Different 'Englishes'

A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog on my Business English website about the differences between British English and American English, most of which I put in a LinkedIn post. The result was around 470,000 impressions, 800 reactions and 300 comments. This was massive compared to all my other posts, ever!

As I read through the comments, I realised just how complicated the topic is – and I learnt a lot! A big thank you to all those people who commented. As a result, I was able to update my blog, which you can find here.

There were also a lot of interesting comments about other types of English. So now, thanks to people on LinkedIn and a few friends and acquaintances in addition, I now have a new and very interesting blog subject!

The first thing to say about English in different English-speaking countries, is that we have to acknowledge that pretty much every region, town and community in every country uses different words and/or has a distinct accent.

As you’ll see, trying to talk about different types of English is not an exact science and is pretty much an endless though fascinating topic. Which means that inevitably, the following list of Englishes and words are really just a tiny introduction, and based on the personal experience of LinkedIn users, friends and acquaintances, rather than much extensive research. Otherwise this blog would be a series of books!

It was Daithí O'Keeffe on LinkedIn who first got me wondering more about English that is not so-called British or American. Aside from the complexities of what ‘American’ means, this also reminded me that people often think of ‘British’ English as being from England. But Britain also includes Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. I’ll talk about N. Ireland later in this blog, but for now let’s start with those other two.

Scottish English

In reaction to the mention of the ‘British’ word ‘tap’, (meaning the thing that water comes out of in your kitchen/bathroom), George McConville in Scotland told me that in the vernacular of where he lives, ‘asking for a tap’ would mean asking to borrow money from someone.

Then there’s another use of ‘tap’, he says. “Taps aff” can be said by men (presumably) to each other, when they want to take off their top/T shirt on a hot day.

Welsh English

Let’s not forget that many Welsh people actually speak Welsh rather than English, and sometimes both. Ted Underwood-Webb told me on LinkedIn: “Those of us around the Welsh borders will often mix Welsh words into our everyday English conversations. It is a small, yet intentional way of keeping a minority language alive.”

Irish English

Irish English includes both Northern Ireland & the Republic of Ireland. I’ve actually taught lessons about both and would love to write a blog post just dedicated to them. But for now, the OED provides an introduction: https://www.oed.com/discover/introduction-to-irish-english/.

English around the world

Firstly, I think it’s important to highlight the fact that all of the following countries were colonised by the British. That’s why English is now spoken there. Yes, they’ve become legitimate Englishes in their own right, but I really wanted to acknowledge that English doesn’t just happen to be a popular world-language, it has a dark past. I also wanted to highlight that all of the countries I’m about to mention had/have their own Indigenous languages.

Australian English

Below is a list of words from several LinkedIn contributors, as well as others that I found on the internet. I’ve put the Australian English word, followed by the British English.

Band Aid (also in the US) – plaster

G’day – Hello

Barbie – not the doll, but a barbecue

Brekky – Breakfast

Arvo – afternoon

Servo – petrol station

Thongs – not a type of underwear, but flip-flops!

Chilly bin – ice box/cooler

Lollies – sweets

Ripper! – great!

Ute – pickup truck.

Thanks also to Kevin Woodward for the phrase:

“Don’t come the raw prawn with me!” – Which roughly means “Don’t try to deceive me, I’m not an idiot!”

New Zealand

According to Christopher Cookson, in New Zealand, a pavement is any paved surface including a road, and what the British would call pavements are footpaths in NZ. As another LinkedIn contributor pointed out, it’s probably best to know that if you want to be safe!

Whilst there are similarities between Australian and New Zealand English, there are also many differences and distinct influences in both. You can find out more here.

Canadian English

This was another big topic in the LinkedIn comments. Many people said that a lot of Canadian words are a ‘mish mash’ of British and/or American English. Catherine Moore also mentioned a uniquely Canadian expression which I love: A ‘double-double’ means a coffee with two creams and two sugars.

Diane Rollert told me: “Here in Montreal...There is a unique linguistic borrowing that happens between the two languages. The examples that come to mind: An anglophone will say “close the light” to mean ‘turn off the light’, taken from the French ‘fermer la lumière’. A francophone will say “t’es fucké” (pronounced as you’d say in English with the ‘ay’ at the end) which means you’re screwed or screwed up, and [most surprisingly!] is perfectly acceptable to say to your grandmother! Francophones also say “ploguer” (sounds like ‘plug-ay’) from the English ‘to plug something in’.”

Caribbean

Alessandra Armenise mentioned Caribbean English, which of course covers many different islands – a topic that no doubt has many facets and hundreds of books and websites devoted to it.

Trista Morales and Randall M. mentioned Jamaican English, which I did a bit of research on. The most useful website I found is here.

Nigerian

Lisa Chomette, from a group of friends in London, taught me a few Nigerian Pidgin words. For example:

When Nigerian people want to ask, “How are you?”, they say, “How you dey?”.

“Abeg” means “Please”.

“Comot” means “Get out of the way /leave”.

On the subject of food, a phrase that Lisa loves - and uses herself - is, “I want to chop something”, meaning “I want to eat”.

Nigerians also use the term ‘small chops’ meaning finger party food.

Kenyan

Gary Morgan told me about a few of his favourite Kenyan words. He said that 'Conc' (pronounced konk), means strong, for example, “That beer's a bit conc!”.

He also mentioned:

Biting – a bite-size piece of food, like a canapé/appetizer. An interesting coincidence that this one came up on the Kenyan list too!

Shrub - A word in another language pronounced in a manner that is influenced by one's first language. (I guess this would be like the way British English speakers pronounce the French phrase déjà vu.)

Otherwise (noun) – an option, choice or alternative.

Sample this - meaning ‘For example’.

In terms of other Englishes, two more were noted in LinkedIn comments:

Singaporean

Christopher D. mentioned this. You can read more about it here.

South African

Ylva Olausson suggested the following webpage:  https://www.oed.com/discover/introduction-to-south-african-english?tl=true.

Before I finish, I should point out the obvious: there are so many more Englishes I could mention! Indian English is one that immediately springs to mind – another blog of its own perhaps. But for now, I’ve basically just pointed out a few stars in a huge universe. I do hope this has sparked your interest in other Englishes and that you are inspired to go ahead and learn more.

I’d also like to mention that there were a lot of comments on LinkedIn that were not about specific Englishes. Instead, they were on the general theme of ‘difference’. Some people pointed out that when we look at the various Englishes in their entirety, not just at a few isolated words, many of them are not so different from each other after all. But even when they are, as Randall M. pointed out, we can just ask each other if we don’t understand. Which sparks interest in and (I hope) more understanding and acceptance of each other.

In the end, shouldn’t difference just make language and life more interesting?