American English to British English Dictionary
Punctuation Marks, Signs, Digits and Numbers
#
This sign, a musical "sharp", looking like a small noughts and crosses
board, is called a hash sign, but is read as "number". You often see it
in the credits of American films and television programmes, for example
"Gangster#1", "Gangster#2", which would be read as "Gangster number one",
"Gangster number two".
24/7
Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. In other words, always operative,
always open, never closes, or all the time.
76 and '76
Any mention of 76 (or '76), or "The Spirit of 76" (or '76) is almost certainly
a reference to the American Declaration of Independence in 1776.
800
In the USA and Canada telephone numbers with an area code of 800 ("800
numbers") are toll-free, like British 0800 numbers. In the USA and Canada
you sometimes need to put a 1 before the 800, so you often see the numbers
quoted as 1-800-...
911
In most if not all parts of the USA and Canada the telephone number for
contacting the emergency services is 911, equivalent to the British 999
number.
Language Differences
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