Briticisms

[lethargic_man]

Saw an article on the BBC News site about Briticisms picked up by Americans. Amongst them:

• Gobsmacked. Ah yes, but I wonder how many Americans then realise what "gob" means. (Actually, I wonder how many Brits do too: Is it a general British word or just one from the north-east?)
• Muppet. I wonder how much this word's use to mean stupid person is directly traceable to Steve Wright on Radio 1 in the eighties and nineties?
• Roundabout, touted as a Briticism. Actually, the word was invented by an American living in the UK. The older British term was "gyratory circus". That's why you have place names in London like Piccadilly Circus. (Or so I'm told. For all people complain about inaccuracies on Wikipedia, it's a huge improvement upon the sort of repeating of unchecked anecdotal factoids, which sometimes turn out to be poppycock, which went on beforehand... and still goes on now, as I'm currently helping to demonstrate.)