Noun. Television host or personality. “In dialect, [“rip”] is a combining form for expressions like rip-stave, rip-snort and the airheaded television presenter’s rip-‘n’-read.” (William Safire, New York Times, October 31, 1999)/“Two-times Super Bowl winner [Deion] Sanders, now a popular television presenter, played as a kick and punt returner, cornerback and later a wide receiver.” (Los Angeles Times, February 6, 2011) Google Ngram.

Adj. Good, clever, well-conceived or -executed. Very commonly used in the U.K., generally to express rather less enthusiasm than in the U.S. (indeed, it is frequently noncommittal or ironic), and to refer to a an experience, quality, idea, or other intangible, as opposed to a person. The abbreviation “brill” has not penetrated to the U.S., as yet. “It was brilliant to program the Beethoven before the Carter.” (Anthony Tommasini, New York Times, December 9, 1998)/”I jumped on one of those little sleds,” [Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Raul] Ibanez said, “and went down a hill. It’s brilliant. Whoever came up with that – phenomenal.” (Philadelphia Inquirer, February 21, 2011)

Participial form of verb “call.” Named. In the U.S., “called” has commonly been used in reference to a nickname or some other unofficial appellation. The Britishism is to use it for a proper name. “In the branch on Amsterdam Avenue and 69th Street, back in the 1930’s, a boy serendipitously espied a shelf heavy with large volumes filled with photographs by a man called Matthew Brady, a name unfamiliar to the teen-ager.” (Richard F. Shepard, New York Times, July 14, 1991)/”A woman called Carry Nation became a symbol of the movement when she traveled from bar to bar with an oversize hatchet and smashed them to pieces.” (Slate.com, June 3, 2010)

Verb, intransitive. To disappear or vanish. “A proxy card with 425,000 votes for the Bank of New York – the second largest block of stock in its favor – simply went missing.” (Sarah Bartlett, New York Times, September 18. 1988)/”Later, cell phone records obtained through a court order showed a call to her voicemail was made in Massapequa, a hamlet not far from where her body was found, on the day she went missing, the official said.” (Associated Press, January 27, 2011) Ngram for “went missing.”

Noun or adjective phrase. An occurrence or situation that has happened or will happen only once. U.S. equivalent for the adjective is “one-time.” No U.S. equivalent for the noun. “The editors promise that Panorama is a one-off and not Volume One, No. 1 of a new publication.” (Bruce Weber, New York Times ArtsBeat blog, October 14, 2009)/”Friday, Michigan and Air Force announced a one-off game for the 2012 home opener in Ann Arbor.” (MSNBC.com, January 29, 2011) Google Ngram.

Noun. Mom. “Some of the patter is awkward, but [Liza Minelli] is great about both her mum and dad.” (Vincent Canby, New York Times, December 19, 1999) “Actress Barbra Streisand is set to play Seth Rogen’s mum in new movie My Mother’s Curse.”(Monsters & Critics blog, January 31, 2011) Google Ngram.

Noun. Cooking, damn it. “…foods that seem to lend themselves most naturally to no-salt cookery are tomatoes, onions, mushrooms and eggplants.” (Craig Claiborne, New York Times, February 18 1981)/”…the volume is bolstered by essays on the role of African Americans in the evolution of American cookery …” (USA Today, February 15, 2011) Google Ngram.

Interjection. Self-conscious vocalism, indicating skepticism; um. “Here’s a report on the, erm, incident from CBC’s nightly national newscast.” (Slap Shot blog, New York Times, November 29, 2007) /”Justice Breyer asks a hypothetical question that he will pose several times today: ‘Imagine a well-educated American woman marries a man from a foreign country X. They have a divorce. The judge says the man is completely at fault here, a real rotter. The woman is 100 percent entitled to every possible bit of custody and the man can see the child twice a year on Christmas Day at 4:00 in the morning.’ (Erm. Isn’t that once a year?)” (Dahlia Lithwick, Slate, January 10, 2010)

Noun. Part, as of a text or film, usually used in the plural. “He [Kenneth Starr] wants America to believe he’d only included the good bits to help the legislature reach an informed decision.” (Time Magazine, August 9, 1999)/”I can tell you some of my very favorite bits. Every single bit of the fight with Matthew Patel is brilliant.” (LubbockOnline.com, January 12, 2011)

Adj. Custom-made. Traditionally, in reference to men’s clothing, especially suits; now more commonly metaphorical. “Until recently, folks looking to buy themselves a Bentley Arnage had a difficult choice: the Red Label or the Green Label. Either way, they got acres of premium hides, hand-polished hardwoods, a ”bespoke audio system,’ … (New York Times, January 28, 2001)/”The company is currently developing its own bespoke website which will go live when the Amazon deal ends in 2013.” (Wall Street Journal, February 8, 2011) Google Ngram.