A few question about English

1. English between the UK and America is close enough you can mostly get the gist at minimum. Seldomly, there are scenarios where they sound like completely different languages from each other. Ex. Speak to a cajun in Louisiana. There are Americans who can't understand them well, id imagine there's an equivalent across the pond. 2. Understanding music lyrics requires two or three different skills. Understanding the language, being able to process it quickly, and being able to focus enough to pull the lyrics from the music. Most native speakers can do this, in most scenarios anyway. Occasionally something will be mixed poorly or some other circumstance will interfere with the ability to understand the vocals.

1. As long as they mostly speak clearly, I (as an American) can understand the British. It can just require some extra focus. 2. No I can't, it's really hard. I can almost never figure out what they're saying until I look up the lyrics.

Most of the time, there's no problems for this American to understand British English. Maybe there's a word that's different (such as biscuit, bonnet, and lift) from the American usage. There might be a little confusion that everyone can laugh about afterwards. Some words don't exist for the other (for example, Americans don't talk about lorries). Sometimes you'll find an insufferable jerk who doesn't realize there are other countries. I see this a lot from Americans, but British people aren't immune from this. For example, someone may talk about maths, and some yahoo will boisterously reply with "It's MATH! There's no S in MATH you idiot!" Which of course makes him the idiot for not recognizing that maths is a legitimate term for mathematics in that country.

>1.Are British English and American English are much different each other? there are a lot of differences when it comes to spelling, grammar, and words for things. >And are British able to understand what American say? And reverse? despite these numerous differences, we can understand each other pretty well. most instances of American/British miscommunication probably stem from words we both use, but for different things (like pants) >Can English speaker catch each words in up-tempo English music? generally, yes. but misunderstanding words/meanings is common. that's why sites like genius exist.

1. Yes. A lot of differences occur in spelling only, too. 2. Some songs by Lil Baby we’re actually still trying to decipher what he said years later. I’ll listen to a whole album of his and not catch a single word. Shit slaps though

1. British English and American English speakers often understand each other, especially when both are using close to a standard dialect. US and UK both have dialects which are harder for outsiders to understand, due to lack of familiarity. 2. It really depends on how clearly the singer is singing. Some songs are easy to understand, while others are more difficult. Missing some words here or there is common when listening to songs, even for native English speakers.

Mostly yes, for the most part brits and americans can understand each other fully without issue. There are a few words or usages which are uncommon in the other language and may require clarification. However it may be hard for some americans to decipher a heavy cockney accent, and it may be hard for some brits to decipher a heavy US deep southern accent

1. We understand each other about 99% of the time, and the remaining 1% is often just funny. 2. It depends. Some music is completely unintelligible; some is perfectly clear. Slower music is more *likely* to be easier to understand, but quite often isn't.

1. Yes and no. We have different words for the same things and of course pronunciations. We can mostly understand each other, though the further you get from the neutral "nationwide tv broadcaster" the harder it can be to understand. 2. There's been a long trend in British music of singing like Americans. Having said that, there have been American singers that are hard for Americans to understand. (Eddie Vedder being the iconic example.)

1. American and British people can understand each other almost perfectly. Aside from some small slang, pronunciation, and phrase differences. An American might greet with “Howdy” while a Brit might greet with “G’day.” 2. Depends on the song, artist, and volume.

American here. I have traveled around the world; lived abroad; met, done business with, and befriended people who speak a variety of languages and a various forms of English. I have never had any trouble understanding them. But the way some Scousers and even some Sheffielders sound is damn near impenetrable to me.

While everyone's comments here are correct They are basically the same language - both understand each other fully without ever studying the difference between the 2 "languages", most people don't consider them different because pointing out the difference is considered kind of pedantic. - plenty of comments touch on the differences so I won't go into them but I reckon you'll be more affected by slang and accent

1) there are a few small differences and words. British and Australians can understand Americans, Americans don’t always know British/australian slang. 2) Mostly.

