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Trivia: Why do UK kids use so many American tropes? | Life and style


name: Americanization.

age: 246, although when the word first appeared in 1779 it meant something else.

What did it mean then? Loyalty to the ideals and interests of the United States.

What does it mean now? It is a distinctive feature of American English, especially in comparison with British English.

appearance: In primary schools across the UK.

They teach American English to British school children? They don’t know it. They just hear it.

From whom? Of children, especially young ones.

Is it a form of protest? No, just a cultural creep across the Atlantic. According to a recent poll of 10,000 teachers, more than half of them reported that they heard the word “candy” instead of sweets, and the words “garbage” and “garbage” instead of garbage.

This is anger! Some teachers even claimed to have heard the word “diaper” instead of diaper.

None of these are words you want to hear in an elementary school setting. Also “flat,” not flat, and “cabinet,” for a closet. Some parents even report that their children speak with an American accent.

Where are the youth? Get this stuff? From American cartoons on YouTube, American social media stars, Netflix, and even children’s programs on the BBC.

Can’t the UK impose tariffs on these programs before kids start talking about “rubbish”? We can, but it is difficult to measure children’s speech habits because they change so quickly. While 65% of primary teachers in Britain report hearing the word “sweet” in the classroom, only 26% of secondary teachers have heard the word “sweet” – suggesting that Americanism is either fading, or getting worse with each generation.

Either way, the UK We must do something to stop this one-way linguistic invasion. But it is not in one direction. Americans also resort to Britishism often.

they? The use of British words and phrases – including “gobsmacked” and “knickers in a twist” – is steadily increasing in the United States. They also chose “Ginger” for redheads, and “Cuba” for tea.

I’ll admit I didn’t see that coming. And now there are signs in the United States that say so “elevator” instead of “elevator”. Wider access to global media means that the two languages ​​are mutually receptive.

I can’t tell if I will be Express this anymore. It’s complicated. When a word imported from another culture addresses a particular need, it may be considered worthy of adoption. But often it is just an example of trendy influence.

Can you give me an example? For Americans, a word like “twee” bridges the gap; They don’t have an exact equivalent. But other British tendencies can seem a little strange.

Say: “The more words we use to describe something, the richer our language becomes.”

Don’t say: “It’s just cross-pollination, don’t get your panties tangled!”

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