Brit-picking tool for writers and other word-lovers: the British National Corpus

[fictualities]

Have you ever wondered how the British use a word like "pavement" or "jumper"? In fandom, non-British writers with such questions can get their fic Brit-picked, and that's a terrific idea. But Brit-picking has its limitations. What if you consult several British fans and they disagree? Who's right? Would a British person really use a word in

Comments

I say!

[applegnat]

Rummy, thank you.

Re: I say!

[fictualities]

*chortles* You're welcome!

You'll be happy to hear that there are only ten hits for "rummy," all of them referring to the card game. Another use for this tool: helping those of us who *raises hand* have read a little too much early twentieth-century British fiction and never quite got it out of our heads; I can check an expression to see whether anyone under ninety still uses it. That's something that I for one desperately need.

Re: I say!

[applegnat]

I realise now that I even used it wrong! In my defence, I suffer from a head cold tonight. But my apologies for making you writhe, as you surely did, over my saying 'rummy' when I should in fact have said 'spiffing.' I decided to go for the less obvious and paid the price, obs.

Re: I say!

[fictualities]

*dies*

Reading as much slash as I do, when I see a word like "spiffing" I immediately assume it must refer to some outré sexual act, as in, Bertie and Pongo were drummed out of the Drones Club for spiffing each other under an armchair with a stapler and an underage hedgehog."

[capra_maritimus]

Ooooh, shiny! Thanks for this. :D:D:D:D:D

[fictualities]

You're welcome! :D

[matildafilch]

I adore hp_britglish, but I do sometimes feel sorry for the poor innocents posting to ask the proper term for, say, the sweet stuff that goes on top of a cake, only to find they have provoked a 150-comment flame-war and no clearer answer to their question. This may help. Very cool.

[fictualities]

I love that comm too! It's an incredibly useful resource, a perfect example of fans helping other fans. And I think the responses often illustrate just how diverse linguistic practice is in Britain today. For that very reason, though, when there's disagreement on the comm it can be hard for Americans and other non-Brits to decide whether to use a word or not. I suppose a database like the BNC can provide a larger sample size, acting as a tie-breaker when no consensus emerges from one's betas/advisors.

(28 hits for frosting; 832 for icing, including the following intriguing recipe: "Colour pieces of the remaining fondant icing (and using any trimmings) to make the sailor --; fleshy pink, blue and a little white." Yum. *cough*)

[matildafilch]

a perfect example of fans helping other fans.

Yes. I often get the warm sentimental fuzzies over it. And if nothing else I hope it serves to make people think about how diverse linguistic practice is everywhere. I'm sure users of drop_the_u must encounter similar disagreements.

I did the same search! I missed the fleshy pink icing though. There's something slightly appalling about the idea of it.

[forodwaith]

What a fabulous source. Bless you!

[fictualities]

You're welcome! Enjoy! :)

[squeeful]

Oh my god I think I just about died from linguistic geeky squee.

[fictualities]

Hee, I'm glad you enjoy! My Inner Word Geek loves this thing so much that I could play with it for hours! (Particularly when I have something else to do. Funny how that works, isn't it? :D

[squeeful]

Oh yes, definitely. The BBC Voices Project is also fun to play with.