Britishisms and the Britishisation of American English

What next? The metric system??

I don't think the glottal stop in Manha'an is new in NYC English or a British import.

I want gobsmacked (which I did hear once from Liane Hanson on NPR) and codwallop to make the crossing.

That's codswallop.

I was surprised to see the quotes from Geoffrey Nurnberg at the beginning of the article. i hardly ever hear USAnians complaining about real or supposed Briticisms, and especially not respectable linguists like Nurnberg. And I couldn't see that "will do" was a Briticism at all.

He says that they're surprising because he never said them.

Why is it that Brits get their knickers in a twist about Americanisms, even complaining here about supposed Americanisms that ae unknown in the US, but it's so rare to hear complaints the other way round?

And I wan't the only one surprised. This is from before Nurnberg's post.

Americans use "expiration date" for the British sell-by date - the date by which supermarket food must be sold. But sell-by date is increasingly used in the US in a figurative sense. Eg "That idea is well past its sell-by date."

That's ore of a consumer & marketing issue than creeping Britishisms. People were misunderstanding the dates on food products. "Expiration date" connotes "don't even think of eating this after the expiration date, or you, too, will expire." "Sell-by date" connotes that the quality may begin to deteriorate after this date, but it's still going to be good to eat for a bit.

In fact, the USDA encourages use of "sell by" or "best if used by" rather than "expiration date" for meat & poultry.

So, "sell-by" becoming a general idiom makes sense, as "expiration date" is declining for food (but is mandated for drugs)

The use of university, rather than college or school, for example, may well be used by Americans to make sure they are understood outside the country.

From hanging out on TT, I've taken to using "university" for just this reason. Same with "trousers." In fact, "trousers" has gotten ingrained enough that it causes me problems in the US. When I teach 10-year olds how to pan for gold, I show them how to pick up a flake of wet gold with a dry finger. I have to be careful about saying "dry your fingers on your shirt or your trousers," because the reaction is usually "my what?"

UK has "sell by" (i.e "display until" which was also used) "best before" (dad will eat it) and "use by" (chuck it out before dad eats it).

I heard something on the radio a month or so ago about understated sell-by dates. A bottle of vinegar is probably good for ten years or more. But the marketing people have determined that people in 2012 will not buy a bottle of vinegar if they notice it has a 2022 expiration date. It will seem weird. So vinegar may have a one-year expiration date on the bottle, entirely fictional. I don't know to what other foods that applies.

My kids are convinced I'm trying to poison them if I give them anything on or after its sell-by or use-by date. Even frozen pizza.
I still sniff the milk and ignore the date. It works both ways - sometimes I chuck milk that smells off even if it's not expired.