"Saucy." When was the last time you used that word in a sentence? If you're a Yankee or Canuck, probably never. But if you're British, you may consider it a delightful, clever word that should be used whenever you need a euphemism for "trashy".
That strange British fondness for "saucy" yields this recent headline from the UK's Mail on Sunday: Kate Middleton's all-girl rowing team show their naked ambition with saucy calender. Now, in America, we designate a "team" as a singular entity, so (at the risk of anthropomorphizing) a team showsits naked ambition with trashy calendar. I had thought British usage was in agreement on this sort of thing, but perhaps I was mistaken.
At any rate, the article has some nice photos of some saucy girl jocks, so check it out.
"saucy (adjective) sexually suggestive, typicallly in a way intended to be light-hearted and humorous."
It's not a synonym for "trashy".
That said, you'll find that group nouns such as "team" can be treated as plural or singular in British english according to context; it depends on whether we're stressing the group or the individuals which make up the group.
cpbell0033944
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Kate...
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2007-10-11 12:46:18
...is the on-off girlfriend of Prince William, the Prince of Wales's son. The Queen doesn't like her because she's a commoner, which is exactly the same mistake she and Prince Phillip made when thet told Andrew that he couldn't marry Koo Stark (an American? Please :roll: ) and Charles himself that he couldn't marry Camilla Parker-Bowles (or whatever her maiden name was); thus leading to Andrew marrying grabby Sarah Ferguson disaster) and Charles marrying a Sloany blonde called Diana Spencer... :0
Lingster
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Huh?
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Super Administrator
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2007-10-11 14:50:02
Princes? Queens? You Brits still have all that nonsense?
You should switch over to the American style of choosing celebrities - looks, style, charisma and narcissistic tendencies - rather than relying so greatly on the descendants of a single 17th century German.
cpbell0033944
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re: Huh?
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2007-10-12 04:43:06
Lingster wrote:
Prin
ces? Queens? You Brits still have all that nonsense?
You should switch over to the American style of choosing celebrities - looks, style, charisma and narcissistic tendencies - rather than relying so greatly on the descendants of a single 17th century German.
We do it because they bring in plenty of tourist money from Americans who love the see the pomp and circumstance of royalty.
Lingster
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Well you know...
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Super Administrator
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2007-10-12 08:51:54
I've heard that if you got rid of the tourists, you'd solve London's traffic problem.
cpbell0033944
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re: Well you know...
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2007-10-12 09:00:49
Lingster wrote:
I've
heard that if you got rid of the tourists, you'd solve London's traffic problem.
Yes, well Philip's a fool. :(
Ric
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re: Well you know...
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2007-10-12 16:55:44
Lingster wrote:
I've
heard that if you got rid of the tourists, you'd solve London's traffic problem.
No, solving traffic problems was why we got the congestion charge.
Now we can overcharge Americans for gawping at our royals AND just driving around :wink:
Seriously, saucy is like a posh sort of sexy - I think the one time you wouldn't use it is in connection with slightly cheap or trashy sexual situations. (A rowing team taking their clothes off can't be trashy in the UK as they are all upper middle class y'see).
cpbell0033944
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re: re: Well you know...
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2007-10-13 06:07:32
Ric wrote:
Now we can overcharge Americans for gawping at our royals AND just driving around :wink:
LOL!
Ric wrote:
Seriously, saucy is like a posh sort of sexy - I think the one time you wouldn't use it is in connection with slightly cheap or trashy sexual situations. (A rowing team taking their clothes off can't be trashy in the UK as they are all upper middle class y'see).
Yes, it's a harmless, fun kind of sexy rather than a very dodgy kind of "I have no pride" type of sexy.
