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Glite Dictionary
Britishism

Britishism

1 8.8
A word or phrase used mainly in British English, not American English
  • noun
  • /ˈbrɪtɪʃɪzəm/
: britanismo
  • Ben Yagoda featured it in January on his Not One-Off Britishisms blog (quoting

Examples

  • Joe bravely continues, "The publisher started allowing books to go to press with Britishisms intact so they wouldn't have to spend money to reset type."

    Fiction book (1997)

  • The expression 'cuppa' is a beloved Britishism used informally to mean a cup of tea.

  • But I wouldn't exactly call it a Britishism, not one-off or otherwise.

    Blog text (33)

  • So he kind of melds into the forgettable mess of angry Britishism.

    Blog text (18)

  • I boned up on my Britishisms by rereading Brideshead.

    Blog text (33)

  • He managed to do seven of them, including wearing his hair in a man bun, shaving his pubic hair, and, yes, filling his vocabulary with Britishisms.

    Blog text (33)

  • In British English, the term 'flat' is a common Britishism that refers to an apartment.

  • Many movies set in the UK include Britishisms to reflect local culture and language.

Synonyms

Briticism
vsBritishism
1 8.8

A word or phrase people use mainly in British English instead of American English

has identical sense but differs as an alternate form or spelling

Surface Forms

Britishism singular
Britishisms plural

Morphology

Britishism = British (transparent) = British + ism

Formed by the adjective 'British' plus the productive noun-forming suffix '-ism' meaning 'a characteristic, usage, or practice associated with Britain', which is directly inferable.

Etymology

Britishism comes from British ('from Britain') plus the ending -ism which means a 'practice' or 'way'. So a Britishism is a word or way of speaking that comes from Britain and is typical there.