The American/British Language Divide

Following History Maker's thread, I've been wondering... how true is the notion - in this day and age - that "British English" and "American English" have different vocabularies? Traditionally, Americans would use words like "bangs" and "pants" where as Brits would use "fringe" and "trousers".

But with both countries receiving programming and content from "across the Pond", I'm wondering if that divide still exist. Or is there significant crossover amongst their respective users? I know I personally use a mixture of both on a day-to-day basis though I realise that I may be atypical - at least, where I live. But then again, I don't exactly live in a major urban cultural melting pot like London or New York.

Obviously, British English users will understand American English words and vice versa. The question is, would they themselves use it?

My experience has been that the British and the Canadians are fairly insistent on enforcing the divide on their end, but the Statesians are much more casual about using Britisms in their speech, if they are aware of them.

As an American, I've caught myself using a few Britishisms when none of the American words seem to fit. I tend to use "pants" and "trousers" pretty interchangeably, although I use "trousers" more for khakis and slacks and "pants" for things like blue jeans when I can be bothered make a distinction.

"Widdershins" is also a very fun word. I like the way it rolls off the tongue Not an easy word to use in casual conversation without some measure of shoehorning, though.

^{Not particularly relevant footnote} Of course, I was also born and raised in the South, so I already have a few dialectical peculiarities compared to "standard" American English. And I will insist to my dying breath that "y'all" fills a perfectly legitimate void in the English language, because having "you" for both singular and plural is just way too ambiguous.

EDIT: Formatting.

edited 29th Mar '13 9:55:43 PM by Specialist290

Americans don't care but will look at you funny if they don't know it.

Brits will care and will know it, period full stop.

edited 30th Mar '13 4:48:12 AM by ohsointocats

So, it sounds to me that British English users are a more territorial and "purist" than American English users. Goddammit! My characters are British in a purely British setting. I wonder if I can get away more if I hint - including through her use of "Americanisms" - that she has been heavily exposed to and influenced by American media - TV, movies, games, etc.

Speaking as a Brit, I've never heard of the word "Widdershins" up until this point.

Anyway, plenty of people use American words and slang here (mostly young adults and teens; some words have been assimilated, some will make you look like you've watched too many American sitcoms). It's only really spelling and grammar that people pay attention to, I don't think there's any concerted effort to avoid it.

Widdershins is a silly word that nobody uses unless you're Terry Pratchett.

I personally don't use British slang or terms when speaking (even when I lived in New York with more exposure to a variety of accents), but I catch myself writing the way a British person might word something. Vocab is different though. How I spell certain words like grey depeds on what I feel like using, but I never add the 'u' to color or humor.

What we Americans like to do is "borrow" words and phrases from other countries, "Americanize" them by changing their use somewhat, and then re-invade their culture with a corrupted version of their own language.

Heh, heh, heh...

The best part is that that's not even unique. The M.O. was started by the British.

All countries/languages/cultures do it (although the English language is notable for how much of other languages it tends to assimilate).

Half of all western anime related terms are Recursive Translations.