The
Britishisms are coming
by
Howard Richler
“I think it’s fair to say maybe some point down the
line, but it’s not going to happen any time soon because our focus is on
negotiating with the E.U… The U.K. is going to be at the back of the queue.”
Barack Obama. April 23, 2016
Obama’s use of queue was regarded as suspicious in
some British quarters. Was the use of the non-American “queue” a sycophantic
attempt to curry favour with the British public? Or even worse, did Obama hire
some Brit to write the speech?
Truth be told, Obama has used the term queue
previously (instead of “line”) on several occasions which might partially
explain why many Republicans don’t believe he was born in the USA. In 2010, in
a White House transcript, he stated, “There were several people who were still
in the queue who didn’t have a chance
to speak prior to breaking, The next year, we have hin saying “Could I just say
that Chuck is the only guy who asked two questions – so
far. So just – when I cut
off here, whoever was next in the queue-
I’m messing with you Chuck.” In 2013,
POTUS declared “We’ve got to make sure that we have a legal immigration system
that doesn’t cause people to sit in the queue
for five years, ten years, fifteen years – in some cases, 20 years.”
Actually, there has been an upswing in the usage of
British terms in the US for many years, particularly in the northeast. Whereas
at one point, employing a British accent was seen as classy nowadays the
peppering ones speech with Britishisms in the US is seen as intellectual.
Here are some other examples of Britishisms that have
become popular.
bespoke- Bespoke is often used by
Americans to refer to high-quality items and services. In the New York city area there are over
twenty “bespoke” companies including “Bespoke Books,” “Bespoke Surgical,” “Bespoke Barber Shop,” “Jasmine Bespoke” and
at least one store simply called “Bespoke.” Also, the U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office lists over forty active registrations and applications for “bespoke”
brand names with the majority of the patents being filed in the past eighteen
months. If you have a USA bespoke product or service to offer you better act
quickly. One person wanted to use Bespoke.com as their web address but as this
belonged to Bespoke Software, he had to settle for Bespoke Innovations.
chav- The OED defines
chav as, “In the United Kingdom (originally the south of England): a young
person of a type characterized by brash and loutish behaviour and the wearing
of designer-style clothes (esp. sportswear); usually with connotations of a low
social status.”
This term is increasingly being used in probably due
to the insidious influence of You Tube videos. Here are two examples stemming
from the U.S, that I spotted on the Internet:
“Nah I'm not buying those sneakers man, they are so chavvy.” Someone from Boston posted the following on
a language newsgroup:“Chav is gaining currency as Americans understand that not
all British people are posh. Boston/Cambridge is rife with international
college students, so it may just be a blip, but I've heard it in a suburban
grocery store to refer to some hooligans outside the store.”
kit –When American science-fiction author John Scalzi
wrote on his blog some years ago that the latest IPad was a “lovely piece of kit,” he was deluged
by many followers who thought his using the expression was highly pretentious.
Scalzi retorted: “Apparently being an
American, I should have settled on “Dude, this tablet is bananas,” or
something else equally comporting with my nation of origin.” This usage appears
to be popular with techies and tennis fans who might refer to a player’s “kit,”
whose gear might change depending on the surface of the tennis court.
Similarly,
the words “toff” and “gobsmacked” are being used much more in the US in recent
years. “Toff” is a mildly derogatory term
for someone with an aristocratic background or someone who exudes an air of
superiority.” During the 2012 presidential campaign is was used by American
journalist Daniel Gross who took pains in an article to declare that Mitt Romney
was not the “bumbling toff” he was made out to be. “Gobsmacked,” is oft heard these
days in North American circles and the person who seems to have popularized the
word is singer Susan Boyle whose appearance on Britain's Got Talent in
2009 quickly went viral.
Blimey.
Richler’s
book Wordplay: Arranged and Deranged Wit
was published in May 2016.
