frankly american TV has done it and even shows made here are now worded to sell in US. you are now an anachronism.... an englishman abroad who'd not recognise the **** hole he fled cos it resembles the ****hold he fled to
Back when he was known as Red Slide Rule he used to complain about words like "pajamas" and "bizarre" entering the English language from those bloody Oriental lands.
Funny thing is... It is happening in reverse too (although Americans don't complain about it... Probably because they don't notice). Phrases and words I hear Americans use nowadays are words I learnt to stop using 20 years ago because Americans never understood what they meant. The two dialects are merging.
Well, petrol is one... They still say gas more but I hear "petrol" said from time to time. "Fortnight" is another. Someone said "whilst" to me just yesterday. "Holiday" used to mean what Americans call "Vacation" is becoming very common. 20 years ago Holiday would almost always refer to something like Xmas. "Knackered", "Cheers", and "Bum" I've heard used in last few years. Not technically a Britishism, but I hear "Autumn" used way more often than the Americanism "fall" now. 20 years ago "Autumn", while used was pretty rarely said. There's also "shag" that they learnt from Austin Powers but they almost always use the word incorrectly. I hear them say "wicked" but I think they usually say it to take the pisstake out of Harry Potter more than using it legitimately.
I've never heard an american say Petrol. I have heard gas a lot. I have no idea about fortnight.. what would Americans say for 2 weeks? I've always heard americans go on vacation too... never heard them say holidays. I have heard happy holidays though.....
Then there are cursewords like bloody, twat, and ****er. Used way more frequently now although occasionally would hear bloody or ****er 20 years ago. Twat is pretty new to American vocabulary though.
Americans still say gas more than petrol by far but on several occasions now I've heard one American talk to another about getting petrol. They don't have a word equivalent to fortnight (which is why it is probably slowly catching on). I'd say going on Holiday or going on vacation is about 50:50 now. 20 years ago it would strictly be going on vacation (unless it was a religious holiday like Xmas.)
The one I've always had a problem with is the inability to pronounce the word 'Twat' to rhythm to with Cat or Hat. Americans almost always say it as 'Twot' which isn't even a thing.
