In British English, “bricks and mortar” is a common term for property, as in real estate. E.g you might talk about “investing in bricks and mortar” to mean buying houses, or refer to “bricks-and-mortar shops” to mean physical retail establishments as opposed to online stores.
Simple question: is that a commonly understood phrase in America, where homes aren’t generally made of bricks and mortar?
It is very common in the US when the subject is online versus physical stores. I see “bricks and mortar stores” in articles frequently. I haven’t seen it used referring to houses.
Maybe I’m hearing it incorrectly, but I thought it was generally “brick and mortar”. No “s”. I’m in the US.
I think you are right, and Google agrees. 16 million for brick, 6.4 million for bricks.
Yes, I see it used like this on shopping sites like Fatwallet. They usually abbreviate it B&M. I can’t say I’ve heard it much out of the retail context though.
I’ve never heard it as ‘brick and mortar’ (no s). Maybe we say it differently in the UK.
I’m in the USA and have heard “brick and mortar” without the “s.” Not an everyday expression, but I hear it from time to time, and even occasionally use it.
This is the only context I’ve ever heard it in, and I’ve also only heard “brick and mortar.”
I’m in Australia, and use the expression “bricks [plural] and mortar.” Then again I watch a lot of British shows like “Grand Designs” so I may have got it from there. 
The plural “bricks” makes sense to me because a building is made of bricks and mortar rather than one brick and mortar, but I understand why an argument could also be made for the singular.
Bricks (plural) and mortar is the property section of The Times (what Americans call the Times of London).
Kind of a weird one here in the US, as the plural kind of works with and without the “s.” You might say that you have a “pile of bricks” or a “pile of brick” and neither sounds too wrong to my ears. You would DEFINITELY say “the house is made of brick” or “that building has a brick facing” or “the patio was constructed with gorgeous red brick.” Saying “faced with bricks” instead of “brick” sounds a bit childish to me.
So it’s not surprising at all to hear “brick and mortar” here.
I will note however that the idiom “hit me like a ton of bricks” definitely always uses the “s.” That one sounds weird without it, so either one can sound OK depending on what you are used to hearing.
Am I right in thinking the predominant usage of this term in the US is to describe physical retail outlets (‘bricks and mortar store’), rather than to describe physical property in general?
If so, I think that’s a difference vs the UK, where (at least in my experience) the predominant term for a physical, non-online shop is “in the high street” or similar.
“Brick and mortar” is always used as an adjective phrase in the US, it seems to me. You’d be talking about “brick and mortar stores” or a retailer with a “brick and mortar presence.” Whereas in the UK, based only on this thread, “bricks and mortar” seems to be a standalone phrase; for example as a category of real estate. It makes sense that it would (or could) be pluralized in the UK but not in the US.
ETA: I didn’t see Mangetout’s previous post but it sounds like we came to the same conclusion.
I work in the construction business, and never once heard the term “brick and mortar” in the US —until 1995 or so, when the internet age began.
Since then , the phrase has become common, but only if it is immediately followed by the word “store” . It is the opposite of the phrase “online shopping”.
It is never used to refer to real estate or engineering projects, etc.
These rules have been given unto you this day by God :
Thou shalt use the plural when you are talking about the individual objects,
and thou shalt use the singular when you all talking about the general appearance of a building.
In the singular, “Brick” is a general description, similar to a color. You say “brick wall” just like you would say “glass wall” or a white wall.
In the plural, “bricks” means you are emphasizing the individual objects.
Point to “a large pile of bricks”, and the listener is mentally counting how many there are in the pile.
Point to “a wall faced with brick”, and the listener is focussing on the color,texture and appearance of the wall.
“I had trouble walking on the patio because the rough surface was made of bricks”—draws attention to the individual bricks, the gaps between them and the way they are aligned with each other.
“I had trouble painting the patio, because the rough surface was made of brick” —draws attention to the general appearance and texture of the wall itself, not the inidividual red blocks it is made of.
Yea, verily, I say unto thee, that all these commandments thou shalt obey whenever thou speakest of bricks.
There is the less common “click and mortar” which describes a traditional retailer with an online presence (WalMart, Target, Best Buy, Barnes and Noble) as opposed to a pure play internet retailer (Amazon, Zappos).
Yes, there are two almost distinct senses in the UK: the American-style “brick(s)-and-mortar stores” and the more common “bricks and mortar” to mean (usually) residential property. As in: “You should be investing in bricks and mortar”. I figured the residential context wouldn’t really resonate in America. “Wood and vinyl” doesn’t have quite the same ring to it. 
Excellent rules. I would add, always use the singular when using it as an adjective:
Brick wall, not bricks wall.
Since “brick and mortar” is almost always used as an adjective in the US (brick and mortar bank), using the singular is appropriate.
in the USA we think big. that a building is made from more than one brick in understood and implied.
Actually, lots of buildings in the USA are made out of zero bricks, that’s why hurricanes always cause such a mess.
American here. Used the term yesterday to draw a distinction between an online university and a traditional university. “Brick-and-mortar” (no s) is widely understood here.