We may use different words for things that didn't exist in 1776. The rest is pretty much the same. We understand each other well. Most American dialects are rhotic: we pronounce the letter R. Most British dialects do not. Hiberno-English and Canadian English are rhotic, as is Scots (a separate language, but closely related. Australian, New Zealand, and South African are non-rhotic.

I am an American and have been to England about three times, and have good friends who are English. I understood everything except now and then I would hear a slang word I didn't know. Some words are used slightly differently, like "presently." But there is never any barrier. Britain is more than just England, though. There are some English speakers in Britain that Americans would not understand. Or even the English. It's a matter of accent more than what they are actually saying. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4k8dR04TzA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4k8dR04TzA)

1. For the most part, yes. There are occasional "separated by a common language" things, like words and phrases having different meanings across the Atlantic, or some slang being common in one country but not the other. But honestly, that happens even within the same country to varying extents. Usually the most that happens is a few seconds of confusion and maybe clarifying what they meant. It's rare that I've run into a native speaker who I flat out could not understand, and I've never had issues being understood. 2. It depends a lot on the song. If it's something like fast rapping, I can mostly follow it but will probably miss some words the first time I hear it. If the singer has a strong accent or their voice is distorted, I'm less likely to understand it all on the first listen. Even slow music can be misheard, though. If you want a bit of a rabbit hole, look up mondegreens. It's people mishearing lyrics and some songs are known for having a line or two that's frequently misheard.

1. For the most part, the differences do not significantly affect understanding, although spelling differences can be tricky to understand sometimes. 2. Some people can catch every word in most songs, some people get very few in all but the slowest and most well enunciated vocals, many are more successful than not. I'm curious, is that different in other languages? Is it rare for lyrics in other languages to be difficult to understand?

1. It's 99% the same 2. No. I often need to look up lyrics no matter what tempo a song is in.

When Americans hear British English, they tend to associate the speaker with the upper class or someone who is trying to act fancy. I remember at summer camp, frequently a few of the counselors were British and we (the kids) would take the piss out of them by trying to pack a sentence with as many British terms as we could. “Hey ____, I dropped my torch down the loo!” just to get their reaction. All in good fun. Song lyrics? No, I usually have to read the lyrics at first and then I can sing along.

The basic English language is very much the same. The way a sentence is structured, most of the words we use, it’s the same. But then there are some words the UK use and the US doesn’t. Those are the words we point out and ask what they are. But as an adult, I understand most things UK person says because I have been exposed to UK English through the TV and social media. I stream many shows from other English speaking countries. I haven’t come across many words I don’t already know of the dialect. If I don’t know it, I google it. Mostly they are cooking terms I don’t know or herbs, vegetables, things like that.

1. Not really. Sometimes there’s the occasional difference in grammar or vocabulary, but we can usually understand each other with no issue. The only thing that’s sometimes difficult is if someone has a particularly strong accent. 2. I certainly don’t - I watch shows and movies with subtitles and constantly look up lyrics because my audio processing can be atrocious.

Except for some colloquial terms there is not much difference. Sometimes there are preposition choices that are different but they don't change the meanings. Most British or Americans easily understand each other's news, movies, tv etc… Sometimes words are different but you can pick up their meaning by context.

1. They're very similar. There are a few words and phrases that we use differently. Generally speaking, we understand each other without any problem whatsoever. The exception might be for very localized dialects/accents. I've run across a few people where I've had to ask them to repeat themselves. 2. It depends, of course. If we're listening for it, mostly yes.

1. They are different, especially in terms of vowel sounds, some vocabulary, and the pronunciation of the letter r, but they are the same language and are very much mutually intelligible. Irish English and Scots, however, are generally difficult for most other English speakers to understand. 2. It depends on the music. I in particular don’t have great hearing in general, though, and have trouble understanding a lot of fast-paced songs.

British people and Americans can understand each other. We understand most of the words of songs, but it depends on the song. There’s a phenomenon where we mishear words often in songs. It happens so frequently that there are funny videos about it on YouTube. Here’s an [example](https://youtu.be/xLd22ha_-VU?si=LVVVHqRAjroRjsiD) of a very severe case of it. Although even the writer of the song wasn’t sure about the lyrics. He was drunk when he recorded and wrote it. I often make-up words to pop songs when I’m not sure what they’re saying. My daughter is 9 and I constantly correct her when she’s singing a song. We laugh a lot about it. It’s very common.

