You mentioned motorway being equivalent to freeway or interstate.
Note that "freeway" is a Western (mostly California) term, which sounds as
foreign to a Floridian as does motorway.
top up vs. fill up -- we do "top off" our gas (petrol) tanks, after filling
up, i.e., after the pump valve clicks off, one "tops off" the tank to the
nearest 5 or 10 cents.
bill vs. check (in a restaurant) -- in the Southeast, we tend to say "bill"
While we do call a dollar a "bill" rather than a "note", all U.S. currency
has the words "Federal Reserve Note" printed on it.
If one borrows money from a bank, one "takes out a note."
How does a barrister differ from a solicitor? They're all lawyers here.
I've never got (sic!) very clear on how our usage of "post" vs. "mail"
compares, but we seem to reverse meanings in at least some cases.
In the U.S., a mailman or mail carrier carries the mail, while working for
the Post Office. He is a "postal worker." He puts the "mail" in one's mail
box. The large receptacles outside the post office or on a street
corner, where one mails a letter, are called drop boxes.
You listed tea towel vs. dish cloth and dish towel. That's also a regional
thing. In Pennsylvania, where my family is (not "are") from, one
washes dishes with a dish cloth, then dries them with a tea towel.
In Florida, we wash with a dish rag and dry with a dish towel. I don't
know of a site in the US where dishes are dried with a dish cloth.
Have you read "The Mother Tongue -- English
and How it Got that Way", by Bill Bryson? I think it was originally published in
Britain. It's a fascinating look at exactly this subject. Another
favorite (without the "u") book is "Brit Think -- Ameri-Think". It also
has sections on difference in language, "correct" vs. "horrible" things
to name a child (one will meet many boys named "Randy" in the U.S.,
but never a Crinan and seldom a Malcolm. It also looks at our
national psyche -- what makes us "tick." It is quite insulting
to both sides, but an embarrassing lot of truth among the insults.
I thought of another area of differing speech: our use of prepositions
and articles with certain nouns. I believe you are "at" school or
university, are you not? We are "in" school or "in" or "at" THE
university.
You are in hospital; We are in THE hospital.
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