My mother and grandmother (who lives with my parents) are Zimbabwean, so I ended up saying things like “brai” and “kopje”…I usually manage to catch myself and use words which my listeners will find more comprehensible (in this case “barbeque” and “hill”), but I don’t always succeed.
Reminds me of the recent Jaguar commercials where they got a distinctly proper British female for the voiceover. What’s always just been a “jag-war” has now become a very snooty “jag-you-aah”
I’ll second or fifth or hundred-and-eighth the use of “bloody.” I also do occasion “wanker,” but usually it’s under my breath, and not said so anybody can hear it.
We lived in Swaziland for 5 years, strong british influence, and we still use petrol and mince instead of gas and ground beef. Don’t know why, just do.
Bugger
Tosser
How about “Buggery Bollox!”? Picked that up from AbFab, and my Irish wife uses it, too. I also say “innit” for “isn’t it” (very low rent - from watching too much Eastenders, maybe?), loo, “sarney” for sandwich (or as I usually say, “sammitch”), “bickey” or “biscuit” for cookie. “Twat” meaning a fool is one that I try not to use out-of-doors. Takes too much explaining. Oh, I could go on and on…
And sometimes I do!
Bugger, shedule, university (college is trade school, y’ask me), bloody, wellies, pissed (re: alchocol).
I actually ran into one last night that kind of threw me for a loop. I’ve been taking a class through work and commented to a friend that I’d received my marks. Blank looks all around, until my wife commented that the common word was ‘grades.’ I don’t know if that’s a Britishism or Canadianism or what.
Yes, ‘marks’ is the British word
from watching Monty Python, I’ve picked up “pram” which I like just because it’s one syllable while baby carriage is 4 and I picked up the phrase “pull the other one” which is always said with a British accent. Actually as close to Michael Palin’s voice as possible.
I’ve also referred the letter “zee” as “zed” and have called a crosswalk a “zebra crossing”
I think I watch/read too much British stuff.
I’m sure I do use Britishisms, but it’s natural. I was raised in Canada, and lived there until three years ago. We’ve got a lot of things there that are ‘Britishisms’ without me even knowing it.
Hey Kyla, I just got a new pair of wellies. I even got the Little Woman calling “rubber boots” wellies now.
When the counter-monkey at the fast food place asks me if my order is “for here or to go?” I say “for take away” if I don’t want to eat in. They usually figure it out in two guesses.
Same here, but I rarely use ‘good on ya’.
Several Dopers have asked about my spelling, and I have answered in the individual threads. This seems like a good place to put an explanation that I can point to whenever it comes up.
The first thing is that I put the ‘u’ in ‘colour’, ‘favour’, etc. As a child, I decided the words looked better that way. I spell that way because I find it aesthetically pleasing, and I see know reason to change at my advanced age. FWIW, I also cross my sevens and 'z’s.
‘-ise’ vs. ‘-ize’. Frankly, I forget which is ‘American’ and which is ‘English’ when I’m typing. I usually use the British ‘-ise’ because that’s the way it usually comes out when I type; but sometimes I use ‘-ize’. ‘-ize’ requires a conscious effort, and I mostly use it (when it doesn’t simply come out that way) when I’m writing ‘official’ letters (resumes – and I still haven’t gotten the hang of diacritical marks on the Mac; sorry) to an American company.
‘-re’ vs. ‘er’. I don’t know anyone who writes ‘theater’. When I was a child, my dad bought a Ford that had a ‘7 Litre’ badge on it. When you’re five or six years old, you pick things up. Being close to Canada, I see ‘centre’ more often than ‘center’. But that’s a more recent thing. Except for words like ‘theatre’, which are spelled the same in the U.S. as everywhere else, my use of ‘-re’ vs. ‘-er’ is rather variable.
Since I was a child, I’ve been a reader. I liked to read ‘more advanced’ books than were offered in elementary school. (I started reading Poe when I was eight.) Many of the books I read are English or European. When much of what one reads contains certain spellings and structures, it tends to ‘look more correct’ than other spellings and structures. ‘Catalogue’ and ‘programme’ are how I first saw those words in print. I had a boss once who objected to ‘programme’ and I tried to conform for a while; but it takes too much effort.
