DIARY OR JOURNAL vs. AGENDA

Good morning.

As I have mentioned to many of you, an excellent way to keep your English active during the year (and especially in the summer) is to write ever day in a Journal in English. However, today my objective is not to talk about ways to keep your English alive, but to point out a difference between British and American English.

A Journal is a book where you write about your experiences each day. A synonym of journal is diary in US English.

In British English a diary is an appointment book and a journal is where you write about your daily experiences. In US English, on the other hand, it's common to call an appointment book an agenda and Americans write about their daily experiences in a diary or a journal.

This is a minor vocabulary difference, but it can cause confusion.

SUMMARY DIARY vs. AGENDA vs. JOURNAL

Journal
UK--> a book where you write about your daily experiences
US--> a book where you write about your daily experiences

Diary
UK--> an appointment book
US--> a book where you write about your daily experiences

Agenda
US--> an appointment book
UK--> not used in this way, although in both US and UK English agenda has other related meanings, for example the agenda of a meeting.

Back in February we looked at lots of differences between standard UK and US English. As we pointed out, there really aren't that many differences, but there are some vocabulary differences that can cause confusion and this is one of them.

If you have any questions about the dialectical differences between these words, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Have a great day and enjoy your weekend!