Here in Britain, it’s not too unusual an occurrence to hear someone bemoaning the influx of Americanisms into the English language. It’s something that has continued to happen as television and the movies have gained popularity, and now with the internet, the two countries are closer than ever. But it never occurred to me that there might be Americans complaining of the same thing, or even that some of our sayings and slang might have caught on over there.

Then I saw Not One-Off Britishisms, a blog written by Ben Yagoda. I wouldn’t say that he appears to be ‘bemoaning’ this trend of using British slang in America, more that he is observing it. Each post is dedicated to a different word or idiom, and at the end of each post he asks readers whether he thinks the term’s use in the USA is “over the top” (something Ben defines as whether “the word or phrase (still) comes off as mannered or affected” and he notes that “the key factor in this is whether there’s an equally good American equivalent”). As the name implies, the blog only comments on terms that are not ‘one-offs’ – meaning that they are habitually used by Americans.

It’s a good read, especially for those of us who are not too keen on the invasion of Americanisms in Britain (I’m not one of them, but I still found it interesting).

So, what do our readers think? Do you think all this cross-contamination between British and American English is a good thing, or should they be separate languages? Does this signal a new dawn in linguistic unity? I’d be really interested in hearing people’s opinions on this one.