Housing Vocabulary in American and British English

Housing Vocabulary in American and British English | List of American vs. British Housing Vocabulary With Description and Pictures

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Housing Vocabulary in American and British English: With illustrations, it makes it much easier to learn the American and British differences list of housing terminology. There is a pretty notable distinction between the housing terms in the United Kingdom and the United States.

To help an individual get started with the basic difference related to household things, we’ve put up a hand-picked list of American vs. British housing vocabulary just for you.

List of American vs. British Housing Vocabulary Words in English

Name of American vs. British Housing Vocabulary Words

It is partially due to the divergent routes that these two countries pursued following the Second World War, which has contributed to this situation. Aside from differences in construction and characteristics, these two cultures also differ when it comes to the terminology used to describe dwellings.

The following list, which includes everything from electrical outlets to air conditioning, and also British vs American food name will astound you. It would be beneficial to become familiar with these distinct phrases, especially if you are from the United Kingdom and want to go to the United States or vice versa. Take a look at a few often-used terms that may leave you baffled and bewildered.

List of American vs. British Housing

Description of the American vs. British Housing Vocabulary Words

Bath – Bath Tub

A bathtub, often known as a bath or tub, is a container that holds water and may be used to wash a human or an animal. The most common materials used in modern bathtubs are thermoformed acrylic, porcelain-enamelled steel, fibreglass-reinforced polyester, and porcelain-enamelled cast iron.

Bin/ Dust Bin – Trash Can

A waste container is a particular type of container that is generally constructed of metal or plastic and is also termed as a dustbin, rubbish can, or trash can. In British English, the words “basket,” “bin,” and “rubbish” are more commonly used; in American English, the phrases “trash” and “can” are more commonly used.

Block of Flats – Apartment Building, Apartment House

A self-contained housing unit (a form of residential real estate) is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that occupies just a portion of a building, usually on a single level. Apartment tenure ranges from large-scale public housing to owner-occupation within what is technically a condominium (strata title or commonhold) to renters renting from a private landlord (see leasehold estate).

Bungalow – One Story House

A bungalow is a small home or cottage with a second floor constructed into a sloping roof (typically with dormer windows) and broad verandas. Because all living rooms are on one level and there are no steps between them, bungalows are particularly handy for homeowners.

Bureau De Change – Currency Exchange

A currency exchange (British English) or a bureau de change (plural bureaux de change, both) is a company where customers may swap one currency for another.

Chemist’s Shop – Drugstore

A pharmacy is a store that sells medicinal medications as well as other items. A pharmacist manages the fulfilment of medical prescriptions at the pharmacy and is ready to advise people on prescription and over-the-counter medications, as well as healthcare and wellness problems.

The Cinema – The Movies

A film, often known as a movie, motion picture, or moving picture, is a work of visual art that uses moving pictures to mimic experiences such as ideas, tales, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or ambience. Sound and, on rare occasions, additional sensory stimulations accompany these pictures. The term “cinema,” short for “cinematography,” is frequently used to refer to both filmmaking and the film business, as well as the art form that has resulted.

Cooker – Stove, Range

A heat storage burner and cooker that operates on the concept that a heavy frame composed of cast iron components can collect heat from a low-intensity but continuously burning source and then use the stored heat for cooking when needed.

Corner Shop – Grocery Store

A grocery store, also known as a supermarket or grocery shop in the United Kingdom, is a business that actually sells a wide variety of food goods, both fresh and packaged. Larger grocery stores, such as supermarkets and hypermarkets, typically stock a large variety of non-food items, such as clothes and home supplies. Greengrocers are small grocery businesses that specialise in fruits and vegetables.

Creche – Daycare

Crèche or creche (from Latin cripia “crib, cradle”) can refer to a child care centre, an organisation of individuals who look after children in the absence of their parents, or a preschool or nursery school.

