Questions on BrE... again?

Hello!
I think my message was not posted... so I'm writing it again.
I have a few questions:
:?: How common is the word chap? Can I call chaps to a group of people, both men and women?
:?: What are more common in the UK, words ended in zation or in sation?
:?: Is it ring or ring up (verb)?

Thank you very much!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Emmanuel OA

:?: How common is the word chap? - Quite uncommon - not one for casual conversation.

:?: What are more common in the UK, words ended in zation or in sation? - http://www.onelook.com/?w=*ation&scwo=1&sswo=1

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Emmanuel OA

Hello!
I think my message was not posted... so I'm writing it again.
I have a few questions:
:?: How common is the word chap? Can I call chaps to a group of people, both men and women?
:?: What are more common in the UK, words ended in zation or in sation?
:?: Is it ring or ring up (verb)?

Thank you very much!

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'Chap' has its supporters, but they are a minority. Some use it only for men, while others use it for both; I usde it for both.
I'm not sure which spelling is more common- we use both and willquite happily mix spellings in the same text, or even the same sentence. Some words tend to be spelled one way: you rarely see anything other than 'realise', for instance. ;-)