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used on the other side of the Atlantic. But the matter is not as
simple as that. These pairs present quite different cases.
It is only in some rare cases like tin-opener — can-opener or
fishmonger — fish-dealer that the members of such pairs are
semantically equivalent.
In pairs like government — administration, leader —
editorial only one lexical semantic variant of one of the members
is locally-marked. Thus in the first pair the lexical semantic variant
of administration — ‘the executive officials of a government’ is an
Americanism, in the second pair the word leader in the meaning of
‘leading article in a newspaper’ is a Briticism.
In some cases a notion may have two synonymous
designations used on both sides of the Atlantic ocean, but one of
them is more frequent in Britain, the other — in the USA. Thus in
the pairs post — mail, timetable — shedule the first word is more
frequent in Britain, the second — in America. So the difference
“here lies only in word-frequency.
Most locally-marked lexical units belong to partial
Briticisms, Americanisms, etc., that is they are typical of this or
that variant only in one or some of their meanings. Within the
semantic structure of such words one may often find meanings
belonging to general English, Americanisms and Briticisms, e.g.,
in the word pavement, the meaning ’street or road covered with
stone, asphalt, concrete, etc’ is an Americanism, the meaning
‘paved path for pedestrians at the side of the road’ is a Briticism
(the corresponding American expression is sidewalk), the other
two meanings ‘the covering of the floor made of flat blocks of
wood, stone, etc’ and ’soil’ are general English. Very often the
meanings that belong to general English are common and neutral,
central, direct, while the Americanisms are colloquial, marginal
and figurative, e.g. shoulder — general English — ‘the joint
connecting the arm or forelimb with the body’, Americanism —
‘either edge of a road or highway’.

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