So that explains the spelling. Early exposure and old habits make it difficult to change. Even though I’ve been posting for a long time, and writing letters for a long time, and writing other things for a long time, it occurred to me that I’d have to stop and think whenever I came to a word with alternate spellings. I’ve just plain decided it’s not worth the effort to try to conform to other people’s expectations.
As for words themselves…
Bonnet (engine ‘hood’), boot (‘trunk’), and hood (‘convertible top’). My first three cars were British, and I got into the habit. Again, it’s too late to change now. One thing I picked up from the owner’s manual is ‘tyres’. I still have to make a conscious effort to write it ‘tires’, but sometimes I still spell it with a ‘y’.
A friend of mine used to get peaved by ‘shed-yule’; so naturally, I had to pronouce it that way when I was around him. Here again, there’s a hiccough when I come to the word. In this case, I usually do use the American pronunciation; but sometimes the other slips through from long taunting of my friend.
‘Bloody’ is useful, since it is very mild in America. It gets the point across without being offensive. (Note that I have not gotten into the habit of ‘-fence’.) I also use ‘bollocks’ for the same reason. It’s not as offensive here as the F-word, and it sounds more amusing. There are many words that I use for the same reason.
One interesting thing is that I tend to pick up the accents of people I’m around. If I’m in a pub that has a lot of Brits, I pick up their accents. (And it also happens if I’ve been watching a lot of Monty Python, Coupling, Red Dwarf, The Young Ones, etc. I use accents for comedy. Getting all Scottish and calling friends ‘cunts’ amuses them (and me). I do fair British, Irish, Australian, Scottish, Russian, German and French accents. When I lived in L.A. (for 16years) I found myself greeting my neighbours with 'Sup? because that’s the way some of them talked. Slipping into an accent when I’m doing some schtick is very natural. One weird thing is that when I’m very drunk I start sounding Australian for some reason.
The weird thing is that people have said I have an accent even when I’m not playing around. It could be that I try to make myself clear when I speak, and that results in specific syntax. Or it could be an after-effect of when I was eight years old and Mrs. Gordon ridiculed my pronunciation in front of the whole class. (Not just corrected – she mocked me.) In any case, I seem to have developed a certain syntax and cadence that people take as being an ‘accent’.
So there you have it. Early exposure to Britishisms, an early conscious decision that some words ‘look better’ with alternate spelling, reading lots of English literature and watching lots of British shows, a cadence developed (possibly) from an effort to make my communication clear after being ridiculed and embarassed by a teacher, comedy routines that have become habits, words used for effect, alcohol… It all combined to make me communicate as I do.
I use ‘bint’, ‘yobbo’, and ‘wanker’. I also say “let’s go out for a pint”, rather than use the word “beer”. I also use the word ‘proper’ when most Americans would say ‘real’, as in “let’s go to the British pub for a proper pint.”
In the realms of vice versa.
I actually think the Americanism put down “Whatever?” is wonderful, it is succinct and powerful without using rude words. I think the reason it is hated is due to the fact that it is such a powerful put down. “Guys” as a term for a group of men or women is good, though I sometimes prefer to use the Britishism “Chaps” with the same meaning.
I have query regarding American pronunciation , this to do with the word “route”.
In the UK we pronounce it root. watching US TV shows I have heard it pronounced this way and also rowt. Which one is used most ?
I swear like a British sailor at times; it peppers up my speech with none of the Yanks suspecting that I’m swearing. 
I don’t think you can get a definitive answer here. Regional variation is at work, as well as personal preference. I personally vote “root”
I love “wanker”, I use it all the time. I pick up all sorts of phrases from “furriners” like my British BIL. “Bloody” is just fun to say as is “gone 'round the twist.” I also have a few Yiddish words and phrases I like to use. I just think it makes English more expressive to add new stuff from other languages. I’m trying to popularize “taking the piss” but it’s not going well.
I love using Britishisms–wanker, bloody, etc.–and try to work them in whenever I can. 
Was I the first one to use that term, Britishisms?
If so I am to have invented a Doper phrase without even trying.