Nonce word is a new one on me - I quite like it though in the UK (and Australia I believe) it would generally be confusing as I have only heard nonce used as a term for a sex offender (generally one involved with children).

I would point out for the benefit of my Transatlantic bredren (NEW OED WORD ALERT) that it would be wise to not use wanky as a synonym for wonky, at least in any dealings with those of commonwealth persuasion, as it is a fairly salty synonym for self indulgent.

A nice post, thanks, though I am a bit disappointed about 'Pamela' - what happened to 'Ste Letto' or some other pun based name related to footwear? That's one of my favourite bits.

We would in England talk of a mooted Severn Barrage (possibly around 8 - 15 GW peak generation depending on site) almost interchangeably with Dam. However the first pronounciation is certainly completely unknown to me.

@beck Just one point - I understand levels of domestic service are now higher in the States than in good ol' Blighty these days, and conditions often consdiered worse due to the high numbers of illegal immigrants employed. I can't say I have ever known much about anyone having servants here (England...

I enjoyed this one, thanks - I often wondered about where this could have come from.

Sal McGundy's roommates sister sounds interesting to me though - anyone got her number?

Well, in some boating areas the rest rooms (loos) will have signs that say "Buoys" and "Gulls." One of my wife's cousins said she was in a bar one time where the signs showed two different dogs in two different stances: Pointers and Setters. Then there's the Macaroni Grill, an I...

To be honest I would have put good money on pernickety being the commonly used version in the persnickety / pernickety debate. I could barely recall an instance of persnickety being read or heard and think I put it down to malapropism if I did catch it in the wild. But then I never knew that America...