I suspect that if a British person used 'bastard' as an affectionate insult, it would be understood perfectly well but they might get teased for "pretending to be Australian".
'Tosser' sounds the least harsh of the insults you listed. I don't think 'retard' is used here much, but it might be among the younger and more Americanised generation. There's also 'berk', which is one of those words people use innocently until someone tells them its origin as rhyming slang, then sometimes they get embarrassed. Berk = Berkeley Hunt
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Date: 2010-02-04 01:55 pm (UTC)'Tosser' sounds the least harsh of the insults you listed. I don't think 'retard' is used here much, but it might be among the younger and more Americanised generation. There's also 'berk', which is one of those words people use innocently until someone tells them its origin as rhyming slang, then sometimes they get embarrassed.
Berk = Berkeley Hunt