Am I realy British (was Re: HBP US / UK Differences)

[Geoff Bannister]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Tim Regan" <timregan at m...> 
wrote:
> Hi All,
> 
> Is replying to one's own posts the first or second sign of madness?
> 
> Dumbledad (me) said:
> <<< I was pretty sure that the word "tardy" was used *somewhere* in 
the
> US edition, and it's not a word we'd use much in the UK (it sounds 
very
> archaic to us); but it isn't where I thought it was. 

<snip>

> But when I looked it up in the UK edition (page 152) it is exactly the
> same! So much for my knowledge of my own countrymen's use of language.

Geoff:
I wouldn't consider the words tardiness as archaic. I use it and have 
also heard friends use it from time to time.

I think it has a slightly different nuance to late/lateness or delay. 
It can suggest these but, according to one of my dictionaries, can also 
be used to indicate slowness of response.