It only seems that Americans and Australians or British speak the same language. In reality-the usages of common phrases in every day speech are often radically different. In a recent article the BBC took a look at the creeping “Americanization” of the Queen’s English:
The Americans imported English wholesale, forged it to meet their own needs, then exported their own words back across the Atlantic to be incorporated in the way we speak over here. Those seemingly innocuous words caused fury at the time.
The poet Coleridge denounced “talented” as a barbarous word in 1832, though a few years later it was being used by William Gladstone. A letter-writer to the Times, in 1857, described “reliable” as vile.
My grandfather came to London on the outbreak of World War I and never lost his mid-European accent. His descendants have blended into the landscape. That’s what happens with immigration. It’s the same with vocabulary migration.
The French have always hated this process with a very Gallic passion, and their most august body L’Academie Francaise issues regular rulings on the avoidance of imported words. English isn’t like that. It is a far more flexible language. Anarchic even.
The article lists the 50 worst offenders. A couple that I heartily agree with:
33. I hate the word “deliverable“. Used by management consultants for something that they will “deliver” instead of a report. Joseph Wall, Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire
“I could care less” instead of “I couldn’t care less” has to be the worst. Opposite meaning of what they’re trying to say. Jonathan, Birmingham
7. “It is what it is“. Pity us. Michael Knapp, Chicago, US
16. “I’m good” for “I’m well”. That’ll do for a start. Mike, Bridgend, Wales
It is what it is. What Britishisms do you hate?
