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Americanisms are words and phrases that people
living outside the United States believe to be characteristic of
English as spoken or written in the United States, and by which
they generally view with some dismay.
An example of this would be the claim that a true gentleman
is one who knows how to spell "Honour" correctly, not the American
version omitting the U
Explanation
Languages are not
static, but British English, sometimes referred to as
The Queen's (or King's...) Own English
with the protective prestigious Oxford English Dictionary serving
as a stabilizing influence, is much less inclined to coin new terms
and turns of speech, almost certainly in part because of the
smaller population base and more tradition based lifestyles extant
in the United
Kingdom.
Subsequent to that factor is the former British EmpireFamily of Nations, which also includes many speakers in
Former British Nations that are
themselves continually influenced by students educated in England
and British faculty teaching abroad, and these cultural exchanges
create a strong, some would say rigid, influence about what is
proper English, and that tends to keep their countries
English language's close to the British model.
Many of these later nations are now culturally bi-lingual, albeit with English
as the second tongue, and with the better educated population
classes attending upper class schools which are generally modeled
after British schools and culture.
In general, all languages
evolve to meet new situations and, when one group devises a new
word, others may borrow it.
So many of the nations just discussed embrace or disdain new
terms at their own pace and independent of the others being
discussed despite the continuing influence of the cultural renewal
discussed above.
Hence, English has acquired agent provocateur
from the French language, Kindergarten
from the German, etc.
Within a group of native language
speakers, different social groups use language differently, adding
new drift impetuses to the cultural mosaic.
For example, the word bling was coined in the American hip hop music
community and is
characteristic of the way in which people who
are members of that culture speak and write but, as a word, it has
yet to become sufficiently widely used to be considered an
(widespread) Americanism.
This illustrates that any words or phrases used by one group
may be adopted by another, but, to be considered an Americanism,
Britishism or any other "ism" that matches a nation, those who live outside the given
nation must recognize (recognise) the word as being typical of
the way in which the local people of the first country speak or write their version
of the language.
Which recognise/recognize, colour/color, honour/honor is a
Britishism/Americanism?
One way American English has diverged
from other varieties of English is through the creation of new
language features to describe new products and activities.
Another way it differs is by preserving old characteristics
that have not survived in other varieties of English.
So, for example, an ace reporter looking for some
action in an armpit of a town, might drop into
the first glitzy place he saw and look for a likely
prospect to put some moves on.
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