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I've written an article in which I've included the expressions: 'to lose one's rag' and 'to blow one's top', both meaning 'to lose one's temper'. Problem is, I'm not sure if these are particularly british expressions, that may sound odd to american buyers of web content. Can anyone tell me if these expressions are commonly used in the US? Or are they going to make my article sound too british - don't want to limit the market.

I've heard "blow your top" enough times to think it's not overly British. I have never heard "to lose one's rag" though.

I agree.

I wouldn't use the "rag" expression because of the term's association with menstruation (at least here in the US).

Be careful using colloquialisms or expressions. For some reason, US publishers and editors have declared war on anything which could be construed as cliché. I've gotten bad reviews on some of my work because a line sounded, to them, "Too cliché-like." Frankly, I love clichés and colloquialisms. To be fair, "Louder than a herd of elephants," isn't something to use in a technical article about a malfunctioning computer power supply. I still haven't found a decent use of, "Sicker than ten dogs," outside of fiction, but that's okay. Not many people above the Mason Dixon line have heard the expression anyway.

Interesting. In an informal, chatty article it's quite hard to cut the colloquialisms. Feels like that's what gives the article it's character and humour, and makes it sound like a real person talking. But as you say Barry, there probably isn't much call for character and humour in an article on technical computery stuff! (My article is about stay-at-home mums, sorry, moms - plenty of character and humour needed for that!). I'm sure I'll be back here soon picking all your brains for more info to help correct my collection of dodgy expressions. Thanks all.