Pled vs. Pleaded

This is one I used to struggle with regularly in my day-to-day work, until I got used to it.
Someone pled guilty or pleaded guilty?
The rule for us in journalism is pleaded. The lawyers like pled.
I imagine this goes back to the good ole English court terminology somewhere in history.
In any case … I like pled.  [...]

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Deep Roots

I remember thinking some years back about one of my cousins back home and how she has such a deep Southern accent that she almost sounds British.
And when you think about it, it almost makes sense. At one time, not too long ago when you really think about it, everyone spoke that way here.
And with [...]

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It Just Doesn’t Sound (Write?)

When we talk about writing letters, us Brits have a certain…overly long way about asking people to send us mail:
“Send a letter to me.”
“Write me a letter.”
Whereas some other nations are somewhat more economic with words:
“Write me.”
Call me old fashioned but I like the long-winded approach:
“Go forth and reproduce” is sometimes a better way of [...]

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Nick, nick: A verb AND a noun

Jim Davidson's (British 80's stand-up comedian) catch-phrase used to be "nick,nick".  You'd hear him say it more than a few times in a show.
You see, he often got nicked himself, and I don't necessarily mean with a razor blade.
When you get nicked, you get taken down the nick. 
Furthermore, some people get nicked for nicking things.
Usage [...]

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Scud Tharriz

It's good that is.
Actually, some people say "it's mint" or "last night was mint".
It's an expression that has finally started to bug the crap out of me, but folk around here are saying it all the time. I've no idea where it comes from. Can anybody help?
What pisses me off more is when the [...]

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Le Cheese Royale – Economy in Words

The people of North America (possibly South America and Canada as well, I’m not sure) have it figured out. They use what I’d call imperial measurements: good old pounds and ounces.
Here in Britain, it’s a different matter. There’s some confusion as to what we use.
Here’s a packet of out of date bacon I [...]

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Brrrrrr

So, it be winter here and it’s a tad parky outside. Exhaustive research (exhaustive being a relative term where I’m concerned) hasn’t yielded the origin of the word parky.
So, I’m going to attribute its origin to the old style parker coats people used to wear when it was…parky. Although I suspect the word’s [...]

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Stuff At The Breaker’s Yard

bonnet n.
1. British, Australian, N.Z., South African. The hinged metal part of a motor vehicle body that provides access to the engine.
2. Any of various hats, especially worn by women.
3. Scotland. A soft cloth cap [old French - bonet]
Popping the bonnet doesn’t quite sound the same as popping the hood. I always thought [...]

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Tarting It Up

In Britain (also Australia) we often refer to promiscuos women as tarts. Not because we eat them though.
Tart is a derivation of sweetheart and just that simple word leads us into new territory.
Tarts like to dress up in a way that makes them sexually appealing to men: short skirts, tops that expose the [...]

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One “L” or two?

So, is it down to laziness?
Probably not. More a ‘lost through the game of Chinese Whisper’ kind of thing, or even plain common sense.
When we Brits travel or level anything, later we write that we’ve travelled somewhere or levelled something, adding that extra ‘l’ before the ‘-ing’.
This is because we are taught in school that [...]

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