We English people speak and write in the correct form of English.

British English and American English are very similar, but some things are a little different, for example, in British English pants means underwear (outside of Yorkshire), while in American English, pants means trousers. Most of the time, we understand each other well enough, though strong accents or slang may make it difficult. If music is fast enough, nobody is going to catch every single word in a song regardless of the language they speak

They understand each other fine most of the time. Regional and heavy slang can cause confusion, but I think most people are smart enough to steer away from using heavy slang if they know they're talking to someone who probably won't understand it. (Or it becomes a fun little learning opportunity for one or both parties) Most of the differences are in spelling (color vs colour), pronunciation (American english pronounces 'schedule' with a 'sk' sound, British english is an 'sh' sound), or it's a complete word difference (lift vs elevator), but the word differences are easy to work around, and spending any amount of time engaging with the opposite dialect makes them easy to learn. Grammar is largely the same (with minor exceptions). (Anecdotally, there was a mildly humorous situation on TikTok a few years ago where a British song got popular enough to make the jump across the pond, and most of the Americans listening to it didn't know what the lyrics were because of the singer's accent and the unfamiliar slang words) As for understanding lyrics in general, a lot of people struggle to understand the words to what we call "mumble rap" or just rap songs in general. It also happens with metal (or "screamo") music, and even in pop songs, there's frequent misheard lyrics. (Two examples, in the song Blank Space, people often misheard the line "Got a long list of ex-lovers" as "get along like Starbucks lovers", and in the song Livin' on a Prayer, the line "It doesn't make a difference if we make it or not" has been misheard as "doesn't make a difference if we're naked or not".) Also, this happens so often that there's a meme that resurfaces at the beginning of May every year, featuring the song It's Gonna Be Me, that pokes fun at the fact that the way that line is sung sounds more like "It's gonna be May".

1. Generally speaking yes, with only some words being harder to understand due to sound or cultural differences. 2. Not all the time, no. Mishearings in songs happen all the time

Generally yes, British and American English are mutually intelligible. There will be some words and expressions that are unique to one dialect group, though, and both of these groups also have a pretty large variety of dialects within them.

Which British? As an American from the West Coast, I rarely have trouble communicating with, say, Londoners. We watch each other's TV, and our dialects are similar anyway. Glasgow is another matter.

Mate, I'm British and there are plenty of pop songs by British artists where I don't have a scooby what they're on about.

We can understand each other fine. The only difference is the accent and the lingo/slang

1. Yes, both are mutually intelligible. There are some differences in vocabulary, much of which both sides of the pond are aware of. I wouldn't say that either is more different from each other than specific local dialects are from the standard English of the same country. For instance, there are some rural dialects of American English that would confuse other Americans far more than British English. Same in Britain. 2. Generally you can make out the words, however music is such that lyrics will always be misheard. Sometimes words are used in strange order, with non-standard syllable stress, or vowel modification is done, though these are not exclusive to English.

1. Yes 2. Not really sure, but part of me also says yes

1. Yes as most words have the same meaning, and few words have radically different meanings — for example 🇬🇧- “biscuit” 🇺🇸 “cookie”. (“Biscuits” in 🇺🇸 aren’t sugary.) Some words are used in the same context - 🇬🇧- “postman & postbox” —> 🇺🇸- “mailman & mailbox” while everyone goes to the “post office”. 😅 Our spellings for some words are different “our” “or” in color or “organized” vs 🇬🇧 “organised”. I’m American 🇺🇸, British friends feel free to add more examples. There are whole books written about this.

I lived in the UK as a Canadian English speaker for five years, and encountered a word I didn't know, or used a word they didn't know, maybe once a month. I lived in the US for two years, and used a word an American didn't know maybe once a year.

1. there are some different word choices and spellings, but we fully understand each other. 2. not necessarily.