I asked, wondering what in the hell Britishism that was.

"But that's the new rule, and it's no good whingeing" (a Britishism for whining).

There's a lively Britishism for Americans to adopt.

What is the old Britishism?

"Or the term 'red stuff' which isn't any kind of Britishism.

"Everyone was a bit gutted," Mr. Marks said, using a Britishism for disappointed.

Pardon my Britishism, but Britain's 20-year experience with privatization is a cautionary tale Americans should know about.

A. "Cupping" is a Britishism that was once used to describe the act of drinking liquor or having a drinking bout.

Though Kiddo now and then betrays a telltale Britishism ("having a bit of a birthday snivel"), for the most part the author gets everything right.

But usage by usage, stitch by stitch, the Britishism is patching over our word.

What about such phrases as much of a muchness, a Britishism meaning "similar," or the Americanism too much of a good thing?

It is a Britishism - like early on, good show and have a go - that has crossed the Atlantic but still retains its British flavor.

"It is simply a Britishism," Red Garrison, a distinguished-looking journalist, said to a writer who had used it in an essay.

This Britishism, originally meaning "in the vernacular" or indigenous dialect, was an aristocrat's apology for stooping to colorful downstairs language.

Take what remains behind the quiff (a Britishism for "pompadour") and gather it at the nape of the neck as if you're going to make a ponytail.

(I use the Britishism rang me up instead of phoned because my nonagenarian friend is a BBC stalwart.)

Full-bore, hyphenated when used to modify a noun, is a Britishism that Americans are adopting (like not to worry and sendup).

The Village Voice concluded that Grant's creation of a spoiled billionaire fronting a real estate business was "little more than a Britishism machine."

The Democratic lawyer's choice of words was "spot-on" (a Britishism), as was his subsequent use of a mysterious Californianism.

An occasional Britishism - "agaynst" for "against," for example - will follow on the heels of a street colloquialism: "Fuhgeddaboudit."

Not since when all is said and done was shoved aside by the Britishism at the end of the day has the tried-and-true been so thoroughly ousted by the trendy.

But last week, during a presentation about the corporate software market, Mr. Barrenechea used a Britishism so frequently that a reporter felt compelled to ask him about it.

(To go "on the razzle" is a quaint Britishism that roughly translates, to use a quaint Americanism, as "to par-tay.")

What about the giveaway Britishism (Johnson is British; Crowley is not) you repeated--that Nixon emerged from Watergate "with credit"?

Pop off, a Britishism for "to die," has softened in this century to a less final "to leave," and has recently acquired the sense of "to remonstrate loudly; to let off steam."

Others doubt this story, as the Briticism "shag" was unknown in American slang.

"Stepped-up shoes" is not a Briticism, nor anything else as far as I am aware.

As the taunter was an American, why is he using the Briticism stepped-up shoes ?

(That's preferred to Briticism , though we prefer Scotticism to Scottishism .

The first construction is the most common in both dialects but the second has almost disappeared in AmE and is often regarded as a Briticism.

To use a Briticism, it was "cruel"; the corresponding Americanism was more appropriate--it was "fierce."

Professors Algeo and Read wanted me to know, by the way, that I had been "oddly idiosyncratic in your recent statement that Britishism is 'preferred' to Briticism ."

As punt is a Briticism for gamble, punter in the sense of gambler is a Briticism; there are many US equivalents, the most common being sucker .

The article theorized that the use of this Briticism by an American software executive indicated that the globalization of the information technology industries may be turning British English into a lingua franca of techies.

Seeking to re-create something of that atmosphere, the organizers of Wimbledon will make 2,000 of the 13,100 center court tickets available for June 27, the first Saturday of this year's tournament, to those who queue (to use the Briticism) to buy them that day.

Other merchants in the so-called Resurgence Zone, between Houston and Canal Streets, have struggled of late, in part because fashion insiders perceive SoHo, to borrow Mr. Doonan's Briticism, as naff, or tacky, blighted by commercialism.

Granted, Briticism is used in the U.S. on the analogy of Gallicism , but the -icism ending is usually of words that end in ic , like Gallic , or critic , with the final being pronounced as an before the -ism .

Although those present were too polite to split their sides and roll about in hysterics, they were obviously amused, for, as was explained to me, I had picked the wrong metaphor: spend a penny is a Briticism for 'go to the loo,' or, as they say in America, 'the bathroom.'