¹ - When used to talk about roads and motorways. Someone I know took over 4 hours to complete a 25 minute drive, because he didn't know what his sat nav system meant when it said "Take the ramp".

² - When a Brit hears the word "yard" in connection with houses, we think of a concrete area, usually full of building materials, or work tools.

³ - Bank holidays have to follow certain rules, otherwise they are also known as public holidays in the UK. You can read more about what makes a bank holiday in the British Culture section.

!Note - *if the sink is in the kitchen - it's a sink, but if it's in the bathroom it's a basin.

Another huge difference that causes great confusion is writing the date. When you write the date in numbers British and American English differ. To write the date 7th of September 2007 a Brit would write dd/mm/yy (07/09/07) and an American would write mm/dd/yy (09/07/07). This often causes great confusion. It's better to write the date in full (7th September 2007 or September 7th 2007). It also looks nicer.

Spelling

-ise vs -ize

! - watch out! These words could prove embarassing.

-er vs -re

Words like center / centre.

Do you know any more? Let us know:-

Click here for a collection of common mistakes and their explanation.

Click here for more mistakes

Click here for a collection of real horror mistakes made by some of the best known companies in the world.

Click here for a collection of medical howlers.

(Thanks to Hermine, Naveen and Sally for a couple of additions on the forum and Facebook.

"We have really everything in common with America nowadays, except, of course, language." Oscar Wilde