Реферат: How and why we learn English

5.2 Vocabulary and idioms

It is possible to distinguish three types of vocabulary:

5.0.1 The common word-stock

The greater proportion of English words are common to both main forms of English. Words such as man, woman, fish, sky, tree, week, math, green, hot, smell, and thousands of others are exactly the same in both kinds of English.

5.0.2 Common ideas, different words

The second category is a large number of items where an object exists in both British and American culture, but where different words are used for them in the two forms of English.

'e.g.' Differences in the organization of Education in Britain and America lead to different terms:

AmE -----> BrE

public school -- maintained school

private school -- public school

grade school -- elementary school

high school -- secondary school

grade -- mark

student -- pupil

semester (quarter) -- term

required (subject) -- compulsory

graduate -- post-graduate

electives -- subsidiary subject

dissertation -- thesis

Associate Professor -- Reader

Assistant Professor -- Senior Lecturer

Instructor -- Lecturer

Other examples:

anyplace -- anywhere

someplace -- somewhere

noplace -- nowhere

attorney -- barrister, solicitor

hood -- bonnet (of a car)

trunk -- boot (of a car)