Do the British say...

[Tom M]

... "zed" instead of "zee" for the letter Z like Jeremy Clarkson does?

[danglybanger]

The british also say "blow me" when they're surprised.

I'm not so picky as to when I say it

slade

[Robbiedbee]

As a Brit, I say Zed. I also say 'Zeh-Bra' instead of 'Zee-Bra' like Americans do.

[Jeroen]

As a Brit, I say Zed. I also say 'Zeh-Bra' instead of 'Zee-Bra' like Americans do.

Interesting. In Dutch, it is pronounced 'Zay-Bra'.

[coinchief]

The british also say "blow me" when they're surprised.

I'm not so picky as to when I say it

slade

Nobody says blow me (short for well, blow me down) any more, just like nobody's said toodle-pip, cheerie-o, chin-chin, cor blimey or any other weird 18th century chimney-sweep **** van dyke stereotype for a very long time!

[Simon_F]

Cor blimey mate, what a load of old pony!

[Rich_T]

... "zed" instead of "zee" for the letter Z like Jeremy Clarkson does?

Yeah, damn Americans bastardizing our language!

[Zerberus]

Yeah, next thing you know a bunckh of rednecks are gonna bastardize your Flag and call it their own...

Oh, waitasec..

[Jocelyn]

As a Brit, I say Zed. I also say 'Zeh-Bra' instead of 'Zee-Bra' like Americans do.

I too say ZED.. thats the way we were taught in school..... Many schools were setup by the British out here.. And so the same trend continues...
But hey neither is wrong I would say.

[MikeS]

Yeah, damn Americans bastardizing our language!

I'd say we perfected it... at least until we created ebonics.

[Simon_F]

I must say those American chappies Zed Zed Top are a jolly spiffing beat group. Absolutely top hole, what? Toodle pip old fruit.

[Zerberus]

"The only british idiom I know is that `Fag´ means cigarette"

"Oh yeah, then somebody tell this cigarette to Shut up"

[Simon_F]

"The only british idiom I know is that `Fag´ means cigarette"

"Oh yeah, then somebody tell this cigarette to Shut up"

Yep. It's perfectly acceptable in British conversation to say "I'm going out to smoke a fag".

[Zerberus]

Yep. It's perfectly acceptable in British conversation to say "I'm going out to smoke a fag".

Wheras saying the exact same thing in the states may well have you handcuffed within minutes

[coinchief]

I'd say we perfected it... at least until we created ebonics.

If by perfected you mean homogenised... I mean homogeniZed, taking all the colour, I mean COLOR out of the language. Only thing that really annoys me is when I have to select English on a program or dvd with an American flag! You don't get that horrible compromising and giving way in Japan, damn you Tony Blair, i'm glad you're going, you nation endangering prick

Oops, no politics in the forum!

[Zerberus]

Can Tony Blair really be considered Politics?? I always thought of him as more the so-la-la stand up comedian

[coinchief]

I don't find it that funny that he involved the UK in a war that's nothing to do with us, could get us all killed and has made us really unpopular with everywhere except America, but that's just me

[Simon_F]

Wheras saying the exact same thing in the states may well have you handcuffed within minutes

There is also the slang verb "bum" which means "scrounge". A friend of mine, when he is out of cigarettes, frequently says to people:

"Can I bum a fag?"

And we are all quite comfortable with that.

[coinchief]

The American word 'fanny' has been around a lot longer in the UK and means something different! But in the same area, that's all i'll say *blush*

[shredaholic]

I guess you could compare Americanised English to any local colloquialisms though that we have in the UK with English. For example, most people need subtitles to know what someone from Newcastle with a strong local ("Geordie") accent is saying when they're on TV, lol. I can't see any more bastardisation in American English than there is in regional English accents like those from Newcastle, Yorkshire, East London etc. The only real discernable difference is that where regional accents in Britain tend to shorten words to make them easier and quicker to say, American accents seem to substitute different words for things, and it sounds a lot whinier.