A go: Another example of a perfectly good expression whose reasonable American range and writ suffers from encroachment by British usage. It means a “turn,” “try,” or “attempt.” “A go” is welcome in American as an alternative to “try” or “attempt” in an example like, “okay, I’ll have a go at it.” “Have a go,” however, is not an acceptable American substitute for “take a turn.” It’s not this expression’s turn.
NB:
The British Invasion is when– unbidden and unneeded– explicitly British words and expressions infiltrate American public commentary and journalism. This is alarming because the resultant multiplier effect could cause an epidemic that infects ordinary Americans’ healthy vocabulary.
Although I strive for tolerance, for the purpose of this series of posts, my fundamental assumption is that American is better than, not just different from, British. This is– mainly, if not exclusively– because American is newer and made improvements to its dialect of origin. I do, however, confess to frequent unfair extrapolation from this arguably reasonable approach to almost wholesale– and borderline unfair– derision of British compared to American. I beg the reader’s forbearance for having fun with such a solemn topic. I’m just taking the mickey– or whatever it is Americans say.