The playwright George Bernard Shaw famously said that the England and America are two countries divided by a common language – and how true that is. Increasingly, perhaps fueled by the import of popular US TV shows and films (or “movies” as my teenagers call them), English is slowly but surely being ‘Americanised’.
Language is a living thing and, quite rightly, constantly evolves. Personally, I have no problem with use of the word ‘cookbook’ instead of ‘cookery book’, newspaper ‘clipping’ rather than ‘cutting’ or ‘raised’ instead of ‘brought up’. But it grates when I hear English people unthinkingly say “I’ve actioned it” or they’re “meeting up with someone” (what’s wrong with the simple ‘meet’?) As for overtly American equivalents such as ‘gas’ (meaning petrol), ‘sidewalk’ and ‘trashcan’, let’s leave them to the Americans.
What’s your view? I’d welcome your thoughts!