Curtains – Curtains, Drapes

A curtain is usually a piece of fabric that is used to block or hide the light, air draughts, or water in the case of a shower curtain. In a theatre, a curtain is a moveable screen or drape that divides the stage from the audience or acts as a backdrop/background.

Drawing Room – Living Room

A living room, also termed as a lounge room (Australian English), lounge (British English), sitting room (British English), or drawing-room in Western architecture, is a room in a residential house or apartment for resting and socialising. A sitting room is a modest private living area adjacent to a bedroom in big, traditional residences.

Fishmonger’s – Fish Store

A fishmonger (historically referred to as a fishwife by female practitioners) is a person who sells raw fish and seafood. Fishmongers are skilled in selecting and purchasing, handling, gutting, boning, filleting, exhibiting, marketing, and selling their products and can be wholesalers or retailers. Modern supermarkets are displacing fishmongers who work in shops or fish markets in certain nations.

Fruiterer’s – Fruit Store

A fruit stand is an open-air company that sells seasonal fruit and a variety of other fruit items from local producers. It might also sell veggies and different processed fruit products. Though many big food industry firms have evolved from fruit stand operations, the fruit stand is a modest company structure that is typically managed as an independent sole proprietorship, with relatively few franchises or branches of larger fruit stand conglomerates.

Garden – Back Yard

A backyard, often known as a back yard, is a space at the rear of a house that is prevalent in Western suburban constructions. A poultry run, outhouse (“dunny”), vegetable garden, and Woodhead would historically be found in the property’s back yard.

Flat – Apartment

A self-contained housing unit (a form of residential real estate) is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that occupies just a portion of a building, usually on a single level.

Floor – Storey

The floor is a room’s or a building’s bottom surface. From basic dirt in a cave to multi-layered surfaces created with contemporary technology, floors come in many shapes and sizes. Stone, metal, wood, bamboo, or any other material that can hold the projected load can be used for floors. The storey is a more appropriate name for a building’s levels, which are commonly referred to as floors.

Ironmonger – Hardware Store

An ironmonger is a merchant who specialises in metal products, such as tools and hardware. Fasteners, power tools, building materials, hand tools, keys, locks, electrical supplies, cleaning products, hinges, chains, plumbing supplies, housewares, tools, utensils, lawn and paint and garden products are sold directly to consumers for use for business or home in hardware stores (in some countries, “shops”).

Lift – Elevator

An elevator (North American English) or lift (Commonwealth English) is a vertically transporting equipment that uses a cable, hydraulic cylinder, or roller-track to move people or freight between floors, levels, or decks of a building, vessel, or other structure. Electric motors generally drive traction cables and counterweight systems, such as a hoist, while others pump hydraulic fluid to lift a cylindrical piston, similar to a jack.

Pushchair – Stroller

Strollers, often known as ‘pushchairs/buggies’ in British English, are used to transport little children in a forward-facing sitting posture up to the age of three. There are a number of twin pushchairs available, some for babies of the same age (such as twins) and others for children with a little age gap.

Radio, Wireless – Radio

Radio is a signalling and communication technology that uses radio waves. Electromagnetic waves with a frequency of 30 hertz (Hz) to 300 gigahertz are known as radio waves (GHz). They are produced by an electrical device known as a transmitter, which is coupled to an antenna that radiates the waves, which are then received by another antenna attached to a radio receiver.

Ranch – House

Ranching (from Spanish: rancho) is the activity of rearing grazing animals such as cattle and sheep on a piece of land that includes numerous structures. It is a farm’s subtype. Ranchers, cattlemen, and stockgrowers are all terms used to describe someone who owns or run a ranch.

Reception – Front Desk, Lobby

A lobby is a space in a building that is used to welcome visitors from the street. It is frequently a huge space or series of rooms (in a theatre, opera house, concert hall, showroom, cinema, etc.) adjacent to the auditorium and is sometimes referred to as a foyer, reception area, or entry hall.

