Well done, very impressive. Just a few years of study left for you then!

I was accepted into Mensa last year which was a hug the world moment for me, so i know that feeling. Congrats.

12 A*s at GCSE

wow. well done Chris... amazing accomplishment ;)

nice 1 chrisp
well done dave bishop
well done bigzombiedude

I was recently nice to three people, which is a record for this forum I think :)

wow nice chrisp. lol

lets see... gloat..... i dunno, my application to form a diplomacy club was approved lol

I got into Trinity, Cambridge to read Maths is still my big gloat.

From the above, I can proudly say that the London World Cup team is really very awesome.

True, and the QS World University Rankings have got Cambridge as #1 now.

Congrats all. =)

@Ghostmaker, I understand you're using British English, but on first glance from an American's point of view, it looks like you're an idiot bragging about your intelligence.

Only from a stupid American's point of view, and what do I care what a stupid person thousands of miles away thinks?

@freakflag: as an American, I fail to see the idiot part - or the British-English part that you were referring to. Can you enlighten me? I didn't see any misspellings (such as colour or centre). And there wasn't any cockney expressions (which sound as dumb as some of our southern ones). So I really don't know what you're talking about.

And c'mon with the "on first glance" When you're criticizing (criticising for you ghost) someone else for something grammatical, you'd better be sure your own is perfect - or you just look like a fool.

um, philcore: "Trinity, Cambridge" is a britishism (in America, you see the university and college reversed or spelled out -- for instance Harvard Law, or the Wharton School of Business at UPENN, rather than Wharton, UPENN).

"to read Maths" -- serious britishism (although Math(s) plural may be a typo, but I'm not british so I wouldn't know). No one has "read" anything in america since attorneys stopped "reading law" in the 19th Century.

"blah blah blah, is still my big gloat" is a phrasing that is completely alien to American English. American English would require the sentence to read "The fact that I got into Trinity College at Cambridge to study Math is the subject of my gloating", or "I'm still gloating about the fact that I got into Trinity College at Cambridge to study Math"

"there wasn't any cockney expressions"

"When you're criticizing someone else for something grammatical, you'd better be sure your own is perfect - or you just look like a fool."

ok, I'll give you the "read Math" one, but the rest could have been just as easily explained as American or British informal speach. What you described as the "American" way, I would just describe as the "formal" way. Especially the "is the subject of my gloating". I'd never think an American said that, unless it was a university professor. But even the other version is no more "American" than British - it's just more formal.

If I said "Climbing Mt Everest is still my big acomplishment" would that sound obviously British to you? Cause the fact that he used the word "gloat" instead, was only because of the subject of the thread.

And no I've never climbed Mt Everest.

Wait ... Fried Okra Blues ... AHA!!! You were offended by the Southern comment I made, weren't you !!! hahaha, that's too funny. Sorry bout that, no offense intended.

Hey, Southern English is closer to British English than are the Midwestern or Northern dialects.

The only one closer is the Mid-Atlantic Dialect, which is a British-American hybrid anyways.

@FOB: 'Maths' is how we say it.

But either way, I say "...is my big gloat" is entirely British, precisely because of word choice and position. A "gloat" in American English is a noun meaning "a bragging statement", but TGM used it to mean "something I'm gloating about", not the actual gloating statement itself.

I still believe Trinity, Cambridge is a britishism, as that expression is just entirely unseen in American English.

@Timur -- What is your country?

Timur - you added nothing! just quoted me. Try harder next time!

Are you implying that I did the same? Cause I didn't. I wasn't pointing out grammatical errors for the sake of making someone look stupid, I was ointing out hypocracy for the sake of making someone look stupid. I don't try for formal speach on anything I'm not getting paid to write, So I could give a shit if it's correct or not. Most people talk informally on the Forum and I'll notice it, but never point it out, because I do it too. the "on first glance" would have made me cringe any time, but I would have never pointed it out if it wasn't being used in a post criticizing someone elses grammer.

@Maniac, that is the friendliest post i have ever seen from you and thanks.

@Ghost, well done indeed, that is some accomplishment.

Actually, I was using it as in "a bragging statement"

ie the bragging statement I use at the moment is....

Maths is British English.

We leave the shortened form of "Mathematics" in the plural

Yeah, but in American English, you couldn't do that. Even in informal circumstances, "gloat" in the manner you used it would require additional phrasing, or punctuation, to clarify it. To a native American, the statement sounds funny.

I think even casually, the best translation of your phrase would go like this:

My gloat is still "I got into Trinity College at Cambridge to study Math." (if one were self-referentially quoting)

I'm just saying that despite people jumping on freakflag's dick, he does have a valid point.

"Maths" in american english (influenced by the internet culture) is a humorous way of saying "Math", much like in the way one says "internets".

And "...., is my gloat" just sounds funny to an American.

@FriedOkra - how can you say that ANY particular regional dialect of the US is closer to British English? In what sense? And if you could convince me that it's possible, I'd still never buy the claim that the South is closer. They don't spell things differently in the south and the accents are surely further from a British accent than those of the Northeast. I can't immagine 2 more different accents based on the same language (not including Scotts - I'm not convinced they're actually even speaking English, I think they're just fucking with the rest of us)

He may be write that I use British English (who would have guessed) but that it makes me look stupid to Americans? That is not implied, just as when an American talks about "getting into Trinity College at Cambridge to study Math" doesn't look to me as though they are stupid.

The problem Americans have when arguing about the English language with the English: they can always play the "We created the bloody language" trump card.

At anyrate, good on y'all for being doing well academically and achieving your goals. Seems a bit silly to brag on an internet forum, but if I aced the MCAT or got in to Oxbridge I'd probably fly my flag high for a few days too.

yayager, I've just passed the 1 month point (in my defence, I had to be prompted to fly my flag)

jumping on his dick? Wow - that's certainly not american-sounding - slang or otherwise - in that context. That sounds like I'm picking up on him or something rather than giving him shit (taking the piss out of him, Ghost ;-)

and the reason I was giving him shit was the tone of his reply. "You sound like an idiot bragging about your intellegence" is plain rude in any dialect or region.

As far as your arguments about what sounds british vs american, I concede 2 out of 3. But I have obviously proved your statement

" '...., is my gloat' just sounds funny to an American"

wrong based on the fact that I'm American and it didn't sound funny to me.

Actually the accents are the same or similar, at least in the tidewater regions. Look, for instance, to the fact that in the 1930's until the 1950's, it was common practice in Hollywood to hire accomplished British actors and actresses to play major parts involving the Southern accent.

The non-rhotic-"r" (the non-pronunciation of the r in certain words when the r is followed by another consonant) is common to the vast majority of English speakers up until the mid-19th Century. The dropped-r at the end of certain words is also a commonality.

Where it gets trickier is the further you move inland. When you move closer to the Appalachians, you get more of a mix, which is what you're liking thinking of when you think of the "southern accent". That accent is mixed with French accents in some areas, Germanic and Scottish accents in others, and in some limited circumstances, Irish.

But think about the "plantation accent" or the "high-Southern" accent. That in and of itself is closer to British English in both word pronunciation, phraseology, and word choice than any other accent.

For instance, here are a slew of words which are similar to 18th Century British English -- "I swanny" (derived from archaic British "I swear on you") , "y'all" (derived from archaic british "All ye", or "Ye all"), and "I done told you" (derived from archaic british "I didst tell to/of you" or whatever else, depending on the verb).

There are actually several enlightening books written on the subject, as well as numerous academic papers. Look to works by William Ferris and John Shelton Reed