# Britishism Creeping Into U.S. Usage **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 18, 2003, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishism-creeping-into-u-s-usage/202390 "2003-09-18T15:21:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2003, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishism-creeping-into-u-s-usage/202390/21 "2003-09-20T00:07:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Johnny L.A. \* > \*\*I used to talk that way about 15 years ago. Sometimes I still catch myself doing it. It just made grammatical sense to me. But it seems to have a negative effect on some people, so I tried to stop. FWIW, I use “his” or “his or her” when I’m referring to individuals (e.g., “Will everyone please take his seat?”) instead of “their”. \*\* This post describes my way of talking, except I go out of my way to use “her”, just to be different. And with each passing day my speech becomes more “British” in character - thanks to the steady influence of **Fierra** and the fact that I “mirror” speech. ---
**Author:** ![spogga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ab097/32.png) [@spogga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spogga)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2003, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishism-creeping-into-u-s-usage/202390/22 "2003-09-20T02:21:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mrsface \* > \*\*Actually it’s “arseholes”, darling \*\* Correct you gorgeous creature you ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2003, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishism-creeping-into-u-s-usage/202390/23 "2003-09-20T22:37:22Z")
Am I right that the “Whitesnake _are_ touring the Upper Midwest” form has gone from unheard of in the U.S. say five years ago to being possibly the majority usage? If so, why now? ---
**Author:** ![MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bb73d2/32.png) [@MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MC_Master_of_Ceremonies)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2003, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishism-creeping-into-u-s-usage/202390/24 "2003-09-20T22:41:27Z")
Probably because Whitesnake have just started a new nationwide tour? ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2003, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishism-creeping-into-u-s-usage/202390/25 "2003-09-21T00:17:30Z")
I daresay the abolition of all punctuation which as is well known originated from a Brit postwar drive to economise by saving quite a few kilolitres of ink via not employing punctuation Mr Blair is now catching on in the USA as evidenced by the style or rather shall we say nonstyle of writing on the Straight Dope Message Boards wot ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2003, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishism-creeping-into-u-s-usage/202390/26 "2003-09-21T01:32:46Z")
It’s quite simple really. If you’re talking about an organisation that is made up of lots of different sub-organisations and people within them, but you are talking about the group as if it were one whole thing, then you use ‘is.’ Like in the example given by **MC Master of Ceremonies** : “The BBC is the UK’s largest…” In this you’re basically pretending the BBC is a single united entity. If you were pressed as to what you meant by ‘BBC,’ you’d say ‘the corporation that makes TV programmes.’ However, if you’re implicitly acknowledging that the BBC is made up of lots of disparate groups and members, then you use are: “The BBC are making changes to their…” If you were pressed to explain what you meant by the BBC in this context, you’d have to say ‘the controllers of the BBC,’ or ‘the people who work for the BBC,’ because the corporation as an abstract entity can’t make changes all on its own. Basically, by using ‘are’ you’re conceding that there are more people involved than the singular would imply. The change in grammar uses for band names in the US is probably just because with artists’ names these days you can never tell which is a band and which is a solo artist. Being specific with the verb form helps us know what the hell they’re talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2003, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishism-creeping-into-u-s-usage/202390/27 "2003-09-21T01:41:46Z")
When a band name is the same as a single person’s name (Van Halen, Bon Jovi) then what the hell… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishism-creeping-into-u-s-usage/202390.md?page=1)