Reading some forum pages about the meaning of the phrase never mind, I realized that there's a difference in usage of it, between American and British English. What's the difference in meaning of this phrase in American English and British English?
Learn English – “Never mind” in American English and British English
american-englishbritish-englishmeaningword-usage
Related Solutions
AmEng speakers do NOT use definite articles all the time; whether we do or not depends on what we want to say, and how we want to sound saying it. In particular, the use of the definite article with the present tense of the verb "to be" depends (in the words of a famous American) on what your definition of "is" is. Several of your example sentences sound distinctly unnatural to my USAite ear. Here are my suggestions based on my own usage:
School:
- He is in school. - He is a student; specific time does not matter. Perhaps it's Friday night and he's partying right now.
- He is in the school. - This does not sound natural at all to an American ear.
- He is enrolled in the school. - He is a student.
- He is at school. - He might be a student OR a teacher, but he is on the premises at this moment.
- He is at the school. - "The school" is a local landmark, and he's there right now.
Hospital:
He is in hospital. - He's an inpatient. This is valid, but not usual American usage. Anglophiles (Americans who like to drop Briticisms into their speech to appear more sophisticated) will sometimes use this.
He is in the hospital. - He's an inpatient.
He is at hospital. - We don't say this.
He is at the hospital. - He might be an outpatient, or he might work there; either way, he's there right now.
Church:
He is in church. - Services are in progress right now, and he's there.
He is at church. - Interchangeable with "in church".
He is in the church. - He's inside the building; no information is conveyed about what he's doing there (he might be polishing the floor, for example.)
He is at the church. - He's on the church grounds, not necessarily inside the sanctuary.
University/ College:
He is in university. - Americans don't usually say "in university"; "in college", however, means that he's a student.
He is enrolled in university. - He's a student.
He is at university. - He's a student. This is much more common than "in university", for some reason.
He is in the university. - Again, we don't say this.
He is at the university. - The university is a local landmark and he's there now. (Who is he - student, professor, tourist? Not enough information.)
Prison:
He is in prison. - He's a prisoner.
He is at prison. - We don't say this.
He is in the prison. - He's inside the building. He might be a prisoner, a warden, a visitor...
He is at the prison. - He's on the grounds, not necessarily inside the building - he might be waiting in the car while his wife visits her brother.
Anyway, when talking to British people do I really have to expect that they don't know what I'm talking about when using the word rubber instead of condom?
Yes. That definition of rubber is not really used in the UK. Some people would know it from personal experiences of Americans. Like me. I know it because I have met some Americans in the UK and this word came up in the context of meeting one of them: in primary school, there was an American pupil in the last year. This definition would not generally, be reliable in the UK.
And when talking to American people, should I avoid rubber and use eraser instead whenever I expect it might sound ambiguous? To be more concrete: the OALD designates rubber (as eraser) as British English, thus do I have to suspect that an American may not be aware of that meaning?
That would be the most reliable approach. As you can see from this discussion, there are some Americans who are aware of the British meaning of rubber but it is not used in the USA. Because of this, it is unreliable in the USA and many Americans might not know this meaning. When talking to Americans, it would be best to use the American word, eraser.
Finally, when talking to both an American and a British at the same time, which words do I use for condom and eraser so that both will understand me correctly?
For a condom, just use the word condom. This is the proper word used in the UK and the USA. As the following links show, using the word rubber to mean a condom, is American slang:
US slang for a condom (Cambridge Dictionaries Online)
[countable] American English informal a condom (Longman Dictionary)
And the USA has this slang for the word, as well as the word itself.
For the word eraser, there will have to be a different kind of answer. This is an example of, one of the many differences in American English. Because the word eraser is not generally, reliable in the UK, it is not certain that any, particular British person, will know its American meaning. Whether or not it will be understood, will depend on which, particular British people you talk to.
If you talk to an American person and a British person at the same time, just use the word condom. It is understood in both countries.
Regarding eraser, you have a few possibilities. If you find out first, that one of the two knows the word used in the other's country; you can use a sentence that has just that word. For example, if you knew that the American person knows the British meaning of rubber, you can use just that. It could be that you are writing with a pencil and want to change some of the writing. You could ask, "have you got a rubber?". If you don't know in advance whether one of the two knows the word used in the other's country; you would need to use a sentence that covers both words. For example, you could ask "have you got a rubber/eraser?". You could also find out by asking, when you talk to them.
Best Answer
I'd say there really isn't much difference in usage between American English and British English. In both dialects, it can be used to mean "it's alright", and dismissively to mean something like "shut up, I'm annoyed". A lot of it depends on tone of voice.