Tuesday, February 2, 2010

My favorite Brit words

While I love a good British accent, I'm more enthralled with the way Brits construct their sentences, the words they use. Even if you Americanize the spelling of  a paragraph written by a Brit writer (such as changing "Americanise" to "Americanize") there's a certain rhythm and cadence to their sentences that sound nothing like American English.

But let's talk about Brit words or expressions, words I can't use in my everyday American speech lest I sound like a poseur. Here are some of my favorites in no particular order:

Fancy. Verb made popular by Austin Powers. As in "Fancy a shag?"

Stroppy. Ill-tempered.

Gobsmacked. Flabbergasted. I admit, I use this word sometimes.

Brilliant. Used in assent, as in "Brilliant! I'll bring the wine."

Wanker. So much nicer than dickhead. I get to say wanker a lot, though, when I'm talking to my Australian friend Deb. Wanker is popular Down Under.

Barrister. So much nicer than lawyer or attorney. Think John Cleese in A Fish Called Wanda.

Cheeky. Means impertinent. Often used around children.

Petrol. The gas station gone exotic.

Jolly. Who can resist, "He's a jolly fellow, all right."

What are your favorite Brit words? Add them to the comments section below.

1 comment:

  1. Well, how about
    Miffed - to be somewhat ticked off
    Plonker - rather like "wally".
    Come to think of it, more or less anything said by Del Boy is a good bet.
    But rather than words, phrases like Storm in a Teacup, Wading through Treacle, or Spending a Penny can always be relied upon to elicit a strange look across the pond.

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