Vintage project part 5 - translating British English to American English

Although we speak the same language, there is still a bit of a language barrier between those of us in the United States and the manufacturers of the Triumph Bonneville. Since the motorcycle originates in the England, the manual is written in British English.

Most of the differences come in the form of spelling: the use of an extra u in labor (labour), color (colour), and favorite (favourite) for example; the transposition of er to re in words such as center (centre) or theater (theatre); and the substitution of s for z in certain words like de-carbonizing (de-carbonising).

Other words or phrases discovered in the owner’s manual for the Triumph may need a “dictionary” of sorts for translation (British English first translated to common usage in the United States):
 

• Alternative fitments – various models and/or options
• Aluminium – aluminum; there is more than an extra i in the spelling, there is an entire extra syllable
• Anti-clockwise – counter-clockwise
• Bodge – a bodge job is a quick and dirty job meant to look good but maybe not last
• Bump start – to start a vehicle with a flat (dead) battery, i.e., push start in second and pop the clutch
• Car park – parking lot
• Central reservation – grassy median on a divided highway
• Contact breaker – points
• Dipper lights – low beams
• Dipper switch – dimmer switch
• Distancing piece – spacer (fat washer)
• Diversion – detour
• Dual carriageway – divided highway
• Flat battery – dead battery
• Gas – what Brits cook with and heat with as opposed to Petrol – what a car (or motorcycle) runs on
• Give way – yield
• Earth – ground, used in electrics the British say “positive earth” we say “negative ground”
• Fixing bracket – attaching bracket or clamping bracket
• Flamboyant finishes – brilliant or bright finishes
• Head lamp – headlight
• High or low tension – high or low voltage
• Hooter – horn (or a person’s nose but hey we are talking about motorcycles, right?)
• Indicator – turn signal
• Inlet port – intake port
• Level crossing – grade crossing
• Linishing – file or make flat
• Mudguard – fender
• Near side lane – the slow lane
• Number plate – license plate
• Overtake – pass
• Paraffin – kerosene
• Pavement – sidewalk
• Petrol station – gas station
• Prang – ding, dent, or some other minor collision type injury to vehicle
• Silencer – muffler
• Slip road – entrance or exit ramp for freeway
• Spanner – wrench (remember the Rod Stewart album A Spanner in the Works? – it meant to throw a wrench in the works, in other words to sabotage)
• Sparking plugs – spark plugs
• Stopper – filler or bondo for sheet metal
• Swinging fork – swing arm
• Tick over – idling engine
• Torch – flashlight
• Tyre – tire
• Verge – the grassy edge of the road
• Windscreen – windshield
• Wing – fender

And British friends, if there is a misinterpertation here, comment with a correction. 

For more information on the Vintage Project - the 1971 Triumph Bonneville, click on the articles in the sidebar to the right.