Culturebox: The Britishism Invasion

Now playing: Slate V, a video-only site from the world's leading online magazine. Visit Slate V at www.slatev.com.
the good word The Britishism Invasion Language corruption is a two-way street. By Ben Yagoda Posted Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2011, at 12:57 PM ET This summer, journalist Matthew Engel took to the BBC website to bemoan the corrupting influence of U.S. words on British English. Readers were invited to weigh in with their picks for the worst of the worst, and within a day, nearly 1,300 had responded, with nominations including Can I get a ...?, 24/7, and deplane. ("Johnson"--the Economist's language blogger--pointed out that most of the entries weren't Americanisms at all, but rather cliches, neologisms, or merely expressions that happened to annoy the complainer.) This narrative should sound familiar. In fact, the language historian Dennis Baron pointed out recently that Brits have been whining about "Americanisms" at least since 1781, when John Witherspoon coined the term. So it may shock you to learn that British words and expressions have, of late, been worming their way into the American lexicon as much as the other way around. To continue reading, click here. Ben Yagoda is a professor of English at the University of Delaware and the author most recently of Memoir: A History. He contributes to the Chronicle of Higher Education's new blog about language and writing, Lingua Franca, and is working on a book called How To Not Write Bad. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate Hitchens: In Defense of Endless War I Found This Woman's Report Card From the 1920s. Then I Went Looking for Her. Can Police Force You To Vomit if You've Swallowed Evidence?	Advertisement
Manage your newsletters subscription: Unsubscribe | Forward to a Friend | Advertising Information
Ideas on how to make something better? Send an e-mail to slatenewsletter@nl.slate.com. Copyright 2011 The Slate Group | Privacy Policy The Slate Group | c/o E-mail Customer Care | 1350 Connecticut Ave NW Suite 410 | Washington, D.C. 20036