The BBC News Magazine asked their readers for their favorite “Americanisms.” As published in “Americanisms: 50 of your most noted examples,” the examples range from the hilarious to the sobering to the nitpicky (Sor-ree if we pronounce words differently). Here is my favorite excerpt:
I hate “alternate” for “alternative”. I don’t like this as they are two distinct words, both have distinct meanings and it’s useful to have both. Using alternate for alternative deprives us of a word.
The very definition of a lexicide! O frabjous day! Somebody gets it! Further on up the ladder, another reader writes:
The word I hate to hear is “leverage“. Pronounced lev-er-ig rather than lee-ver -ig. It seems to pop up in all aspects of work. And its meaning seems to have changed to “value added”.
Surely, Brits must be guilty of their own lexicides. But today, I think I’ll have bubble and squeak for dinner, in honor of this transatlantic alliance in defense of our words. After all, words are our speciality.
— Otto E. Mezzo