The British may think our American English is boorish and low-class.  And it is . . . which is a GOOD THING.  We don't want to be pretentious, right?

 

 

--Well . . . unfortunately some British English words HAVE been sneaking into everyday American English over the past decade.  Here are five British words and phrases that we now use without realizing it.

 

 

--Ginger.  The term for red-headed people was featured in "Harry Potter" and a famous episode of "South Park", which cemented its usage here in the U.S.

 

 

--Sell-by date.  The American version used to be "expiration date" ONLY . . . now we use both.

 

 

--Gastropub.  It means a bar that serves fancy food, and it started in England . . . where bar food used to be terrible by definition.  But now gastropubs are everywhere over there AND here.

 

 

--Chat up.  We still use "hit on," but you hear people saying "chat up" too, without sounding British at all.

 

 

--A bit.  I think this one comes from SIMON COWELL using it for a decade on "American Idol" and saying things like "That was a bit cabaret" or "Bit of a strange song choice."

 

 

(BBC)