At Last: recognition !

[Handley_Page]

The word "boffin" has achieved the international recognition it so richly deserves, securing a spot on the Merriam-Webster "Top 10 Favourite British Words" list.
There are nine others to report:-

Prat
Twee
Knackered
Jiggery-pokery
Plonk (wine)
Chunter
Whinge
Gormless
Pukka


Full details can be found here:-
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/05/26/boffins/

 

[trysail]

The word "boffin" has achieved the international recognition it so richly deserves, securing a spot on the Merriam-Webster "Top 10 Favourite British Words" list.
There are nine others to report:-

Prat
Twee
Knackered
Jiggery-pokery
Plonk (wine)
Chunter
Whinge
Gormless
Pukka


Full details can be found here:-
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/05/26/boffins/

It should be noted that this list has a heavy "IT" ( i.e., information technology or computer-oriented ) bias. I seriously doubt that "twee" or "chunter" would find a place on a generic list of "Top 10 Favourite British Words" recognized in the U.S.


"Whinge/r" might make the list but I'd expect that items such as "petrol" or "thruster" or "bespoke" or "bollocks" or "one-off" or "wanker" or "bugger" or "wellies" or "windscreen" would dominate a more general list.


I do, however, congratulate "boffin" on its admission to officially recognized 'murikin and international English.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_British_words_not_widely_used_in_the_United_States

 

[LettersFromTatyana]

It should be noted that this list has a heavy "IT" ( i.e., information technology or computer-oriented ) bias. I seriously doubt that "twee" or "chunter" would find a place on a generic list of "Top 10 Favourite British Words" recognized in the U.S.

"Whinge/r" might make the list but I'd expect that items such as "petrol" or "thruster" or "bespoke" or "bollocks" or "one-off" or "wanker" or "bugger" or "wellies" or "windscreen" would dominate a more general list.

I do, however, congratulate "boffin" on its admission to officially recognized 'murikin and international English.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_British_words_not_widely_used_in_the_United_States

Why do you say they are IT words? The examples they use are IT, but neither twee nor chunter are IT words.

That said, I've always enjoyed words that mean completely different things in Britain and America more than I enjoy British-only words. When I was ten, a friend's father once mentioned that he always gave my friend "a fresh nappy in the saloon." For the longest time, I thought he was saying that his daughter took naps in the local bar while he had some drinks.

 

[estragon]

Wasn't a "nappy" in the UK what we called a diaper in the US? And what we call napkins they call (or used to call) a serviette? It's been twenty years since I was last in the UK, so my UK vocabulary may be very dated.

 

[sr71plt]

Even having lived in areas heavily populated with ex-pat Brits, I never got used to someone saying they were going to give me a tinkle.

 

[SamScribble]

I'm rather surprised that bonk didn't make the list.

 

[Handley_Page]

Interesting comment, folks.

A few comments, if I may:
"Chunter" originated, as far as I know, from Yorkshire (particularly, West). In some areas, it is "Chunner", as in "They're allus chunnerin' those two"
(allus = always)
I have not heard it anywhere else, but it may be a new import to the south.

Plonk. As Ogg has already pointed out, it can mean "to put down" as in place an object [anywhere]: "Oh just plonk it down where you like".
It's also a derogatory word for cheap wine.

Knackered. physical tiredness after exercise or exertion. Generally used to illustrate how unfit someone is: "He's knackered just going up the stairs".

Whinge. To moan or complain about something regarded by others as minor.

Gormless. A person may be said to be Gormless as lacking in understanding or comprehension. It is not usually applied to those with real mental impairment; merely giving that impression.

Pukka The genuine article, 'good and right', 'the real thing', superior, etc.. It's the opposite of Chota (meaning lesser or smaller). From the Indian words.

Twee Too cute for words; childish, "happy ending" sort of stuff. "Affectedly dainty or refined" is one definition. [it's quite a tricky word to describe correctly; it's not for appaluse ]

Prat Generally taken to mean that the person called a Prat is behaving in an illogical, ignorant or generally stupid manner (especially when whingeing about something).


{Note, Yes, what the USA calls a diaper, we call a Nappy.}

 

[voluptuary_manque]

I think "Twit" is one of the better Britishisms around.

 

[Boxlicker101]

"Plonk" has been a part of American for a long time, but as "plunk." It's usually a transitive verb, and the object in often himself or herself. "Prat" or "pratt" means butt or ass in American, and is often preceded by the word "fat" to make an alliteration.

ETA: Which means "prat" means "ass" in either British or American, but a different kind of ass.

 

[trysail]

I have a fondness for toff. Russell Baker encountered the word when he was a young reporter posted to London by the Baltimore Sun in the '50s. Arrayed in white tie and tails for the Queen's 1953 coronation, Baker ( who, by background, was anything but a toff ) was astonished and greatly amused to find himself decried as one while hurrying down a street. He recounted the incident in his best-seller, Growing Up.

 

[Handley_Page]

"Plonk" has been a part of American for a long time, but as "plunk." It's usually a transitive verb, and the object in often himself or herself. "Prat" or "pratt" means butt or ass in American, and is often preceded by the word "fat" to make an alliteration.

ETA: Which means "prat" means "ass" in either British or American, but a different kind of ass.

If you mean "Ass" as in to call someone "Silly Ass", yes.