Whilst/While

I'm very much interested in knowing whether you use "while", "whilst" or both. It would seem that "whilst" is formal and more archaic although I've also heard it in ordinary speech in Great Britain. Would you say it's pedantic or perhaps regional?

I would like to know what native English speakers, from all over the world, have to say about this.

Thanks a lot,

Regional, yes. Pedantic, no.

Regional in as much as it's not really used much in North America. Dictionaries may call it chiefly British, and it isn't uncommon in Britian as far as I'm aware, but as an Australian I use the word often.

"Whilst" is generally thought of as being pedantic/affected/archaic/pretentious when said by North Americans and sometimes when used by people in other regions where the word is also becoming more uncommon.

As an American English speaker, I never use "whilst". But even though "whilst" is almost never used here in the US, it is quite commonly used in Britain and Australia.