Bring sth back & take sth back

There is no substantive difference. I'd say the difference would be regional. In some places, a native speaker would customarily say "bring something back," and in another, a native speaker might customarily say "take something back." Point of reference would matter, too.

Where are you going, Honey?

I'm going to take this dress back to the store, the size is wrong and it doesn't fit.

______________________________________

Why is that dress laying on the counter, Sherry?

That lady decided to bring it back; she said the size was wrong and it doesn't fit.

So the use of one expression or the other might be a regionalism, or it might by the product of the frame of reference of the speaker. This is in reference to customary usage in the United States.

Excellent explanation! Thank you.

You're welcome.

There is also a particular usage (at least in the United States) which would mean to retract what one has said. It would be commonly used by children, although adults could be heard to use it, too:

Johnny, you're a liar, that five dollars is not in the cabinet.

You take that back (retract the accusation), I put it there as soon as I got home!

I'm sorry, I take that back--it is in the drawer of the cabinet, I just didn't see it at first.

So to take something back can also mean to retract a statement, or demand that someone else retract a statement.

From Cambridge Dictionary:
(http://dictionary.cambridge.org/it/dizionario/inglese/take-sth-back)

to admit that something you said was wrong:
All right, I take it all back. It wasn't your fault.

Is that what you mean?

Yup

(Which in the United States, is a common way of saying "yes.")

The essential difference between these two words is that bring implies movement towards someone or something:

Bring your instrument with you when you come over.

Whereas take implies movement away from someone or something or something:

Take your belongings with you when you’re leaving.

I bought an appliance (let's say a toaster) and when I got it home, I tried to use it and it didn't work. I call the store. The sales person says "Please bring it back to us here at the store". I put it back in its packaging. My wife says "What are you going to do with the toaster?" I reply: "I'm going to take it back to the store".

The sales person at the store says "bring" because the direction of the toaster will be towards him. I say "take" to my wife because the direction of the toaster will be away from us.

My wife is the same wife who would say "bring your umbrella" (e.g. on the phone) if I am going towards her, and "take your umbrella" if I am going away from her (to somewhere else).

Johnny, you're a liar, that five dollars is not in the cabinet.

I'm confused: why did you say, ".....that five dollars IS not in the cabinet" and not ".....that five dollars ARE not in the cabinet"?

Thanks again for the help.

In addition to being a plural of single dollars, five dollars is a common banknote in the United States, as well as in Canada.



Rather than saying "a five dollar bill," native speakers in North America will just say "five dollars."

The Canadians have very many different versions of the five dollar bill. This is one which promotes a Canadian stereotype:



By the way, one would not say "that" five dollars, if one were treating it as a plural, because that is the singular form. One would say "those" five dollars. Or, one might say a fin, which is old-fashioned American slang for a five dollar bill. At one time, American banknotes had the denominations in Roman numerals, and a five in Roman numerals is "V" which might remind one of the fin of a fish. So, "fin" became slang for a five dollar bill. This banknote below, showing General George Henry Thomas, has the Roman numeral "V"--five--in the upper left-hand corner:

Now I'm confused. Shouldn't it be "five dollars bill"?

No. A ten-ton weight, a five-mile run, two-hour wait. A five-dollar bill.