Questions on BrE... again?

[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!

[Red5]

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

[Tdol]

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!

'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.