Can You Correctly Spell All Of These Incredibly British Words?

Noah Webster, of dictionary fame, was probably responsible for this particular change, which also applies to words like vapor, honor, labor, etc.

The pavement is the same thing as the sidewalk in U.K. English. The actual road area that the cars use doesn't have its own name, really. The Brits would say, "Walk on the pavement, not the road."

Americans call it aluminum, Brits call it aluminium. It's mostly because discoverer Sir Humphry Davy couldn't decide between the two himself. Both are correct.

British English uses more letter E's in places like this.

The "oe" in the British version is called a diphthong, which is when a vowel sound starts as one vowel and moves to another.

Program used to be the commonly used one for both sides, but in the 1800s Brits adopted the French spelling.

Theater, center, meter, etc., are all the American spellings, as they are a little easier and simpler, which happened when American English began to simplify and standardize. British spellings keep the -re ending.

American English prefers the -ize ending in words like scrutinize, standardize and analyze. British versions are all -ise. That means it is easier to play Scrabble in the U.K.!

An axe is the U.K. way of describing this weapon, but it's pronounced the same as the American ax.

Jewellery is the U.K. spelling, but they still say it "jewel-ry," like Americans. Either way, diamonds are forever.

The Brits still have an extraneous H in their yoghurt, but they don't pronounce it - the word is said the same in each place.

This is one where people in either place will understand the other one. They just spell it differently.

The English keep the double L in words like travelled, marvelled, etc. Americans just have the one. But they say these words the same way.

In American English, "I can't take this madness anymore" refers to time, and "I can't eat any more of these cookies" refers to number. In U.K. English, both versions would use two words.

Yep, it's a tonne. There are extra letters because it's just so heavy (and French).

A story is a tale. A storey is a floor of a building.

Yep, it's sombre in the U.K. and somber in the U.S. Either way, it's gloomy.

It's a cheque in the U.K. and a check in the U.S. Both mean that money will change hands.

Americans use cipher, but Brits use cypher. Solve that.

It's plough in the U.K., plow in the U.S. Brits also call the Big Dipper the Plough.

The American one is a skeptic, the British one is a sceptic. The American one is a little easier actually here, as it distinguishes itself properly from the use of SC as in school or science, by going with the unambiguous K.

The British use sheikh and the Americans sheik or sheikh. It's a homonym for shake, either way.

Words like dialog and analog are simplified in U.S. English. In the U.K., they are dialogue and analogue.

The U.K. use woolly with a double L - literally putting the -ly suffix on the word wool. Some Americans prefer the double L version as well.

The Americans simplified the British omelette to omelet.

Americans have eon, Brits have aeon. But technically that should be æon - it's just that neither side still uses the æ, which used to be common.

The Brits have a double V in this one, which means it's a great Scrabble word that you should remember. Now bring me a bevvy, please.

In the U.K., draught is for leaking air and draft is for when you get forced to be in the military.

The U.K. has baulk, the U.S. has balk. They sound the same, though.

The Brits call this an aeroplane, but they will definitely understand the American usage.

No one can spell this word in the best of circumstances, so they won't judge you if you get it wrong. British spelling here is the French version. American spelling flipped the ending, but also tidied up the middle by dumping the O.

Brits use likeable, Americans likable. Either way, as long as you are it, no one will mind if you cannot spell it.

The U.S. spelling is griffin. Gryphon is now becoming old-fashioned, even in the U.K., so you can probably get away with using griffin in both.

Offence, defence, etc., are all British words. Americans have offense and defense. Some words stayed the same in the U.S., though, like cadence and science.

While sometimes you see "disc" for hard drives and "disk" for external drives, actually disc is the U.K. version and disk the U.S. version. Despite the common misconception that it came first, diskette is actually a later word - it's spelled the same in both places, as discette would be hard to read.