British Vocabulary

Just throwing my two cents in for what it's worth...
I am American, and I too, had never heard of chancery, but never considered "red herring" to be a particularly British saying so much as common mystery terminology. =)

I think any mystery story fan would know what "red herring" meant, since almost every mystery story has one. I certainly knew it.

I had the subtitles on and I learned that "Quay" sounds like "Key" - I had no idea!  So I learned something. Other than that, I was good - no confusion here.

Security is an illusion. Life is either a daring adventure or it is nothing at all. Helen Keller

I only know of one case where I was thrown by a British expression in a British fiction. In "1984" Orwell said the Party uniform was "overalls", which in America means a form of blue jeans. When I saw the "1984" movie I saw that Orwell had meant what Americans called "coveralls", shabby one-piece garments worn by European factory workers ( and now probably obsolete). (In both cases it would have to do with the Party's phony support of the "working class")

I have to admit, I'm of two minds. Yes, I think people should be more pro-active in looking up things they don't understand, particularly in the Internet age, but the first edition of And Then There Were None that I read included a glossary of British terms that an American (and certainly a ten-year-old American, no matter how precocious) might not have known. If I'd had to look all of that up myself--for example--what else a "life preserver" could be besides an ugly orange foam vest--this (and Christie's work in general) might not be one of my obsessions today.

Red herring isn't a term/concept exclusive to the Brits. You're just uneducated.


your doctor who is just... jarvis cocker in space.

If US shows don't provide a glossary for the rest of the world why should British show dumb itself down for you?

You can't keep a good woman down.

If you want a laugh at an absolutely terrible accent, watch The Langoliers and Mark Lindsay Chapman. Made me laugh that they said he was British in the film. Really? Actor is English and yet the accent is simply weird - Possibly a cross between South African, Australian and Irish. No idea why he had to sound so weird?