Learn English – Which one is more British: “car hire” or “rent a car”

There's a lot of debate about which is right (!), but not much about why there's a difference - good question.

I found this:

The word Mathematics was first used in English in 1581, coming from the Latin word Mathematica. Since the -a suffix in Latin denotes a plural, the word was automatically pluralised when translated to English, even though the word itself is always used as a singular.

The abbreviation "Math" came first. The first recorded usage is in 1891. The British abbreviation "Maths" is not recorded until 1911. Based on this it seems reasonable to assume that either both countries developed the abbreviation separately or the British picked up the American abbreviation but then chose to pluralise it.

Unfortunately this information is unattributed, but it's the only theory I can dig up. In full here: http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/15988#ixzz1DPW8I322

In the US the word rent is for objects (cars, tv's, house, tool) and the word hire is for people/service. I cannot think of an example when this is not the case (I am sure a few odd examples exist though).

Upon getting comment from @user814064 I would add:

Rent can be used for a person/service if it is designated for a brief period. But in all of those cases the word hire could also be used.

In the example: "Rent a pilot" it would mean that you will use a pilot's service for one time or a short contracted time. It would also be perfectly acceptable to use "hire a pilot".

I think the missing word here is buy. If you take permanent ownership of an object the common term is buy - and then you own it. You wouldn't want to tell your wife that you hired a backhoe.