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Decisions, decisons

Posted by Baceseras on March 27, 2008 at 17:07:

In Reply to: Decisions, decisons posted by RRC on March 27, 2008 at 04:37:

: : : : : : : : : Is decision-taking just as acceptable as decision-making?
: : : : : : : : :

: : : : : : : : The former has long been the British preference, and the latter the American, but television has melded them and now each may use either.

: : : : : : : "Now each may use either": When did that change occur? I missed the announcement. "Decision taking" still sounds foreign to me. ~rb (U.S.)

: : : : : : I agree. "Decision taking" is rare in the US. UK TV shows are not very commonly watched in the US, mostly segregated to BBC America cable channel (which is usually on the pay-more-than-the-minimum package) and late night PBS. If there's a really good UK show, we just make a horrible re-make of it instead of watching the real thing (e.g. Changing Rooms -> Trading Spaces).

: : : : : There's a difference between using a phrase yourself and understanding it when used by others. When we hear some Britisher talk about "taking a decision," we don't ask "take it where?" We know what he means, even if we would never say it ourselves.
: : : : : SS

: : : : If someone said "Let's phlorf a decision - movies or skating?", you could figure that out too. It doesn't mean that phlorf is part of your vocabulary.

: : : By "each may use either" I mean that the distinction of the two phrases no longer marks the speaker's national origin. Both British and American speakers have had time to hear one another repeatedly and to pick up the formerly 'foreign' style. Of course, some on either side resist the cross-Atlantlic usage, but many do not, and a few enthusiastically grasp the novelty, while yet more inattentively repeat what they so often hear. The result: this particular phrase divergence is no longer a sure-fire national marker. - Bac.

: : Baceseras, I'll go along with your modified explanation, but I wonder whether "decision making" has spread to England. Does the cross-Atlantic current ever flow east? ~rb

: I still disagree and I think your assumptions are backwards. More Brits have watched Dallas than Yanks have watched (or even heard of), for example, Coronation Street (which I haven't) or Eastenders (which I have) and that's actual numbers. Converted into percentage of population, difference would be even greater.

rb: I don't know whether 'decision making' has spread to England, but the cross-Atlantic current does flow both ways --- examples of Americanisms in Britain are too numerous to mention. And in a larger sense, the 'spread' of the phrase is beside the point; what matters is that in both lands the formerly foreign style is now a live option. An American who adopts 'taking' now, or an Englishman who adopts 'making', need not consciously consider the phrase's provenance: each stands a fair chance of having heard it, if only occasionally, from his own fellow-countryman. This speaks to RRC's reasonable objection: although few Americans at large have seen Coronation Street, a great many of the select group of Americans most likely to chatter often on TV have long occupied the same echo chamber with chattering Brits. If I were inclined to consider linguistic purity an endangered value, here's where I would use the word 'insidious'. But I'm not, so I don't - Bac.

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