Autumn is specifically British? You've got to be kidding.
Britishisation of American English.
- Thread starter MacLeod
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Yeah, I call bullshit on that. Some of these words are just words. They're not British or American English...they're just English.
Picard's fondness for Earl Grey was the cross-cultural bridgehead though.
Anyway, one of the things I love about English is its versatility and malleability. I know everyone bangs on about Italian & French being more poetic, but English's special strength is its sheer punnability and chaotic flexibility. It can take a massive level of distortion before it collapses into unintelligibility. Compare someone speaking English in London, to Alabama, to Delhi, to Singapore, to Kenya, and so on. Not to mention zillions of other dialects and vast quantities of spontaneously generating technical jargon.
The internet has certainly fed the cross-fertilisation of language across the Atlantic, but it's never going to homogenise. New dialects, usages and deliberate neologisms will constantly arise. And, in my opinion, that's a great thing. Keeps the language alive, vibrant & relevant.
I had no idea roundabout was British. In my small Colorado town, when one was being put in, everyone called it a roundabout. I have never heard the term traffic circle until I moved to California.
^I grew up in NJ in the 50's and 60's, and we called them traffic circles. When they finally started building them in MD fairly recently, I was surprised to hear them called roundabouts.
(Oops, sorry, I was responding to Grey's post.)
(Oops, sorry, I was responding to Grey's post.)
Oh, yeah! Wow, I haven't heard that in years! Of course, I haven't been up there in years either.
In Illinois they're called "What the fuck is this?" I have only ever encountered one of them in my entire state.
We have at least two in my city, both pretty small. One time I encountered a old woman parked in the middle of one of them, completely and utterly perplexed as to what she was supposed to do!
In my experience a lot of these aren't really happening. I've never heard anyone use the word Chav, and doubt anyone would have a clue what that's about it I did try to use it. Cheeky? Nah. I think if someone called their apartment a "flat" without being British I'd laugh in their face. C'mon man.
I do say "innit" a lot... but with a fake Ali G style accent.
I do say "innit" a lot... but with a fake Ali G style accent.
That's interesting. To me, they've always been traffic circles. I always assumed "roundabout" was a British term. The first time I heard it was in the Beatles' "Penny Lane."
The only Rotary I've heard of is this one.
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Yep, we call them rotaries up here in Maine, too. Must be a New England thing.
Most ironically, I was told by my partner (from California, who I was moving here with) that traffic circle was the British term. I guess we were wrong about that, haha.
And rotaries! I want to say that sounds vaguely familiar, although I've only ever lived in the western part of the country.
And rotaries! I want to say that sounds vaguely familiar, although I've only ever lived in the western part of the country.
Actually I've found that flat IS gaining more use. I've also hear "flatmate" more often. The one caveat to all of this is that you hear these terms being used by more educated Americans that travel internationally or are likely to consume British media. That, sadly, is not most Americans. I work for an international organization, so its hardly shocking that I hear more britishisms since they are accurately described as part of "International English." For instance, holiday is more widely used outside of North America instead of vacation. The same is true for flat.
I always use traffic circle and roundabout interchangeably, but maybe that's just me. I've always found them rather odd. Seems to cause a lot of confusion and indecision for those who come across them for the first time, as if they were created to confuse.
As for Holiday and Vacation, I also use that interchangeably, however I tend to use Vacation more during the summer months and associate Holiday with Christmas, so I tend to feel it's seasonal. At least, with Vacation we get the derivative Staycation.
As for Holiday and Vacation, I also use that interchangeably, however I tend to use Vacation more during the summer months and associate Holiday with Christmas, so I tend to feel it's seasonal. At least, with Vacation we get the derivative Staycation.
The only word on that list I hadn't heard of is 'gap year'.
I haven't come across any of the listed expressions in spoken American. However, I have seen them in writing quite frequently.
Most people try to express themselves more highbrow in writing than they do in conversation. And British English still has this air of culture which makes it attractive to use in novels, fanfiction, poetry, essays or any other form of written document with which the author tries to impress the reader.
As for myself: I was taught Queen's English and got americanized via the internet. I still use British spelling, most of the time, and prefer British vocabulary.
And I find a British accent much more sexy than a southern US one. (With the exception of a very strong Cockney accent, perhaps).
Most people try to express themselves more highbrow in writing than they do in conversation. And British English still has this air of culture which makes it attractive to use in novels, fanfiction, poetry, essays or any other form of written document with which the author tries to impress the reader.
As for myself: I was taught Queen's English and got americanized via the internet. I still use British spelling, most of the time, and prefer British vocabulary.
And I find a British accent much more sexy than a southern US one. (With the exception of a very strong Cockney accent, perhaps).
Interesting. I have never heard the term "traffic circle" used. In Southern California and Arizona, they were called rotaries or roundabouts.
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