On Language

You've got to face it: the Brits sometimes have much better words for things than we do.

I'm sure lexicographers could produce side-by-side dictionaries of the British version of a word vs. our own. After all, we and the Brits share a common language separated by an ocean.

A recent obituary for the punk fashion designer Vivienne Westwood (a Brit) with the words used in the NYT and those used by the British paper, The Guardian offers a great example of the superiority of the British version of a word vs. our own.

In the States, you might read that someone appearing (usually a woman) not wearing underwear has gone "commando." Think Paris Hilton getting out of a limo; think Sharon Stone playing Catherine Tramell, a likely suspect in an ice pick stabbing in the movie Basic Instinct during a police interview, crossing her legs and offering the detectives a wet dream.

Think Linda Ronstadt when she appears on the Johnny Cash TV show decades ago, seated demurely next to Johnny in a miniskirt in what is probably her introduction to a nationwide audience, that had Johnny's wife June Carter in fits because, guess what, Linda's doing her number "commando," and well, men are men. It seems backstage June could tell that Linda wasn't wearing anything underneath her dress and she was worried about Johnny's attention being distracted.

Look up "commando" and wearing no underwear is not one of the definitions, but is given as an example of its use. How "commando" ever came to mean no lower underwear is beyond my pay grade.

Sarah Lyall, a veteran NYT reporter who spent a solid chunk of her career reporting form the U.K., wrote a book, "The Anglo Files: A Field Guide to the British" in which she points out the distinctions the Brits and the Americans have for saying the same thing.

A Tweet from @justjenking, the Australian polymath about the Guardian's wording in the obit for Vivienne, made clear another example of how different words mean the same thing, but the British version just sounds more descriptive. Better.

The NYT shows a photo of Vivienne twirling around in a dress that she wore when she met Queen Elizabeth to receive the honor or being awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1992. The skirt of the dress is rising up and the NYT tells us in the caption Vivienne wore it "sans underwear."

In the text of the obituary, the Times tells us at the OBE presentation that Vivienne "defied convention by wearing no underwear to the ceremony, famously giving a twirl for the paparazzi."

The Guardian's description of what obviously at the time was hot stuff, tells us, "when she was appointed OBE in 1992, she went to Buckingham Palace in a finely tailored suit, but wore no knickers underneath."

"No knickers" is so much naughtier than "no underwear."

God bless the Brits.

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