I started writing this as a comment on Anirudh’s blog about Americanisms and how they tend to do things in the US of A differently from the rest of the world. This only covers language/style of speaking, but still turned out to be enough of a thesis that I put it on my own blog. So here goes!

(Note — The comparison isn’t so much with the “rest of the world” as much as it is with the English I learnt growing up in India, which while not entirely British, is heavily influenced by it.)

1. The spellings —
   • Words end in “or” instead of “our” — color/colour, honor/honour
   • Words end in “ize” or “yze” instead of “ise” or “yse” — categorize/categorise, analyze/analyse
   • Words end in “er” instead of “re” — meter/metre, center/centre
   • Silent letters are often dropped and words spelt phonetically — donut/doughnut, Marlboro/Marlborough (Bostonians will relate to this one), catalog/catalogue, pajamas/pyjamas, tires/tyres, hiccup/hiccough
2. The words — Americans form a line instead of queue outside the restroom instead of the toilet, loo or lavatory, as pointed out. They rent an apartment in the US although its a flat elsewhere. Here, in a restaurant, you ask for the check (not cheque mind you) and pay it using bills while elsewhere, you ask for the bill, and could well pay by cheque (or cash too I guess.) A first floor apartment in the US is on the ground and it has closets, not cupboards. Jelly (the wiggly gelatine-based stuff) is Jello in the US cos that’s the primary brand that makes it; and jam (the stuff we put on bread) is jelly. Pencils come with erasers, NOT rubbers, a mistake that can lead to plenty of embarrassment for most newbies. In the US, dogs eat biscuits, humans eat cookies :) They shop at a store not at shops. Pins are thumbtacks/pushpins and cellotape is Scotch-tape (again a brand thing). Your address is not complete without your zipcode, not pincode! I could perhaps think of more, but this should suffice for now :) Oh and geysers!A geyser is a natural spring that discharges hot water and steam, something you would find in say .. Yellowstone National Park. Hot water comes from a .. water heater, of course! Duh!
3. The phrases/slang — The usage of stuff and thingy to generically describe things that one doesn’t completely understand. The use of phrases like “its kinda sorta“, “its like, you know” and the repeated use of “uh“s and “um“s. As a British friend once said to me — if you walked into a shop in London and said “Uh, I’d kinda like some, you know, uh ..” the shopkeeper is likely to say - “Come back when you’ve decided :|” The use of “I’m sorry” instead of the more universal “I beg your pardon” if you interrupt someone, or ask someone to repeat themselves, or saying “I appreciate it” instead of just a “thank you“.
4. The speed — Americans speak much slower than most Europeans, and infinitely slower than the typical Indian speaking English.

Am sure there’s more, but I’m too sleepy to think..