Readers of The Magazine have reported a noticeable uptick in the use of British words and phrases across the United States and Canada. From 'autumn' replacing 'fall' to 'cheers' used as a casual goodbye, the influence of British English appears to be spreading.
Among the most commented-upon terms is 'bloody', used as an intensifier. Marshall McCorcle from Dallas, Texas, noted that some Americans use it to sound more sophisticated, saying, 'Some Americans think that by saying “bloody” everybody will assume that they have four more IQ points than everyone else.'
Other terms gaining traction include 'bum' for buttocks, 'chav' for loutish youth, and 'cheeky' for impudent behaviour. 'Cheeky monkey' has also been spotted, with one reader from Connecticut expressing a preference for the British expression.
Words like 'flat', 'frock', and 'gap year' are also crossing the Atlantic. Property developers in the US now market 'flats' to sound grander, while 'frock' has appeared in fashion media for the first time in decades. 'Gap year' is filling a linguistic void, as one Washington DC reader noted: 'If a new word fills a gap, it doesn't matter where it's from.'
Some readers embrace the shift, like Paul Phillips from Marblehead, who said of 'cheers': 'I enjoy hearing it instead of the worn out “later” or “see ya later”. Like it or not, the Yanks and the Brits are cousins, and that's that.'
