In the UK, a jumper is a sweater, not a sleeveless dress that goes over a blouse (that’s a pinafore). If you’re an American who read the British version of the Harry Potter series, you probably wondered why all the boys so often wore jumpers.

In the U.S., pants go on top of underpants or underwear, which are called pants in the UK.

It’s fine for a man to wander outside in America wearing nothing but pants. is a condom, commonly used to avoid unwanted pregnancies. RubberĪ rubber in the UK is an eraser, commonly used to eliminate unwanted writing. In the UK, however, homely has the same positive associations as homey: plain but pleasant, evocative of home. Homelyĭescribe an American as homely, and you may get a punch in the nose for calling them unattractive. Here are 12 common culprits that cause confusion. Which side of the pond did you grow up on? How you interpreted the above sentence revealed the answer (unless you’re from Canada, where the words sometimes have both meanings, leading to double the misunderstandings).Īccording to the internet, it was George Bernard Shaw who said, “The United States and Great Britain are two countries separated by a common language.” English connects-and all too often divides-the U.S. Dressed in a warm jumper and his most homely trainers, Fred tossed some biscuits and rubbers for the children into his trolley.

Another word for running equipment