# Why do Americans change English words? \[changed title\]

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-americans-change-english-words-changed-title/177088>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 23, 2003, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-americans-change-english-words-changed-title/177088 "2003-05-23T19:31:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\
**Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-americans-change-english-words-changed-title/177088/41 "2003-05-25T17:23:57Z")

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In fact, _Language Myths_ discusses “uptalk” in the chapter I referred to earlier. Apparently, the spread of it to virtually all English-speaking countries in the world **predates** its appearance on the Aussie soaps.

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**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\
**Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-americans-change-english-words-changed-title/177088/42 "2003-05-25T17:32:07Z")

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> [@](#):
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> \*Originally posted by ruadh \*  
> **There is absolutely NO evidence that media has any effect whatsoever on dialects, apart from the occasional vocabulary addition.**

Have the media any influence in reinforcing the dominant dialect in a region? For instance, are American media reinforcing American speech patterns?

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**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\
**Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-americans-change-english-words-changed-title/177088/43 "2003-05-25T20:16:12Z")

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Why do you Brits take a perfectly good truck and call it a lorry? Lori is a girl’s name, and trucks are big, manly vehicles. 😉

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**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\
**Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-americans-change-english-words-changed-title/177088/44 "2003-05-25T20:23:10Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Walloon \*  
> \*\*Have the media any influence in reinforcing the dominant dialect in a region? For instance, are American media reinforcing American speech patterns? \*\*

I’m not aware of any studies on the subject but I’d say it’s also doubtful, and for the same reason: the relationship between the media and its listeners is one of _reception_ on the listener’s part rather than _interaction_ between the two. And a strong impact on speech requires the latter.

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