Eh, I read it earlier
Posted by Rube on June 18, 2004
In Reply to: The American idiom gone missing? posted by Brian from Shawnee on June 17, 2004
I don't know. It is almost impossible for individual users to not include foreign terms in their language, n'cest pas?
I use several British-English terms and have for years. In America, we read British literature, watch British TV and movies and other's use of language is where we pick up our own.
I am certainly not distressed by this trend - certainly better than more hip-hop terms moving into current usage, yo.
One thing that I think the article was wrong about was the comment on Arnold ordering "a coffee" rather than "a cup of". that I think stems from the American phenomenom of Starbucks and book store coffee shops. Does anyone order a cup of coffee at a Starbucks? No, the genuine coffee drinker (a minority at starbucks) simply orders a small or large coffee. Likewise at the diner - one doesn't even order "a" coffee there - "Anything to drink?" "Just coffee."
Vaya con dios.