In the 1990s, Katherine Viner spent time in London teaching international students and became familiar with British expressions previously unknown to me. Back in the U.S., she began noticing these same British terms creeping into American usage. A notable example occurred in 2003, during the Iraq war, when Thomas Friedman of The New York Times used ''the run-up to'' in a column. This phrase, once exclusively British, saw a 50% rise in American usage by 2005, according to Google Ngram Viewer.
This trend wasn't an isolated case. Britishisms like ''cheeky,'' ''clever,'' ''gutted,'' and ''early days'' gradually entered American vocabulary. ''Cheeky,'' meaning impudent or playful, gained popularity thanks to figures like Mike Myers, while ''clever'' in British usage shifted to denote intelligence, a meaning that Americans started adopting. ''Gutted,'' a term expressing extreme disappointment, became a common reaction after the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
Even phrases like ''early days,'' originally British, became frequent in American discourse, referring to something still in its early stages. While the flow of language typically moved westward, these British expressions have crossed the Atlantic with increasing frequency in recent decades. Despite this, American and British English remain distinct, with each continuing to evolve in its own direction. The transatlantic exchange of words shows no signs of fully blending these unique dialects, but rather enriches both.
Vocabulary:
• Run-up: The period before a significant event.
• Creeping: Gradually spreading or appearing over time.
• Impudent: Rude or disrespectful in a playful way.
• Gutted: Extremely disappointed.
• Transatlantic: Related to or involving both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, especially between the U.S. and the U.K.
• Blend: To mix or combine different things.
Source: Adapted from The Guardian