British -> American Translations for Baby Terms

Cheerio!

Cheerios? Dan, what are you talking about?

Well Rose, we use different terms in the UK compared to the USA, interestingly some of the USA terms are the old English that was brought over when American was colonized and some of the UK terms are older versions of words that have been replaced by new words in the USA.

Ah, like for example:


  UK English                                                                  USA English
Anaesthetist                                                             Anaesthesiologist
Antenatal                                                                 Prenatal
Chemist                                                                   Pharmacy or Drug Store
Cot                                                                          Crib
Dummy                                                                   Pacifier
Flat                                                                          Apartment
Homely                                                                   Home-like*
'in hospital'                                                              'in the hospital'
Jumper                                                                     Sweater
Mum                                                                        Mom
Nappy                                                                      Diaper**
Polo neck, Roll neck                                                Turtle neck
Pram, Push Chair                                                     Baby stroller
Trolley                                                                     Shopping Cart
'sorry'                                                                       'excuse me' or 'pardon me'
'tucked up' as 'the baby was tucked up'                    'tucked in'
Vest                                                                         Undershirt, Tank top
Waistcoat                                                                 Vest


* In the USA 'Homely' means plain or ugly, Dan refers to the flat as homely often, even after I told him the American meaning of the word.

**Diaper is one case where the original word (from middle English, one of the earliest uses was "Another bear the ewer, the third a diaper" —Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew). Diaper was replaced by Nappy, probably a shortened form of Napkin, in the UK, Ireland, and South Africa.  Diaper continues to be used in the USA. 

There are also a few things to consider when naming a child, for example, 'Randy' is a popular name for a boy in the USA, but in the UK it would be like naming your child 'Horney'. 

It is also worth mentioning that like American English, English in the UK can be very regional.  Londoner's and Southerners in general speak differently than people from the North.  Similarly, in the USA someone from Louisiana uses more words of french origin while someone from Pennsylvania would use more words of german origin.  

There are also totally different languages spoken in different regions of the USA and the UK, but that is a different post.