Diversas expressões idiomáticas do inglês que possuem essencialmente o mesmo significado mostram as diferenças lexicais entre a versão britânica e a americana da língua, por exemplo:
Britânico - Americano
not touch something with a bargepole - not touch something with a ten-foot pole
sweep under the carpet - sweep under the rug
touch wood - knock on wood
throw a spanner -throw a (monkey) wrench
tuppence worth also two pennies' worth, two pence worth or two pennyworth - two cents' worth
skeleton in the cupboard - skeleton in the closet
a home from home -a home away from home
blow one's trumpet - blow (or toot) one's horn
storm in a teacup - tempest in a teapot
a drop in the ocean - a drop in the bucket
flogging a dead horse - beating a dead horse
In some cases the "American" variant is also used in British English, or vice versa.
