Hamed
American English: Does the word 'Brilliant' mean 'Great' in the USA? I know that the word 'Brilliant' means 'Great' in the UK. But, how do you interpret it in the USA? For example: - italki is a brilliant website. Do you use the sentence above in American English?
16 nov 2015 14:07
Risposte · 8
3
Not in the U.S. "Brilliant" to us means, very smart, or shining brightly, but we don't use it as the Brits do to mean great.
16 novembre 2015
1
It means the same thing, although it is not used all that often. Most people I know also use it sarcastically.
16 novembre 2015
1
In Canada, it's used to mean (1) shining, e.g., a brilliant light, (2) very clever or excellent, e.g., a brilliant idea, (3) it is often used as a sarcastic statement, e.g., Washing your white clothes with your coloured clothes is simply brilliant (i.e., stupid, ill-advised). The word is not often used verbally and not often used in normal, everyday writing.
16 novembre 2015
In 2015 and still currently in 2021 the equivalent expression in American usage would have been (as now), “Awesome!”
24 marzo 2021
Thank you very much.
16 novembre 2015
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