🌍 American vs British · vocabulary
purse vs handbag
A bag carried to hold personal items such as money, keys, and a phone.
American
purse
“She dug through her purse looking for the car keys at the bottom.”
British
handbag
“She dug through her handbag looking for the car keys at the bottom.”
Good to know
In American English a "purse" is the bag itself, but in British English a "purse" is a small wallet for coins and notes, and the larger bag is a "handbag." This difference can cause genuine confusion between the two dialects.
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