Legal Writing

Abroad and Overseas

By Maeve Maddox

Lucia Waterman asks:

What is the difference between “abroad” and “overseas”? When use it?

As adverbs meaning “out of one’s own country,” abroad and overseas are used interchangeably, as can be seen in these headlines and the text that follows them:

Renewable energy money still going abroad, despite criticism from Congress
Money from the 2009 stimulus bill to help support the renewable energy industry continues to flow overseas?

Lawyer Barred from Going Abroad
Authorities ban a Chinese rights lawyer from traveling overseas.

Overseas and abroad can also be used as adjectives, but overseas is used before a noun, while abroad always comes after the word it describes.

In an increasingly global economy, overseas employment is becoming a realistic alternative for many people.

Thin U.S. job market translates study abroad into work abroad

Here’s a headline that manages to use both overseas and abroad as adjectives to describe the same noun:

Overseas Jobs Abroad, International Jobs in Caribbean & Cayman Islands

As adverbs, overseas and abroad are not always interchangeable. Travelers from the United States to Canada or Mexico can be said to be going “abroad,” but it would make little sense to say that they are going “overseas.”

Full post as published by Daily Writing Tips on June 11, 2010 (boomark / email).