Separated by a Common Language

Ben Zimmer forwarded me this post from Threads, in which the writer Ruth Ware finds a transatlantic difference between AmE and BrE interpretations of oblong.

Neil W. wrote to ask: I am seeing lots of advertisements for a new film called "The Invite".

I’m very pleased to present a guest blog by one of my students at the University of Sussex.

In April, Jody V. sent me a link to this New York Times article with the note "I noticed the word shouty in this piece.

Tibs wrote to me in October 2020: A few years ago, Americans started adding “of” in places it didn’t occur before.

It's about time this topic has its own blog post.

A few months ago, an American friend of my spouse asked him to ask me: "Why is everyone suddenly saying alongside?"

The people at WordUnscrambler.pro sent me a list of "the most misspelled (BrE misspelt*) words" for the UK.

I get various Google Alerts for things related to my interests, and today I got one for a story in The Sun and the Daily Express about the '20 English words the public wants to revive'.

And the 2025 Separated by a Common Language US-to-UK Word of the Year is (sorta kinda): zee (but mostly Gen Z) I must start by assuring you: British people generally do not call the letter zee.

The 2025 Separated by a Common Language UK-to-US Word of the Year is: fiddly Here's an English teacher explaining the word Someone might have recommended this to me this year—if so, please out yourself in the comments, since I cannot find a pixel trail for

I may have promised another topic for this month's blog...but another request has (orig.

A great thing about being Facebook friends with linguists is that I get to benefit from their daily observations of English.

A shorter (maybe), quicker and earlier post this month, since I am going to be travel(l)ing without much internet access in September and am (orig.

On my way home from work, I pass the windowless side of an end-of-terrace house, on which this sign is posted: Such signs are a common sight in England, and not immediately transparent to AmE speakers, who are more accustomed to 'No dumping' signs: from S…

Last month, Dave Mandl tagged me on this message on Bluesky: I hadn't really reali{s/z}ed it either, till Dave pointed it out.

Over on Bluesky last month, I was pulled into a conversation that went something like this: Someone tweets a screenshot of a comment with the phrase Do you baulk at the film reviews...?

Harry Enfield, Loadsamoney I belong to a fantastic international writing group.

The first thing that made me want to write about Anglo-Saxon was my experience of French exchange students using the term to mean 'anglophone, English-speaking'.

When I first moved to the UK, I hungrily watched the (orig.

Ben Yagoda (Friend of SbaCL and Not One-Off Britishisms blogger), who had recently noticed a US journalist saying learnt instead of learned, asked whether I'd covered the ‑ed/‑t alternation.

I've been struck by the lack of election-related 2024 Words of the Year from the English dictionaries (for a list, see November's newsletter).

So much of the "news" this year was about female popular music stars.

When I was growing up in New York State, a beanie was a silly kind of skull cap, mostly worn by young people.

This post is inspired by a poll that Ellen Jovin, aka the Grammar Table, ran in September.