Category: British Invasion

British words and expressions infiltrating U.S. journalism and infecting American common usage

British Invasion- Soccer/Football- “Pitch”

More than a few explicitly British football (soccer) terms have perniciously crept into U.S. soccer commentary, despite the precedence of perfectly serviceable American alternatives.

Pitch: This is nothing more than a playing field. Why in the world would any American want to call it a pitch? It’s not angled, covered in tar, or distinguished by specific tonal resonance. Time to pitch this term (in the trash, of course, not bin or rubbish).

 

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.

British Invasion- “Went missing”

 

Went missing: This passive-aggressive British term is, perhaps, the current champion offender in terms of tragic overuse by American media. Why is “went” or “gone” better than “is” when combined with “missing?” And what’s wrong with “lost” or “fled” or “disappeared” or “vanished?” I encounter some conjugation of “went missing” almost every single day in U.S. media sources. Let’s hope that the term will soon be reported absent, evaporate, be mislaid, or go astray. It won’t be missed.

 

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.