Word for word: why Americans are so keen on Britishisms

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  The Economist. Hello, this is Rosie Bloor,

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  co-host of The Intelligence, our daily news and current affairs podcast.

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  British intellectuals enjoy bewailing the influx of Americanisms into the language of the mother country.

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  The BBC once asked British readers to send in the Americanisms that annoyed them most and was flooded with thousands of entries,

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  including 24-7, D-Plane and Touch Base.

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  Matthew Engel,

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  a writer who had kicked off the conversation with an article on unwanted Americanisms,

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  even turned the idea into a book.

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  That's the way it crumbles.

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  in 2017.

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  The Furore, which Americans would call a Furore, seemed to die down.

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  But in September,

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  Simon Heffer of the Daily Telegraph revived it with a column and book exploring Americanisms,

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  a trend he situates in the past 15 years.

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  His language evokes violence, bemoaning American words,

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  poisoning, linguistic assault, conquest and penetration.

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  In the end, though,

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