This is a predominantly English speaking site and I'm interested to know the different interpretations of words/phrases from English speaking countries.
For instance here in the UK what we call rubbish our American cousins call trash. Mobile phone/cell phone, handbag/pocket book.etc etc. Please add any words that you use that are used differently in other English speaking countries.

Americans seem to mispronounce a lot of words - their use of the alphabet has definitely branched off from ours. They're very phonetic in the way the pronounce things, whereas British and Aussie English adhere more closely to French- pronunciations. Examples:

- (Data) DAY-TA in UK, DAH-TAH in US

- (Mobile) MOW-BUY-UL in UK, MOW-BULL in US

They also seem to draw out vowels.

It is not universal over here. Data can go both ways. Mobile can be both of the pronounciations you mentioned, as well as MOW-BILL, or even MOW-BEEL, as in the city in Alabama. Big country, lotta accents. Many chances for confusion.

Except the use of 'mum' since it's not spelled 'muther'.

Trainers/sneakers.I've always wondered how the two names for a sports shoe originated and are so far apart.

Don't forget the obsession with the letter "z" and fear of the letter "u".

I'd love it, if when choosing the language of a website, installation etc it said the following - "English" as in of England and "American English" of in fear of the letter u and obsession with the letter z. Every time I see "British English" as part of a language selection I find myself hissing, despite not having a squidge of nationalism or patriotism in me.

Yes, but it's pronounced muther not mother/mom.

I'm glad you mention accents, actually. To my ear - every regional accent in the UK is extremely distinct, but foreigners can't seem to differentiate. I personally have what you would consider a stereotypical English accent, yet foreigners seem to think myself and a Yorkshire sound the same. I suppose, though, it's the same wherever you go. I've watched American shows set from Seattle to Washington - and apart from New Jersey, Boston and New York and, obviously, southern accents, I can't hear a distinction. Is there such a severe difference in regional speech in America - or is it simply that I'm not attuned.

(EDIT: If you watch GOT, the people who play north-men have the same accent as people from Yorkshire - can you hear the difference?)

It is pronounced 'Muther', however. To shorter it to 'Mom', do Americans use the long-form 'MAAAH-THER;?

Yes, but spelling it as 'mum' is a deviation of 'mu-ther' in mother, therefore you are spelling it phonetically. That's like saying we start calling knights as c-nig-ht since that's who it's spelled.

What the doo hicky is a GA-RIDGE?! And ain't no fries look like chips!

The way I look at it is that English is English regardless of which side of the pond you live on. We can freely converse with each other without much difficulty. The distinction made between American English and British English isn't really very important, and certainly not worth getting upset over.

Knickers

Panties.

Two words for the same thing.

Both "mum" and "mom" sound odd to me since I'm used to "mam". I understand "mom" is the norm in the Midlands region of the UK, though.

And thanks to Monty Python, I find it hard to think of knights as anything other than "kerniggits"!

I watch enough BBC to notice the different accents, even if I cannot place them all, but I probably do stand out a little that way.

Part of it is the nature of broadcasting, in America. At some point, probably around the 50s, someone decided which was the best accent for tv and movies, and everyone has more or less followed that, unless they want to emphasize that they are from a specific part of the country. Many regional accents have also been moving towards that "tv accent". Only the most strongly rooted ones are holding out. So you can cover a lot of ground in the middle and western parts of the country and not pick out the differences unless you are listening with a practiced ear.

There is also the new urban accent that is developing.

Well, in Old-Saxon English, it was pronounced C-Knight, interestingly enough. The perversion came due to the fact that illiterate people, who couldn't see the distinction, found c-knight awkward to say, and so the silent K came into use. This method of deviation is so for almost every work in English with a silent letter.

I think the Texan accent is very distinctive together with that of New York. I'm sure American accents vary from state to state like our accents here in the UK vary from county to county. I live in the south of England and don't think I have an accent, however if I travel 60 miles to London people will say to me that "you're from the south aren't you".

How on earth is day-ta more French?

I couldn't think of any examples at the time - but there are enough French words in British-English that the rules of pronouncing are influenced by Romantic (as in, based on Latin) languages more that Germanic.

Haha, I'm glad I'm not alone in that thought.

I would say English (as a language) perversed Latin with all the Anglicisation of words, like pronouncing most of latin words now used wrongly.

Restroom/toilet. Here in the UK we ask if we can use the toilet/wc (water closet). In the USA it's a restroom, why?

Cause we sleep on the John. Actually, I don't know. What I hate though is when I call it a toilet, and some smug-yuppie feels the need to correct me. 'It's a commode" as their noses scraqe the ceiling.

TV is typically in the standard American accent, which would be largely the West (I don't know if it would also be the East, I've never really been there). We do have several specific regional deviations, though, like the ones you mentioned.

Sounds better, I think. We seem to be a lot more uptight about such things over here.

It's just a social euphemism like any other term for the toilet. Which sounds more polite between the two if you had to use one in a conversation? "May I use your restroom?" or "May I use your [censored]ter?" (Think 'hitter' with an s in front.)

In Canada we call it either Washroom or Bathroom.

I do not really know why it is called a restroom. My guess it might have to do with rest stops on the interstate highway system.

Oh no - English is a Germanic language (From Germania, the parts Rome couldn't bring under their control) brought over by Germanic tribes such as the Angles and the Saxons. The French vocabulary was introduced with William the conqueror's...conquering, but this was enough to alter the English phrasing lexicon.