A couple of days ago, I invited readers to vote on what they thought were the search terms (after the decisive winner, ginger) that most often led readers to Not One-Off-Britishisms in 2011.
Hoo boy, were you wrong. Here’s what you said:
- One-off
- Whinge
- Bespoke
- Sit for an exam
- Laddish
- Suss out
- From boot to bonnet
- Chattering classes
- Charlotte Church having a wee
- Thank you very much indeed
And here are the actual most commonly searched terms:
- From boot to bonnet
- Thank you very much indeed
- Sit for an exam
- Laddish
- Suss out
- Chattering classes
- Bespoke
- One-off
- Charlotte Church having a wee
- Whinge
I had pledged to send a signed copy of my book The Sound on the Page to anyone who correctly chose the three most commonly searched terms (From boot to bonnet, Thank you very much indeed and Sit for an exam). The offer holds–though how such a claim could be substantiated, short of a screen shot of your ballot, is beyond me.
notoneoffbritishisms.com 
Aha! I did keep a screenshot of my ballot, for proof in case I won; but I was way off. I missed all of the top three. In the final list, I’d guessed numbers 4, 5, and 10 (2, 5, and 6 among the guessers).
I hate that stupid word _bespoke_, and I doubt if 1 in 1,000 British know what it means, either. Just my opinion–I could be wrong (about the British knowing the word–not about me hating it).
I wonder how many Americans looking for “suss out” and/or “whinge” are fans of (Anglophile) Joss Whedon’s “Firefly.” (American) I first heard both “suss out” and “whinge” in the “Firefly” episode “Out of Gas.”
Also, in the episode “The Train Job” was the pseudonym “Joey Bloggs” (which would be a poor name choice for a British show).