Critiques en avant-première

Our similarities may be many, but the real education lies in our differences. Brits and Americans have long squabbled over whose version of English reigns supreme – part of an ongoing relationship of mutual admiration and antagonism. Americans are often accused of overusing, overstating, and overenthusing. Brits are often seen as dismissive, short, and passive aggressive. Noah Webster himself once predicted that American English would one day be as different from the English spoken in England as Swedish and Dutch were from Germany. Many Americans have made entire careers overseas out of enough French to fill an éclair or a few lines of Arabic. Why is it that Brits and Americans feel so out of place in each other’s countries? How can seemingly simple words carry such divergent meanings and connotations? That’s Not English explores the nuances in inflection, use, and definition within English that are to blame for these discrepancies. Care to discuss our differences over a beer at the local pub? Drinking, however, can be quite a sticky subject. Take the word cheers. Both countries have used cheers as a toast for hundreds of years. Then in the 1970s, the Brits began using it as a synonym for thanks and goodbye and it grew to be a wonderful class leveler, as nearly everyone said it. However, the American adoption of cheers for hello and goodbye has been met with a fair amount of backlash. When we employ a Briticism like cheers, it often comes across as pretentious to our fellow Americans. Conversely, when Brits use an American term or phrases, it can seem sloppy and lazy. Author Erin Moore can accurately recount life on both sides of the pond. American by birth, Moore is a former book editor who developed a sharp eye for British books for the U.S. market. She’s spent the last 15 years in England with her British husband, navigating the subtle distinctions between the two versions of English in daily life. What seem to be trivial differences between British English and American English are in fact representative of our Atlantic-sized cultural divide. That’s Not English is the perfect companion for the modern Angophile, likely to leave readers gobsmacked.