They say that England and America are two countries separated by a language. And because I am embarking on a possibly epic venture to move to England, I think it wise to begin closing that gap (which is how I justify using words like “snog” and “blooming” - I’m not just an Anglophile, I swear!).
Anyway! The point! There has always been much scoffing amongst the English when Americans call french fries “fries” and giggling with the English call chips “crisps”. But it’s silly that the word “chip” goes both ways, and there’s no way to really distinguish what we’re talking about without a whole lot of “OK, so chips. My chips, not your chips. Like the chips that you eat with dip.” Nonsense. So here’s the solution.
Crisps should be (in both UK and US) fried (and occasionally popped(?) or baked) potato slices. 
Chips should be slices of tortilla or corn, etc.
And finally, fries (I don’t know why they’re “French”, so might as well scrap that) should be those fried potato wedges/strips. (See how they’re “fried”? Makes so much more sense than “chips”. Piffle.)
Woo! x