13 Comments

(Look out! Boomer on the floor!) Who is enabling this pile of pap? We already have snaps that we snap; shots that we shoot; and pix, photos, and even scenes and views that we snap, shoot, or take. I once even framed a shot. I'm not papping a fucking thing. The words "paparazzo" and "paparazzi" are fun to say, but when you say "pap," I say "test." (And is the exciting new word pronounced "pop" or "pap"?)

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PS: I do like "easy-peasy."

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I've never heard “pap" said aloud. I've been mentally rhyming it with “snap.”

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"There’s the whole “logical punctuation” debate, for example: Brits go in for commas and periods (full stops) outside quotation marks, Americans prefer them inside." I read so many British children's books (Eleanor Farjon, E. Nesbit, etc.) as a kid that I always assumed the commas and periods went outside the quote marks, and got called out on that in homework many a time before I broke my British habits!

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When I read these I'm always amazed by how many words, unremarkably normal in Canada, apparently stand out in the United States. Even when we talk about language differences, no one ever mentions that Americans wouldn't use 'called' or 'bit'.

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I had not realized what I trendsetter i was by using "grey" for the colour (sorry); it somehow slipped into my brain as the proper term decades ago.

But I guess I'm in full hybridization mode, happily using some Brit-based terms while steadfast in never saying stuff like "ooh, here's a pic I've papped."

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I worked for Grey Advertising in the 1970s. In my more despondent moments, I would think, "Grey is its name. Gray is its product."

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Here to echo other comments. As a Canadian American who watches a lot of British shows, all these seem very normal. Onward hybridization!

And, because I watch Aussie TV shows, I love to catch all their wonderful slang like ‘brekkie,’ ‘sparky’ —not sure why one has ‘y’ and other ‘ie’—dunny, milko, etc. If there’s a way to shorten it, they do!

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I'm glad you got that sorted.

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As a Brit, I rejoice every time I learn of a Britishism infiltrating US English! 🙂

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Entry points for several of these, instead of the NEW YORK TIMES or THE NEW YORKER magazine, might be "Monty Python's Flying Circus." I know that's where I and my friends picked up "peckish" (the notorious"undertaker" sketch) back in the late 70's. That was a time in my life when we read THE NEW YORKER, if not the NYT, and when I knew I could use Britishisms even with my truck driver brother-in-law, because he was an even bigger fan of British television comedies than I am. I'm pretty sure he never looked at either the NYT or THE NEW YORKER, unless maybe a cartoon I cut out and saved for him (he was a big fan of Charles Schultz and Charles Addams, as well).

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"Peckish" appears in another Monty Python sketch: The Cheese Shop. As does another synonym for hungry: "esurient." Also, "comestibles" (food.)

Monty Python has been a treasure trove of Britishisms for me and my kids over the years.

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The cheese shop sketch is cited in the book.

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