What is the difference between "English" and "British"?
Dec 17, 2011 · That makes me ethnically English and politically British. Although Great Britain is a geographical term, British describes nationals of the whole of the United Kingdom and Britain is …
What's the origin of the phrase "show true colours?"
Mar 25, 2021 · Here's an example of the phrase in actual use. The Florida flew the British flag till she was fired at , when she hauled it down , and ( according to Captain Semmes's account ) hoisted …
Origin of "jack sh*t" - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange
Oct 7, 2011 · In British use the jack has been since the 17th c. (except under the Commonwealth) a small sized ‘Union Flag’ of the period (Union Jack), which has also been, since 1707, inserted in the …
Where does the "getting weaker" definition of "flagging" come from?
Feb 7, 2019 · Ah, So the meaning of flag (v) does NOT derive from a metaphor, like I thought, but comes direct from a word in a parent language. Thanks. After some more research, it also appears …
Origin of fag (meaning a cigarette in British English)
Dec 1, 2015 · Aside from the offensive meaning, colloquial British English uses the term fag to indicate a cigarette. James has gone outside for a fag In my googling, I thought perhaps this originates from …
Which is correct, "neither is" or "neither are"?
Disjunction in the subject formally takes a verb that agrees in the number with whichever element is closest to the verb. This is just as true with neither/nor as it is with either/or. “Neither the Russians …
Origin of the term 'Pom' - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange
Mar 8, 2019 · The problem for me is the lack of pomegranates in South Africa and the early common use of 'Pom' among Afrikaners for the English specifically when they had the term 'Rooinek' ('Red …
offensive language - Is the term "halfcast" racist? - English Language ...
The British term half-caste is developed from this usage and means mixed racial origin. Half-caste was used pretty well universally up to the 1990s at least. I've even come across mixed race people who …
What do we call a person in a war who holds the army's flag?
May 3, 2017 · 49 I am translating a history context talking about the Cold War and I am stuck with a word for the person in a war who holds the army's flag. This flag is used to show the mates that the …
Journalistic term for front-page promotional strip [duplicate]
Aug 1, 2016 · The Financial Times, like many other newspapers, has a strip under its title on the front page, split into several items (three in today’s paper — see illustration) promoting articles on internal p...