English Language FAQ

58 countries have English as an official language. Surprisingly, the list does not include  the USA.

In US politics, 'to move the needle' is to significantly change the opinion polls in the direction of your candidate. 

  America is a vast conspiracy to make you happy. – John Updike

Standing by a parking meter/  When I caught a glimpse of Rita

A smoking gun is a weapon that has recently been fired.

The word OK entered American English in the 19th century and is now one of the most popular in the language. But there is little agreement as to its origins.

It has only two letters but is arguably 'America's greatest word'.  

shake  up 1.  To  upset  by or as if by a  physical   jolt  or  shock:   was   badly   shaken  up by  the   accident.   Source Freedictionary.com

There are only two major political parties in the US; the Republicans & the Democrats. A representative from one or other party has won every presidential election since 1852. Why the names Republican and Democrat?   This gets very confusing!  The Federalist Party of Alexander Hamilton   was opposed by Thomas Jefferson who formed an opposition party in 1792. Jefferson's  party developed into the Democratic-Republican Party (1798). This was the forerunner of the modern Democratic Party . The  modern Republican Party was founded in the 1850s and  key features included opposition to slavery and a support base in the northern states. Abraham Lincoln was a Republican, while the pro-slavery southern states were largely Democrat. Where do they stand today?   Registered voters in 2004 Broadly speaking, the Democratic Party is left-of-center and the Republican Party right-of-center. The American electorate is divided into these two camps...

The idea behind brainstorming came in a pioneering  sef help/business book 'Your Creative Power' (1948). It was described as

Mission creep is when an original plan or objective is progressively widened by events on the ground. Significantly the phrase has military origin Originating in Somalia in 1993, the modern term “mission creep” became part of official U.S. Army vocabulary a decade late r. Field Manual 3-07,  Stability Operations and Support Operations  (February 2003) acknowledges two types of mission creep. The first occurs when “the unit receives shifting guidance or a change in mission for which the unit is not properly configured or resourced.”  Lewis and Clark In other words limited objective you start with expands to the point where it is no longer clear.  Mission creep has also been used to describe non-military matters - financial regulation  for example . The Dictionary of Military Terms English Language 100 FAQ Teaching Pack     -  only £1.99 using discount code  CQDWKF0

'Nudge theory' comes from Richard Thaler/Carl Sustein book  Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness .  It is based on the idea that we are inherently lazy and tend to take the default option in most circumstances. The 'nudge' is to gently push us in the right direction for our benefit or the general good. One example would be making automatic kidney donation the default - you would need to carry an 'opt-out' card. The central question, however, is who is doing the nudging? The government? If so, do you trust them to look after your best interests? Interesting discussion of the issues in this BBC Radio show Analysis .

What does Babra mean? An apparently simple question demonstrating Churchill's dictum about two countries divided by a shared language. An American colleague of mine used to greet me every morning with question 'what's up?' to which I would reply 'Nothing' or 'I'm fine.' After the third time it occurred that for her the question was an all purpose greeting whereas to British ears it meant 'what is the problem?' or 'is something wrong?' So when Bug's Bunny - or Babara Streisand at the other end of the beauty continuum -  ask 'What's up, Doc?' we British assume a sarcasm that may not be intended.

Mission creep is when an original plan or objective is progressively widened by events on the ground. Significantly the phrase has military origin Originating in Somalia in 1993, the modern term “mission creep” became part of official U.S. Army vocabulary a decade late r. Field Manual 3-07, Stability Operations and Support Operations (February 2003) acknowledges two types of mission creep. The first occurs when “the unit receives shifting guidance or a change in mission for which the unit is not properly configured or resourced.” Lewis and Clark  In other words you start with a limited objective but this expands to the point where it is no longer clear. This phrase has also been used to describe non-military matters - financial regulation, for example . The Dictionary of Military Terms

Not according to millions of student of English as a foreign language! But English does have some 'user friendly features as an OUP lexicographer explains in this short extract from a BBC interview Easy English (ESL)

There does not seem to be an agreed term as you can see from the number of Google references here: yankophile 945 americanophile 716 americophile 233 americaphile 150 usaphile 14 usphile 1 Contrast this with the situation for lovers of French, English, Chinese or Japanese culture anglophile 102,000, francophile 84,700, japanophile 20,400, sinophile 3450 Why is this? Snobbery, perhaps - a 'new' culture looked down on by traditional ones? Or is it just linguistically awkward - americaphile really isn't a pretty word. You might want to check out:  (audio) discussion about the relationship between British and American English here . Time Magazine piece on The Next American Century The New American Century Alistair Cooke's America