlight11
transport (Army ship) troopship, or trooper
*trolley, or street car12 tram, or tram-car
trolley-line tramway
*truck lorry1
truck-farmer market-gardener2
truck-line road-haulier3
trunk box4
tube (radio) wireless valve5
*undershirt vest, or singlet6
union station joint station7
*union-suit combinations8
vacationist9 holiday-maker
*vaudeville variety10
*vaudeville-theatre music-hall
*vest waistcoat11
*vomit (verb) to be sick
warden (prison)12 governor
*washbowl13 washbasin
wash-day washing-day14
*wash-rag face-cloth15
*washstand wash-hand stand1
wastebasket waste-paper basket2
*water-heater geyser3
weather bureau meteorological office4
weather man clerk of the weather
white-collar (worker) black-coat5
windshield (automobile) wind-screen6
witness-stand witness-box7
wrecking-crew breakdown gang8
A list similar to the foregoing, made up of words which occur in both American and English, but in quite different senses, would run to like length. Overalls, to an Englishman, means “tight trousers which fit over the boots,”9 corn means any kind of grain for human consumption, lumber means disused articles of furniture, a longshoreman may mean a man who takes oysters along the seashore, a prep-school does not train for college but for what we call prep-schools,10 a cranberry is a fruit about half the size of ours, partridge never means grouse or quail, a dodger is always a rascal and never an advertising leaflet or a corn-cake, a frontier is always a boundary between two countries, an orchestra is always a band of music and never a section of seats in a theatre, a check (always spelled cheque) is never a bar-check or rain-check, and so on and so on.1 Horwill gives many other examples in his excellent “Dictionary of Modern American Usage.” He explains, for example, that precinct, to an Englishman, means an enclosed space, especially one including a church, and that the American sense of a political subdivision is unknown to him. The type called ruby in England is agate in America, and the American ruby is brilliant in England, but these old names are going out, for the printers of both countries now designate type-sizes by the point system, in which the English ruby is 5½ and the American 3½. The American use of brotherhood to designate a railroad trades union is unknown in England. So is dues used for what the English call a subscription to a club or other such organization. They know, of course, the word senior, but they never use it to designate a last-year college student. Homestead, they know too, but not in our special sense of a grant of free land. They never use to fit in the sense of to prepare for college. They distinguish between hunting foxes or stags and shooting birds. They never call a judge a jurist, but reserve the term for “one versed in the science of law,” i.e., a legal writer or professor. They do not regard politics as an opprobrious word, they know nothing of office politics, or campus politics, or church politics, nor do they play politics. What we call a citizen they commonly call a subject. They seldom use to conclude in the sense of to decide, and they think of tardy as meaning slow-moving rather than behind time. Thrifty, in the sense of a thrifty plant, is confined to a few English dialects, and town is never used in the New England sense of a rural area. A football gridiron, to them, is simply a football field, and they know nothing of to knife and pork in the political senses. We have many words in blue that they do not use, e.g., blue laws, blue-sky laws, blue grass and blue-nose. They know nothing of the policeman’s nightstick, nor of night-riders, nor of scratch-pads.