britishisms

you have probably heard some of the common words that are different in american english and british english:

elevator / lift
trunk / boot

and you know that spelling varies:

color/colour
organization/organisation

but there are some words that are used in everyday british english that just sound downright pretentious in american english. i love those words and endeavo(u)r to incorporate them into my vocabulary. so here is a spotlight on four of them.

bespoke
as in bespoke tailoring, bespoke catering, and even bespoke pizza toppings
means "custom made" or "made to order"
check out this explanation of "bespoke" here

fortnight
as in "i haven't even worked at my new company for a fortnight yet."
means "two weeks"
neat. tidy. to the point.

penultimate
as in "this is the penultimate word in my list of fab britishisms."
means "second to last"
this is a truly wonderful word and americans should take it upon themselves to use it more often. most likely, the only time you even heard it was on a list of obscure words that might appear on the SAT if the testers were feeling exceptionally cruel that year.

shambolic
as in "the service at that restaurant was shambolic."
means "disorderly or chaotic"
my ear is still not fully attuned to the word "shambolic" and i often hear it, associate it with a positive comment offering praise about something, and then realize it means the exact opposite. shambolic.

and finally, to sign off: ta ra!