The Spoken Language

Intercultural competence is important in every aspect of communication, but it is probably the most noticeable in verbal communication. Although the United States and Great Britain are both countries sharing the English language, there are still differences that exist between the two languages. Some of the most common differences that affect intercultural communication are the differences in greetings, conversation topics, and vocabulary. It is important to understand the differences in the verbal communication norms between U.S. English and British English.

Greetings

While formal business greetings between colleagues are very similar in both countries, informal greetings in the United States can be very different from those in Great Britain. In the U.S. an informal greeting would typically be something simple, such as “Hello,” and sometimes among good friends, “Hey man, what’s up?” However, it is common in the British culture for men to toss a good natured insult with their other greeting phrase, such as “Hey, you sad bastard.” (Allen-Pellowe)

Conversation

Once conversation is started, there are a few differences in the acceptable subjects for small talk. In general, the British prefer to avoid personal questions. No big surprise there, but what they view as too personal can catch unwary travelers off guard. The easiest mistake for a U.S. visitor to make would be to casually ask what someone does for a living. U.S. European Americans think of career as an integral part of who a person is; it is where the majority of European Americans’ time goes and the best indicator of social standing. While this is a common topic to break the ice in the U.S. culture, in Britain that information is considered too personal to ask of someone you just met. Similarly, if a group of coworkers meet up in a pub after work, talking about the job would be frowned upon. Discussing work related matters when out socializing is considered impolite in Great Britain (Morrison, Conaway, and Borden 112). It seems that while the European American culture views a job as a central part of defining who a person is, the British think of work as simply a way to earn a living and pay for the things that really matter.

Topics/questions to avoid asking the British:

• Questions like “What do you do?” and “What part of England are you from?” are considered too personal
• Controversial topics such as politics or religion
• The British work ethic
• Jokes about the royal family
• Discussion of one’s genealogy (Morrison, Conaway, and Borden 111)

Acceptable topics for casual conversation in Great Britain:

• Animals (Morrison, Conaway, and Borden 111)
• Popular culture
• Music
• Television
• Books
• Vacations, which the British call holidays
• Sports, especially British football
• Weather (Allen-Pellowe)

Vocabulary

Within the English language, the two countries share similarities with some words, but they also use completely different words to describe the same object. The following table shows some examples of words and phrases that the U.S. English and British English languages share, yet they have different meanings.

There are several examples of words and phrases in which the two languages use different words to describe objects. It is important to understand these differences to become competent in intercultural communication with the British and so as not to offend the culture in which you are visiting. This table shows some examples of different words used by each language to describe the same object.

These are not the only variations between U.S. English and British English; however, the topics that have been covered are the most common errors that occur in verbal intercultural communication with the British. When communicating with a person from Great Britain, whether visiting the country for vacation or doing business, it is important to understand the major differences before interaction occurs so as not to offend the person you are communicating with.