and this shows why Australians say we speak English ! same language!

When I lived in London, I collected these phrases.

Favourite phrase: "Colder than a witch's tit"

Funniest (for Americans) phrase from a commercial: "Keep your pecker up with a Penguin!"

Phrase backward (from Dylan Thomas's Under Milk Wood): the town of "Llareggub".

Blimey!

So many favorite words (daft, mad, rubbish), and pronunciations (a-loo-mi-ne-um for aluminum). But IMO, only the English have a way of tossing off the "C-word" without causing affront.

Has anyone noticed the "related threads" listed below? There's an oldie but goodie started by our dearly departed PalenQ (with contributions from Cholly Warner) that's worth a look:

"We Can Do Without Rowdy British Tourists"

>>But IMO, only the English have a way of tossing off the "C-word" without causing affront.<<

That's a generational thing, by and large. Younger people use it much more freely, among friends, and particularly as an insult (playful banter or otherwise) between men, and some feminists make a point of trying to reclaim it: but it's still very offensive outside those contexts, particularly when used to a stranger.

I would not accept the C word from anyone.

Yes, I agree-it's all context, isn't it? Not being native to England, I can't judge how often it's used. From my exposure to the word in media, the English employ the word far more often (and more playfully) than any American around me. (And it's not a playful word here.) The c-word coming from Ricky Gervais seems mild to me, but coming from an American, or scripted in a David Mamet play, the word packs a wallop. I think I'd cry if a stranger yelled it at me.

About C_W -- he used to say there was a pub near the British Museum names after an ancestor or distant relation of his -- presumably The Marquis Cornwallis. I just finished reading Hero of the Empire, about Winston Churchill's adventures in the Boer War, which mentions one George Cornwallis-West (Churchill's mother had an affair with him). Do I remember correctly, that C_W's real name was David West? If so, I think I've found the connection.

Yes, I remember that his real name was David West -- his early posting name was the "David West the Custard Monster" lol. I believe he wrote about being related to General Cornwallis of Revolutionary War fame, that some relatives' portraits were hanging in the National Portrait Gallery and that Winston Churchill's mother (an American, horrors) was briefly married to a distant uncle George Cornwallis-West. He loved to celebrate July 4 as a sort of "Thank God, they finally left" day. Such a great sense of humor -- he was totally serious about July 4, understandably.