Nutter, nutty as a fruitcake. Can anyone tell me if the word ‘Bampot’ floats around in american english? Its the scottish equivalent to Nutter in somecases!
This doesn’t count. An American journalist working for a British news service would be expected to use British English. My wife, on the other hand, is Indiana born and raised and says “nutter” all the time.
I still associate this word with a basic computer game called “Nutter” that was available on the BBC Micro in the 1980s. It involved moving Hitler back and over along the bottom of the screen and “nutting” (i.e., heading) and thereby neutralising bombs that fell from the top. Do it wrong, or get too close, and Hitler would explode. Daft, but weirdly memory-sticky.
I would like to know if there is a precise American English equivalent to this. To my mind, a “nutter” implies a more endearingly eccentric character than a “nutjob” or being “nuts”. The latter two assert craziness which may be unpleasant, while a nutter is harmless. Have four cats and you may be a nutter, have forty and you are a nutjob.
notoneoffbritishisms.com 
Nutters’s ? Tsk Tsk. If you are going to nick a Briticism, at least get it right 😉
Nutter, nutty as a fruitcake. Can anyone tell me if the word ‘Bampot’ floats around in american english? Its the scottish equivalent to Nutter in somecases!
I live in Canada and watch a lot of US tv, and I’ve never heard it.
This doesn’t count. An American journalist working for a British news service would be expected to use British English. My wife, on the other hand, is Indiana born and raised and says “nutter” all the time.
He seems to be using this as a form of the American “nut” to mean enthusiast, rather than with the British sense of lunatic
I still associate this word with a basic computer game called “Nutter” that was available on the BBC Micro in the 1980s. It involved moving Hitler back and over along the bottom of the screen and “nutting” (i.e., heading) and thereby neutralising bombs that fell from the top. Do it wrong, or get too close, and Hitler would explode. Daft, but weirdly memory-sticky.
Not to go too far off topic, the word ‘headbanger is atried and tsted repalcement for nutter.
Nutjob also
I would like to know if there is a precise American English equivalent to this. To my mind, a “nutter” implies a more endearingly eccentric character than a “nutjob” or being “nuts”. The latter two assert craziness which may be unpleasant, while a nutter is harmless. Have four cats and you may be a nutter, have forty and you are a nutjob.
A new phrase which is becoming current is “Upney”. This is a station on the District Line that is “one stop beyond Barking” ….
Nutcase springs to mind We also say ‘to be as nutty as a fruitcake’
@Bonzodog Does Upney mean one step beyond as in Barking mad?