We've been burglarized!

Don't panic, we haven't really. But I find writing this strange Americanism – let alone saying it aloud – amusing to say the least.

In the UK, we know this word as BURGLED. That's what a 'burglar' does. He burgles. For example: "Man, 62, burgles old lady's house and steals her purse."

My husband raised a good point yesterday (having just become a British citizen, I think he's finally starting to see the faults in American English aka 'the light'). He asked, why does a burglar burglarize if a shopper doesn't shopperize and a driver doesn't driverize?

I agree. A terrorist terrorizes... so the noun would have had to be 'burglarist', wouldn't it?

Who knows where it came from. Sometimes language has no logic.

All I do know is that I'm not a fan of this weird 'burglarize' word and don't appreciate it being used this side of the Atlantic, thank you very much Daily Mail. Even if you do change the suffix to the British '-ised', you're still not getting it past me.

In case you're interested, here's a little more background on these two words