Do you know what makes the English we speak so different to that spoken by the British? It’s not simply our accent and pronunciation, nor our vocabulary, or even our grammar, including the absence of it. No doubt those are some of the distinctions but they don’t get to the heart of the matter. The ‘core’ difference lies elsewhere.

It’s the way we express ourselves. The British use the language idiomatically. We speak far more literally. We describe what we have to say, we search out specific adjectives that convey our meaning and perhaps this is why in the process we use too many and usually all of the superlative sort. The British, on the other hand, prefer to express themselves with metaphor and aphorism. Consequently, their language is rich with idioms. Ours is almost devoid of them.

Here’s an example of some British idioms that we may be aware of but rarely, if ever, use. Their charm lies in the colourful — if at times bizarre — images they evoke. They add to the fun of the spoken language........

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