Is irritating. Is it their version of the American "great!"?
Yes. Colloquially, it just means "wonderful!" or "excellent!", etc: "This grilled cheese sandwich is brilliant!". It has nothing to do with either intelligence or bright light.
I like to hear Brits say that.
I have tons of shit to do this weekend.
They also say "fake" in place of "phony".
Brits get fixated on words, and repeated them like a broken record. It's like they were just taught a new word off Blue Peter.
Oh, and the word "massive". "It's gonna be massive."
When did they stop saying "gear?"
If you think that's bad, go someplace like France, where they insist on using words that aren't even English!
[quote]Yes. Colloquially, it just means "wonderful!" or "excellent!", etc:
"Mmmm -- this grilled cheese sandwich is delicious."
Here in Canada, the overused word is "perfect". It drives me nuts.
Non-native English speakers who pick up British English tend to overuse it too. When I lived in Sweden it was very common for English-speaking Swedes to think that every third thing was "brilliant."
"I adore the TV programme 'Friends'. It's brilliant! Now let's eat some lutfisk."
Oi, fit builder!
I refer to it as "British brilliant."
They've been doing that forever. When I lived there 20 years ago everything was brilliant - including deciding to go to KFC to get fried chicken before closing time. "Brilliant!!!"
"Legend" - Brits like that word too.
At least I get "briliant." There are those weird Britims like "have done" that I can never get. When I think I understand the connotations and meanings, I find some use that completely confounds it.
Have done. Mad. Naft. Pull. I will never get it.
"Mum was so mad she said I should go to hospie when I was knackered. I have done, I said, but nurse said I was a stupid cunt"
Now some brit will tell me how wrong my use of everything was in that wee story.
The Brits' bizarre need to call things "pudding" that clearly aren't pudding at all. Very annoying.
Jello Pudding is a *thing*. It doesn't mean just anything.
know what I mean
at the end of the day
No one ever accuses us of overusing soap or toothpaste.
They sound so uncool when they use the word cool. And so obnoxious when they give each other nicknames. But the ad agencies must love them cause their voices are all over the tele. They rhink it gives their products an air of sophistication without knowing what total slobs they are and how much they hate and are jealous of Americans.
Madonna sounded like an idiot saying "tits up" on Graham Norton a couple of weeks ago. At last I got why people are so annoyed by her faux-Brit accent, which I could never perceive before.
I think the Brits' use of the word "brilliant" is lovely.
"Excellent" was overused by Americans for years.
Why do so many British move to Spain? I understand they want sunshine, but why Spain as opposed to Italy, Portugal or southern France?
The wine is probably cheaper there. Cause Brits are as cheap as they come. Talk a big game but won't spend an extra pound.
The only place on earth where Hetero Men say something is "ever so lovely!"
Latest trend: "massive"
'Perfect!' is the new fad in the U.S.
Instead of 'okay' or 'yes', non-thinkers constantly now say 'perfect!'.
I really dislike the use of 'perfect!'
And I dislike how the brits say 'brilliant!' for the most mundane, run of the mill, non-brilliant things.
R24, I've said tits up for years, and never had any idea it was a Brit thing.
I live in a red-state hell around a lot of rubes and rednecks, and I say it to mean someone is dead or passed out supine, and also in reference to myself to mean I need to cheer up or stop dragging my ass or waking up and get some energy.
A friend and I even use the symbol ^.^ to mean tits up, though I also use it instead of a :) to indicate humor or kindness in a text or on FB.
And now you tell me it's an affectation of a Britishism? That's a pain in the ass.
Americans don't say "amazing" as much as the Brits say we do. But they say "brilliant" far more often than we think they do. For such an articulate people they have a limited vocabulary and take a word and beat it into the ground.
R34, you must be kidding - many people in the U.S. say 'amazing!' constantly and many say 'awesome!' constantly.
I do think it shows a limited vocabulary and a great conformity.
