Someone came up with that years ago, perhaps George Bernard Shaw, the Irish playwright.

“England and America are two countries separated by the same language,” he is reputed to have said.

And working in “British-English” newsroom, at The National in Abu Dhabi, I can vouch for this. We are all speaking the same language, except when we’re not.

But today, rather than point out the difference in usage, I will focus on differences in pronunciation. And I’m sure it sounds as jarring from from American speaker to British listener as it does the other direction.

For example

–For Omega, o-MEE-guh

–For furor (furore), fur-OR-ee

–For controversy, con-TRO-versy

–For pasta, PAH-sta

–For urinal, “yur-RYE-nal”

–For nike, “NIKE” (rhymes with “pike”)

–For advertisement, “ad-VERT-iss-ment”

–For banana, “Buh-NAH-nah”

–For the name Martinez, “MART-in-ez”

–For derby, “DARR-bee”

–For lieutenant, “lef-TEN-ent”

–For vitaman, “VITT-uh-min”

–For aluminum, add a vowel and say, “AL-you-MIN-ium”

–For privacy, “PRIH-vuh-cee” (a short “i”)

–For mobile, “MO-bile”

–For garage, “GAIR-udge”

And it goes on. Have a 10-minute conversation with one of the British cousins, and you come across another.