Semi-Detached – House Duplex

Two living units are linked to each other in a duplex home layout, either next to each other as townhouses or condominiums or above each other as apartments. A structure with two attached apartments on two separate properties, on the other hand, is commonly referred to as a duplex in portions of the Northeastern United States.

Shopping Center – Shopping Mall

A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a large indoor retail centre in North America that is generally anchored by department stores. The term “mall” was usually used to indicate a pedestrian promenade with shops (that is, the term was used to indicate to the walkway itself, which was merely bordered by such shops), but by the time of late 1960s, it had become a generic term for the large enclosed shopping malls that were becoming commonplace at the time.

Sink, Washbasin – Sink

A sink, also known as a washbasin, washbowl, hand basin, or simply basin, is a bowl-shaped plumbing fixture utilised for handwashing, dishwashing, and other chores. Sinks are equipped with taps (faucets) that supply both cold and hot water, as well as a spray function for fast rinsing. Additionally, they contain a drain for wastewater collection, which may incorporate a strainer and/or shut-off device, as well as an overflow prevention system.

Sweet Shop – Candy Store

Confectionery is sold at a confectionery store (also known as a sweet shop in the UK, a candy shop in North America, or a lolly shop in Australia), and the intended market is generally children. Most confectionery businesses have a far greater selection of sweets than a grocer or convenience store could provide.

Terrace – Town House

A terraced house, also known as a townhouse, townhome, townhouse, or townhome, is a kind of terraced dwelling. A contemporary townhouse often has a compact footprint and many levels. The phrase originally applied to any sort of city-dwelling (usually in London) of someone whose primary or greatest abode was a country house in a distinct British usage.

Tap – Faucet

A tap (also spigot or faucet: see use variants) is any daily form of valve that controls the discharge of a liquid or gas, notably the fittings that regulate water supply to bathtubs and sinks.

Toilet, Loo, WC – Washroom, Bathroom, Restroom

A bathroom or washroom is a room, generally found in a house or other residential structure, that contains a bathtub or a shower (or both). A washbasin is frequently included. A complete bathroom, by definition, has a bath or shower (or both), a toilet, and a sink.

Torch – Flashlight

A flashlight (in the United States), torch, or torchlight (in the United Kingdom) is a small, handheld electric light. Historically, the light source was a tiny incandescent light bulb, but since the mid-2000s, light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have taken their place. A standard flashlight consists of a light source positioned in a reflector, a clear cover (sometimes coupled with a lens) to protect the light source and reflector, a battery, and a switch, all contained within a casing.

Town Centre – Downtown

A town centre is a commercial, geographic, or central business district of a town. Historically, town centres have been connected with shopping or retail. Additionally, they serve as a hub of communication for large public transportation hubs such as railway or bus stations. Town centres frequently contain public buildings such as town halls, museums, and libraries.

Telly – TV (Television)

Television, abbreviated as TV or telly, is a kind of electronic communication that transmits moving pictures in monochrome (black and white) or colour, in two or three dimensions, and with sound. The word “television set” can refer to a television set, a television show, or the media used to transmit television. Television is a widely used mass media platform for advertising, entertainment, news, and sports.

Tea Towel/ Tea Cloth – Dish Towel

Tea towels or tea cloths (in the United Kingdom and Canada), referred to in America as dishtowels or dish towels, originated in 18th-century England. They are soft, lint-free linen towels that are absorbent. They are utilised in the kitchen to dry dishes, silverware, and other kitchen items following a wash. Additionally, the towels are utilised at tea time.

Wardrobe – Closet

A wardrobe, often known as an armoire, is a free-standing closet used to store clothing. The oldest wardrobe was a chest, and it was not until regal palaces and the castles of strong nobles achieved a certain level of grandeur that separate housing for the great’s clothes was given. The term “wardrobe” was originally used to a room in which the wall-space was taken up by closets and lockers, with the drawer being a relatively recent development.

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