French Fries are Chips but Chips are Crisps!

Confused?  We are too.  So let us untangle the mess that is British English and US English with this fun quiz.

What do the following mean to you?  Ask your colleagues and see if you are using British or American English.

1. My husband looks nice in suspenders?
2. Let’s start with an Entrée.
3. I would like a bowl of jelly.
4. Take your pants off.
5. Fill up this tank with gas.
6. My child goes to public school.

 

Answers

In America suspenders are generally worn by men in order to hold up their trousers (housunkannattimet) but in the UK suspenders are worn by women to hold up stockings.
An entrée is a French word meaning entrance.  It does however mean a starter (the first course of a meal) to the British but the main course in North America.
Jelly in the UK is hyytelö and jam is hillo.  In the US Jelly is hillo.
For the British, pants are underwear whilst the Americans call trousers pants.
The “Yanks” use the word gas to describe petroleum or petrol that you use in your cars.  The “Limeys” use gas to describe a state of matter, as in a solid, a liquid or a gas.
In the US a Public School is a school that is provided by the state and is free to students.  In Britain a Public School is a private school that you pay fees to attend.

There are many words that the British and the Americans use in different ways.  Because of the American domination of popular culture, the British will usually understand the US vocabulary.  In Europe however, British English is more widely used.  So take your pick.
Chips by the way are crisps (sipsit) in America but fat French fries in the UK.