Daily Archives: February 9, 2018

“I’m gobsmacked by this sticky wicket full of codswallop”

BBC Culture: How Americans preserved British English. “Americans today pronounce some words more like Shakespeare than Brits do… but it’s in 18th-Century England where they’d really feel at home.”

How Americanisms are killing the English language. “A book released this year claims that Americanisms will have completely absorbed the English language by 2120. Hephzibah Anderson takes a look.”

Why British English is full of silly-sounding words. “From ‘gazump’ to ‘gobsmack’, ‘squiffy’ to ‘snog’, British English is full of words that sound like barmy balderdash. Christine Ro explains why.”