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30 more Britishisms used by Americans
BBC News ^ | 17th October 2012 | BBC News

Posted on 10/17/2012 3:54:15 AM PDT by the scotsman

'The Magazine's recent article about the Britishisation of American English prompted readers to respond with examples of their own - here are 30 British words and phrases that you've noticed being used in the US and Canada.'

(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Canada; Culture/Society; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: britishisms; english; language
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1 posted on 10/17/2012 3:54:18 AM PDT by the scotsman
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To: the scotsman

‘chav’ and ‘numpty’ are 2 I haven’t heard at all


2 posted on 10/17/2012 4:00:55 AM PDT by nuconvert ( Khomeini promised change too // Hail, Chairman O)
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To: the scotsman

Words travel fast across the Pond, eh wot?


3 posted on 10/17/2012 4:07:40 AM PDT by Ken H
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To: the scotsman

There is one that isn’t popular........ thank goodness.

After he was shot dead, they took Travon to hospital.


4 posted on 10/17/2012 4:16:34 AM PDT by bert ((K.E. N.P. N.C. +12 ..... Present failure and impending death yield irrational action))
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To: bert
"To hospital" has been aroung a long time. It's used by the doctor character in the 1940's era Western film She Wore a Yellow Ribbon.
5 posted on 10/17/2012 4:23:40 AM PDT by GreenLanternCorps ("Barack Obama" is Swahili for "Jimmy Carter".)
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To: the scotsman

Sorry to take issue with ya,Scotsman (well,take issue with the BBC that is) but I can only see one or two that are used here.And being a huge,longtime,fan of Britcoms and British drama I’m more familiar with these words than are most Yanks.Most Yanks (not including Osama Obama,obviously) have great respect for Britain but that doesn’t cause us to use your words.Canadians,OTOH,use many of *our* words....”gas”...”bucks”...”soccer” among quite a few others.


6 posted on 10/17/2012 4:33:38 AM PDT by Gay State Conservative (Ambassador Stevens Is Dead And The Chevy Volt Is Alive)
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To: the scotsman

Its like the difference between Russian and Belarussian. Except for minor differences in spelling they are same!

Only buggers and dafts speak the Queen’s English!


7 posted on 10/17/2012 4:34:09 AM PDT by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives In My Heart Forever)
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To: the scotsman

I’ve noticed a couple more. One that has been appearing here on FR is “spot on”. Another started being used by the media in disappearance cases a few years ago; “went missing”.


8 posted on 10/17/2012 4:35:17 AM PDT by TangoLimaSierra (To the left the truth looks like Right-Wing extremism.)
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To: Gay State Conservative

A Canadian speaks proper Queen’s English. Of course then the greatest Canadian poet is a francophone of Irish descent named Emile Nelligan. One of the poets maudit who want mad and lost his talent!


9 posted on 10/17/2012 4:37:29 AM PDT by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives In My Heart Forever)
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To: the scotsman

For later


10 posted on 10/17/2012 4:37:48 AM PDT by Codeflier (Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama - 4 democrat presidents in a row and counting...)
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To: the scotsman

"Rule No. 1: NO POOFTERS!"

11 posted on 10/17/2012 4:44:00 AM PDT by Old Sarge (We are officially over the precipice, we just havent struck the ground yet...)
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To: nuconvert

Both very popular (in the former case, Scots use ‘ned’ or ‘neds’) and numpty or numptie is very popular.

I use both myself.


12 posted on 10/17/2012 4:44:39 AM PDT by the scotsman (i)
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To: the scotsman

I’m off to fetch a bit of tea.


13 posted on 10/17/2012 4:47:21 AM PDT by Daveinyork
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To: the scotsman

Outside of movies and the occasional Monty Python show, I only recognized about 4 or 5 of these words.


14 posted on 10/17/2012 4:51:03 AM PDT by BuffaloJack (Obama loved the poor so much, he created millions more.)
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To: the scotsman

Knock me up sometime, we’ll share a fag.


15 posted on 10/17/2012 4:54:16 AM PDT by Ignatz (Winner of a prestigious 1960 Y-chromosome award!)
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To: nuconvert

“chav” is actually a British term for “white trash” or urban hick.


16 posted on 10/17/2012 4:57:29 AM PDT by cunning_fish
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To: cunning_fish

10-15 years ago, ‘chav’ was an almost exclusively southern term. Up here in the north (Lancashire), the terms we used to describe these types were ‘scallies’ or ‘townies’, but these have generally fallen out in favour of ‘chav’


17 posted on 10/17/2012 5:05:56 AM PDT by sinsofsolarempirefan
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To: bert

I’ll know when American language has been thoroughly anglicised when I see the term ‘burgled’ instead of ‘burglarized’. Seeing as British newspapers like ‘The Daily Mail’, ‘The Guardian’ and to a lesser extent, ‘The Daily Telegraph’ are getting increasingly popular with American readers online, I can see this happenening...


18 posted on 10/17/2012 5:09:17 AM PDT by sinsofsolarempirefan
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To: the scotsman

I see “muppet” means stupid person. No wonder Dems insist on subsidizing them.


19 posted on 10/17/2012 5:09:24 AM PDT by all the best (`~!)
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To: the scotsman; stylecouncilor; windcliff

A bit of a sticky wicket, what? That’s dodgy.


20 posted on 10/17/2012 5:14:19 AM PDT by onedoug
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