"It seems like there may be cultural differences between how Americans and people from the UK use the word... I know you guys want to chime in, but remember, this is a UK sub and that OP is looking for opinions from people from his country."

People don't react positively to gate keeping type behavior, particularly because this sub has no rules asking Americans not to participate. You have a valid point (that OP is here because they want to know the cultural norms in the country that they live in), so it's more effective to just make that point.

BTW, I don't know what these folks are talking about... "crap" has essentially the exact same meaning and connotation in the US as in the UK.