Is "stupid git" used by Americans and British alike?

[heidita]

for whom the charming 'stupid old bag' would be the equivalent.

[BobK]

...and just in case anyone suspects there was a typo ('hag'), iconoclast's version is right.

[DMickG]

Interesting discussion. I came on the site to check my hunch about the derogatory term 'git'. I thought it might be a contraction of "illeGITimate", in other words, "bastard". Unlike Anglika's suggestion "a southern variant of Scottish get - 'illegitimate child, brat', related to beget" I saw it coming directly from the word "illegitimate" itself.

Furthermore, I was brought up on Merseyside and can confirm that the form of the word used on Merseyside is "get", never "git", which is why the Beatles happilly rhymed it with "cigarette".

Incidentally, the Beatles did feed quite a few Merseyside colloquialisms into mainstream language: "made up", "chuffed", "the gear". One Liverpool phrase which didn't achieve common currency is "finger pie" (Penny Lane). Just as well!

[BobK]

I think it depends on the context. If used in polite company, it could be regarded as rude, but among good friends it's harmless enough. It can apply to men and women equally. I wouldn't use it with the force of a***hole; it's more like idiot to me.

'Git' is not used at vicars' tea-parties, but if a friend did something stupid I might easily say 'you stupid git' without giving offence (well, not to the friend at least).

b

[Ouisch]

No, it is not used in AmE, and most Americans wouldn't know what you meant by "git." Back in the late 1960s, when the Monkees were touring England, Micky Dolenz heard the expression "Randy Scouse Git" on a television show, and he used it as the title for one of his songs. In the US, it was released with that name, which no one really understood. In the UK, however, the song was going to be banned by the BBC unless Dolenz came up with an alternate title. So, in typical Monkees fashion, the tune was called "Alternate Title" in the UK.

[konungursvia]

I've heard it several times, but always from a Brit.

[kathleen]

I've heard it used by Irish Americans also.