Thanks to everybody who entered the competition to win a signed copy of my book Gobsmacked! by suggesting future NOOBs entries. I had said there’d be one winner, but two people sent in words or phrases I intend to write about, so I will mail each of them a book. If one of them is you, send me your address via the contact form on this page, and I will mail/post you your copy.
The first winner is RevStuart79, who suggested “proper fit,” meaning, in current American lingo, “super [sexually] hot.” This was actually brilliant, since, just a day or two before, I had a chat with my daughter Lizy Yagoda, who suggested my looking into Britishisms used on the American version of Love Island, one of those Britishisms being “proper fit,” and another being “chat” especially as a noun. I resolved to do a post on Love Island-isms, and the Rev’s comment furthered my resolve.
The second winner is longtime commenter David Griggs, who had two suggestions. The first was “Brit,” meaning a British person. I hadn’t thought of this as having British origin, but it does; I will look into it further and report on it. David’s other suggestion was the phrase “make do and mend,” which I had never encountered but which he said showed robust U.S. use in Ngram Viewer. I looked into it a little bit, and learned it was a World War II slogan to promote frugality. But it’s had much less global impact than “Keep Calm and Carry On,” and I think most of the U.S. hits comes from mentions of a Connecticut rock band that took the phrase as its. However, it does show up a bit in recent U.S. fashion journalism, so I may cover it. Stay tuned.
Again, thanks for your comments and for reading. I intend to keep calm and carry on.
notoneoffbritishisms.com 
Awesome!!
And not only does proper + fit = “proper fit” as a fun NOOB, but it could work the other way too, with the “fit & proper” test language. I hear that a lot with soccer/football ownership (especially with so many longstanding teams/clubs going into bankruptcy/administration the last few years). But apparently “fit & proper” is used in the health and financial sectors as well.
NOOBs abound. 😀
It’s also funny to note that in decades past, Britishisms came to these shores via classy program(me)s like Masterpiece Theatre. Now it’s through Love Island. 😀
Will BrE “punter” (= gambler) achieve NOOB status? Here it is from the American critic Naomi Fry, in The New Yorker, on June 15, 2026:
“It started with the enormous stars-and-stripes-adorned structure called the Claw, all but dwarfing the White House, under which thousands of punters lucky enough to watch the card play out in the Octagon would convene.”
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/critics-notebook/fight-night-at-the-white-house
Hard to search for other examples without running into all the American football references, but if anyone can do it, I’m sure you can.
That’s a good one, Nancy. I got into “punter”–which in BrE also means more generally “customer”–here but it may deserve another look.
Looking at your “punter’s chance” post, some of the commenters thought it was not a British usage. It doesn’t mean anything to me. A “gambler’s chance” could be good or bad.
In Nancy’s example, the people in Claw are punters in the sense of “customers” and customers who are looked down upon by the salesman.
Thanks Ben, I will treasure your signed copy (that is, I promise not to leave it where I’ll spill tea on it). I’d have sent more suggestions over the years but, y’know, too lazy/unfocussed/forgetful.
Have you overlooked or disqualified ‘fab’? (The Beatles). When you mentioned, I think, Tea for the Tillerman and Thick as a Brick a few years ago, you could have put out a call for words and phrases introduced to America by British bands, lyricists, and so on. Readers will be more responsive when prompted by a popular category.
Did you know, Ben, that Stephen King used ‘thick as a brick’ in his short story Harvey’s Dream, referencing its origin?
I’ve just done a ten-minute search, and there are at least a dozen words and phrases the Beatles introduced to the US, ‘helter-skelter’ being one of the more interesting.
While searching, I’ve also discovered that Americans write ‘hot flash’ instead of ‘hot flush’ and ‘meow’ instead of ‘miaow’. Oh dear.
Interesting–I will investigate. And I will post that book as soon as I get back from holiday.