Also, they constantly use amazing and awesome to describe things that are NOT amazing or awesome at all. They say the most mundane, ordinary things are.
No they don't, R35.
I hate it, like, when English people, like, don't talk the way, like, real people talk.
And, of course, like, every sentence needs to, like, go up at the end?
Why can't the English, like, learn to speak?
R37, on the scale of amusing, from 1 to 100 you are at .002.
Lorraine Kelly is the UK's Brilliance Tsar.
brilliant should be used for something spectacular or outstanding, not for the mundane
r37 here. Sorry I bored you. Maybe the satire was a bit heavy handed but don't you find the ignorant arrogance displayed by the Americans on this thread as breathtaking as it is astonishing?
I mean Americans telling the English how the language should be spoken?
It's like straight men deciding how a musical should be done.
Well lovelies if you don't like to hear it then there is a very simple answer. Don't listen. Noone forces anyone to watch TV from other countries etc. If this is all there is in life to annoy you then think yourselves incredibly fortunate.
Excuse me while I go away to give myself a good slap for opening another anglophobic thread.
R37 is right. Like totally like right.
I don't think I've ever used the word "brilliant" in my life.
I've virtually never heard it used by a fellow Brit except for a shade of paint and I'm ancient.
Another puzzled Brit
[quote]Why do so many British move to Spain? I understand they want sunshine, but why Spain as opposed to Italy, Portugal or southern France?
Back in the days of the Franco dictatorship Spain was dirt cheap and the government allowed massive development of the coast and the islands. Coupled with cheap no-frills flights between Spain and the UK and suddenly working class Brits could afford sunny vacations.
Is this thread taking the piss??
This thread is going all wonky!
...and pear-shaped, no doubt.
Everyone in the NY theater community is obsessed with the term "spot on" these days to describe something they love.
Is that a Britishism or did it derive from Ben Brantley using it and thinking it was a Britishism?
I worked in Montreal about 15 years ago and all the locals there under me said "perfect" whenever they meant "yes, I agree with you and will do your bidding."
Considering we Americans tend to use "awesome" as a tacit response to everything from someone stating their hometown to someone stating where they put the groceries... I don't feel we have room to judge.
The Brits don't overuse the word 'brilliant'. The Americans do overuse the word 'awesome', however.
I worked as a copy editor on a Middle East expat-run newspaper; the senior management was British, the reporters mostly Canadian and American. We were supposed to enforce 'British' English. Nothing upset our senior Brit managers more than the use of the word 'awesome'. Drove them crazy whenever a reporter used it, even in speach.
We also had to substitute daft Britishisms like 'lorry' for 'truck'.
I used to work with a lot of Brits and whenever I did something they approved of, they would say "You're a star". It would drive me up the wall. God smacked is another repulsive expression.
R57, the term is gobsmacked.
You do realise that in 20 years time this thread will be the Chinese bemoaning the way Americans don't speak correctly?
No one speaks 'correctly'. Just because America has a monopoly on everything else in the world it doesn't mean you can ditate the use of English.
Americans also over-use stupid, inane words which have now all but lost meaning. However because you are so used to it you don't recognise it.
(And I hope that Lorraine Kelly and all of her 'brilliance' will be quickly sent back to Scotland once they achieve that freedom that they so desperately desire)
Us Brits talk wicked, innit
Most overused word by gay men: "fabulous"
Funny how straight guys never seem to use it.
"Funny how straight guys never seem to use it."
"Fabulous" was W's favorite word when he was in the White House.
My peeve is the Brit overuse of "actually."
In one of Stephen Fry's novels, there's a character named "Ashley," who, upon arriving at university, thinks the posh crowd is constantly talking about him. He quickly realizes that they're just using "actually" in every sentence.
[quote] Everyone in the NY theater community is obsessed with the term "spot on" these days
It's an affectation that sounds ridiculous coming from American mouths, as does, "Good on you."
"At the end of the day, I'm not bovered."
