| 词组 | Brit |
| 释义 | Brit Brit is a relatively modern word, unattested before 1901, that is a shortening of Briton, Britisher, or British. It is used to designate a native of England, and its use has been accelerating rapidly since the 1970s. It has several virtues that undoubtedly have helped foster its use: it is short, it can be made plural (as British cannot), it is not easily confused in speech (as Briton and Britain can be), and it is unmarked for gender (as Englishman, Englishwoman are not). Its usage is, however, a bit tricky. Reader's Digest 1983 says Brit is used by Australians and Americans, but is not liked by the British. Safire 1986 uses it but says it is a term not used by the British although it is not especially derogatory. It appears in the OED Supplement with no usage label. Some British sources in our files confirm Reader's Digest's suggestion of British touchiness. The first quotation is from an article on the Australian press: • For generations, the British have been the Poms,— the word not without overtones of affection. Now, they are the Brits, and this apparently milder appellation always carries an edge of dislike and contempt —Times Literary Supp., 10 May 1974 • ... the Brits—as we are elegantly known in Dublin —John Vaizey, The Listener, 11 Oct. 1973 These quotations suggest that the term has been used with a certain edge of derogation in some of the English-speaking nations, and our evidence suggests that—at least in the mid-1970s—Brit had at least some coloration of disdain in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Scotland, and Canada. A couple of examples should suffice: • ... three, including an unarmed internee, have been killed by the Brits —Rose Catha (Ireland), November/December 1974 • The amount of space the "left" wing Brits devoted to the farce of a trial —letter to editor, Glasgow News, 19 Nov. 1974 • Isn't that typical of the crafty Brits? They don't even grow the stuff, yet they make a fortune getting it off someone else, then flogging it —The Sun (Melbourne), 2 May 1975 Recent American use, which is on the increase, does not, as Safire observes, seem especially derogatory: • ... if the forces of Providence were behind all this, having whimsically decided to kick around the Mexicans and the Brits — Wall Street Jour., 3 Nov. 1976 • ... has hired three Brits to write copy that will move the hearts and minds —Peter W. Bernstein et al., Fortune, 2 May 1983 • The events attract all the young Brits, but don't expect it to be tweedy —Town & Country, April 1981 • Cleese narrowly wins our Funny Brit award over Peter Cook —People, 11 June 1984 The Brits themselves use the term. Longman 1984 labels this use informal: • No doubt young Brits, influenced by television, films, and magazines, will pick up the slang —Howard 1980 • ... has learned something about dialogue His • Hong Kong Chinese sound like the real thing, as do his Americans—the Cousins, as the Brits call them —Anthony Burgess, N Y. Times Book Rev., 25 Sept. 1977 • The inscrutable Americans, or Brits, or French, or Germans —William Davis, Punch, 16 Mar. 1976 • The True Brit is the man who thinks God made us great and glorious —Bernard Crick, The Observer, 19 May 1974 The trend of American and British usage seems to suggest that Brit is on its way to becoming a relatively neutral, informal term used in place of the longer Briton, Britisher, or Englishman. It seems likely to continue to hold its edge of dislike and contempt in some other places, however. Its increasing rate of growth may be in part ascribable to the controversies that have clung to Briton and Britisher for the past century or more. See Briton, Britisher. |
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