Several words for bodies of water changed meanings between the old country and the new.
In England a pond is artificial, but in America it is natural. Creek in British English refers to an inlet from the sea, while in American English it describes a tributary of a river. An English watershed is a line or ridge separating the waters that flow into different drainage areas, but in America it’s a slope down which the water flows, or the catchment area of a river. Americans added the meaning of a small stream or brook to branch and said fork to refer to one arm of a river as well as a fork in the road.
- Rosemary Ostler 2023 from The United States of English-The American Language from Colonial Times to the Twenty-First Century