And the Americans overuse of AWESOME is any better? You know what's AWESOME the Grand Canyon. End of story.
R61 = James Dale "Jeff Gannon" Guckert
Brits think all Americans say "amazing" because they hear American celebrities say it a lot on their TV screens on chat shows and the like. Celebrities are not representative of the population at large. However Brits all say "brilliant" no matter who they are and that's a fact.
R67, I am a former NYer living in flyover land, and I hear Americans who are not celebrities overuse amazing and awesome everywhere I go: here in redneckland, and in NY when I'm visiting friends and family, and in other parts of the country, when I'm just traveling.
It's simply incorrect to say an enormous number of Americans don't use those words to describe a things that are neither amazing nor awesome.
Brits also love calling things "iconic," a bit of hyperbole I find to be quite irritating.
"Iconic" is also overused in the fashion world regardless of country: "the iconic Birkin Bag," "Meisel's iconic 1991 photoshoot," "Yves Saint Laurent's iconic Opium perfume," etc.
You've got to wonder what people who describe shoes or potato chips as "awesome!" would say if the Second Coming were to occur in their presence.
Brilliant is overused in the States also. Except in a way that is more tedious. Everybody who has had some mild success, especially in music or movies, at some point it seems has been described as brilliant. Give me a break. There are maybe a handful of truly brilliant people produced by every generation. Einstein was brilliant. St. Augustine was brilliant. Mozart was brilliant. I think I made my point. Madonna is NOT brilliant. Enough already. It's okay to simply say that someone is very talented or accomplished, and leave it at that.
what a load of pricks, since when could an American string a complete sentence together ?
Didn't "awesome" start out with Bill & Ted and Garth and Wayne. That was the first time I'd heard used in the context we hear it so much now.
In the 1960s, Brits overused "super." In the 1970s, middle aged Americans overused "super."
[quote] I worked in Montreal about 15 years ago and all the locals there under me said "perfect"
I hear a lot of young women saying "perfect."
It makes me say, "Molodyets."
My Brooklyn Jewish sister in law went to live in ZA and came home using lots of Britishisms from her friends. The most hilarious thing is hearing someone say "cock up" in a thick Brooklyn accent. "The whole thing was a caaaak op!"
This thread is truly EPIC!
I also like to hear the british say that, as well as "bloody". I love the british accent, it's bloody brilliant!
It is much less annoying than "awesome."
I have an American friend who lived over there for a number of years. He will occasionally refer to something as "brilliant." I generally respond by saying "Brilliant? What is so intelligent about it?" I've done it enough he knows I'm taking a piss on him.
Scathingly brilliant idea!
The shits...innit! Up the cunty Limeys, too.
I remember the first time I heard a London lad say "Whatever!..." in Sainsbury's in Camden Town.
I thought "Oh, it's arrived here now!" That was in '88. Then you started hearing it all the time.
"Go for it!'...early '80s.
"Wicked!' came from America too, I think. Very annoying.
An English-ism from the '80s & '90s that made my skin crawl was "Hiya!'...sort of, I'm cool and relaxed "Hiya!'
The English sometimes say "Terrific!', but it way too optimistic sounding and they act like they've taken a risk using it.
agreed with OP. They really do say it too much
AWESOME. This is an AMAZING new sandwich from Arby's. It's UNBELIEVABLE!!!!
It must have been CRAFTED by a sandwich ARTIST!
[quote]Scathingly brilliant idea!
Now THIS is a catch phrase ready for a revival.
This thread is diabolical.
You know people have beat a word into the earth when they are reduced to adopting a nickname for that word.
I hear "right!" used in the beginning to almost every phrase.
I agree, I'ld rather hear brilliant than AWESOME!!!
I remember 40-odd years ago, instead of "briliant" they would say "super".
Did they ever say "groovy"?
It's either "brilliant" or "vile"
I hope they don't continue to say "LMFAO" like the Americans still do. It is embarrassing.