British English invades US

Tuesday, 22 March 2005, 18:00

How’s this for reversed global cultural flows? Via Political Animal, I see that at least one American journalism professor — Timothy Kenny of the University of Connecticut — is upset about the invasion of Britspeak that is apparently occuring in some segments of the U.S. media.

Among the phrases Kenny doesn’t like to hear in American English are “send up”, “full stop”, “went missing”, “gone missing” and “queuing up”.

Fair enough. The purity of American English clearly must be preserved — especially if Americans are intent on importing the worst British clichés, too:

Perhaps the most popular bit of Britspeak can be found “at the end of the day.” New York Times reporters used that phrase instead of our own “in the end” 14 times in 1994 and 33 times last year; in quotes, it showed up 159 times in 2004. If we aren’t careful, the sturdy, straightforward “in the end” could once and for all … go missing.

Aaargh.

(Speaking of media Britspeak, I wonder how Kenny feels about Atrios’ adoption of the word “wanker” as an all-purpose insult.)

Entry Filed under: UK, USA