Diana in Duncanville, Texas, notes a difference between British English and American English. In the United States, it’s common to say I am sitting down or He was sitting there or We were sitting there, but increasingly she hears people from...
The dated term “jingoism” denotes a kind of belligerent nationalism but the word’s roots lie in an old English drinking-house song that was popular during wartime. Speaking of fightin’ words, the expression “out the side of...
The Prodigal Tongue: The Love-Hate Relationship Between American and British English by linguist Lynne Murphy is a trove of information about differences between these two versions of English. Murphy’s blog, Separated by a Common Language, is...
If you think they refer to umbrellas as bumbershoots in the UK, think again. The word bumbershoot actually originated in the United States; in Britain, it’s more likely a brolly. You’ll learn that and much more about the differences...
tumpsy n.— «“Is that Dawn’s tumpsy?” “It does look like it, doesn’t it? But there is more hair. Derek likes hairy pie.”» —“Archive 11797” by thisnthat, Dawn Syndrome b3ta.com board (United...
tumpsy n.— «So it was dismaying to see her trading once more on her tumpsy instead of her brains and her bad, brilliant mouth.» —“Don’t fight gravity. Embrace gravitas” by Janice Turner Times (United...