The American phrases that are taking over Brits’ vocabulary… so how many do YOU use?
Countdown star Susie Dent has been defending the use of American English and revealing some surprising terms that have come from the US
LOVE them or hate them, Americanisms have become part of the British language.
Words like "Awesome", "Skedaddle" and even "Commuter" all hail from over the Atlantic - and even the phrase “stiff upper lip” comes from the US.
But while they irritate language purists, American words and phrases have found an unlikely champion in Susie Dent.
The Countdown wordsmith has defended what many see as “unwanted gifts from our American cousins.”
She said: “I love American English.
“The voices thundering across the Atlantic at the moment are not to everyone's taste.
“But it's time to let our stiff upper lip relax a little, and revel in the capacity of our language to embrace new influences and emerge triumphant. 'Stiff upper lip', as it happens, that quintessentially British phrase, was another gift to our language from American shores."
“Perhaps it's time to give up the fight.”
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The 52-year-old presenter, who fell in love with words as a child while reading shampoo bottles, revealed Shakespeare used US spelling such as “honor” instead of “honour.”
She said he also used the verb “gotten” and wrote the word “friended” more than 400 years before Facebook existed.
The Words and Phrases That Have Crossed the Pond
Skedaddle – Originated in the American Civil War
Stiff Upper Lip – First used in the Massachussetts Spy in 1815
Ageism – Coined in 1969 by US gerontologist Dr Robert N Butler
Commuter – From US in 1865 when the railroads commutation ticket was introduced
Teenager – First coined in the States in 1941
Workaholic – Introduced by psychologist Wayne E Oates in 1968
Modern Words and Phrases taking over in Britain
Reaching out – used instead of emailing or phoning
Catch a movie – instead of “watch a film”
Cupcake – replacing fairy cake
I’m good – instead of “I’m well” in response to “How are you?”
So – instead of really, eg. “I’m so not liking that.”
Totally – replacing a simple “yes”
Issue – instead of problem
Burger and fries – taking the place of beefburger and chips
Take out – instead of takeaway
Can I get – replacing “may I have”
Touch base – rather than stay in touch
Heads up – meaning to give advanced warning
Regular size – instead of medium
Standing in line – replacing queuing
Cookie – replacing biscuit
Writing in the Radio Times, she said: “When so much of English orthography has been formed by serendipity… it seems churlish to argue that the British way is better.”
In 2014 a project by Cambridge University and Lancaster University found that the US exclamation “awesome” appears 72 times per million words in the Britain compared to the more British “marvellous”, which fell from 155 times per million more than 20 years ago to only two times per million.
We recently revealed the A-Z of old time swearwords and their meanings.
