Erin Moore on American English vs. British English

American English and British English may technically be the same language, but anyone who has visited the United Kingdom and read a breakfast menu knows there are enough differences between the two to cause confusion.

The differences between the two dialects can actually be quite revealing — that's what Erin Moore argues in her new book "That's Not English: Britishisms, Americanisms, and What Our English Says About Us." Moore is an American-born former book editor who moved to London eight years ago.

The cultural differences between the United States and Great Britain have always fascinated her, and she uses language to explore these contrasts. "Partner," for instance, caught her attention — while the word is gaining popularity for all couples in the United States, it has a long tradition of being used inclusively in the U.K.

Moore joined MPR News' Tom Crann to discuss where these differences came from and what they mean.

On British accents "sounding refined"

There's a common joke about accents: Anything said in an English accent automatically sounds smart.

The joke has deep roots. Moore said the idea that an English accent sounds more refined has been around since the U.S. was barely 20 years old.

What people call an English accent, however, is actually many different accents. Moore estimates the English have just as many regional accents as the United States, even though the country is one-fifth the size. And in England, accents are much more tied to class.

"As soon as you open your mouth in Britain, people know exactly what your background is and where you came from and they use it to judge you immediately," said Moore. Americans, however, often don't hear the difference, so even English accents that are deemed "low class" in England get praised as superior and refined in the United States.

On being polite

Moore, who was raised in south Florida, said, "America is generally a place where to be polite means to be inclusive, to ask questions, to reach out to your fellow man." This is what anthropologists call "positive politeness" — meaning people do something to be polite.

In England, however, there is "negative politeness," where "being polite to one another is all about the things that you don't do. You don't pry into people's private lives, you don't talk to the person who is crying on the train, you give people their space."

This difference becomes obvious in the way each country uses the word "sorry." In the United States, Moore said, "sorry" has only one meaning and it is used to apologize. In England, however, she estimated there are about ten different meanings for "sorry." It is primarily used there as a distancing word to give people their space — more like "pardon me" or "excuse me" in the United States.

On how "gobsmacked" made its way to America

"Gobsmacked" started as a bit of slang from northern England. "Gob" means mouth, so the word means "surprised as if someone smacked you in the mouth." The word spread around England thanks to reality television, which captured people's everyday dialect and made it mainstream.

Reality television is also responsible for bringing it to the United States, Moore said. When the singer Susan Boyle stunned the world on "Britain's Got Talent," she peppered her interviews with it. "I'm gobsmacked," she repeated, and it got picked up.

"Americans love a colorful piece of slang as much as anyone else," said Moore.

On the British ability to craft insults

"They are masters of understatement," said Moore. That's the key to the insult.

Moore gave the example of saying something is "not very clever." When you say it in an American accent, Moore claimed, it rolls right off. But when a British person declares something "not very clever," the understatement cuts deep.

"They're very good at the casual putdown," said Moore.

On the rise of "cheers"

"Cheers" has been used as a toast in the U.S. and Britain for a very long time, but a new version has evolved since the 1970s. The British now use it to mean "thank you and goodbye," according to Moore, something that is catching on in the U.S. as well.

Expect to see "cheers" continuing to rise in popularity outside the bar.