Sign up to our free Living Well email for advice on living a happier, healthier and longer lifeLive your life healthier and happier with our free weekly Living Well newsletterLive your life healthier and happier with our free weekly Living Well newsletterMy youngest daughter, Liberty, seven, has an on–off American drawl, despite never having been to the US. She loved all her Halloween “candy” on Friday. And while shopping at Zara on High Street Kensington yesterday, she said, “Mom, can we take the elevator?”While words like “movie” and “film”, “chips” and “fries”, or “biscuits” and “cookies” can all coexist happily in English, it’s another thing when your child asks for a “supermarket cart” at Waitrose or a “take-out” rather than a “takeaway” – as my daughter regularly does. In fact, most of my children’s friends now speak Americanese fluently. One of them asked me where to put her “trash” – and she was born and raised in Kilburn.While it used to be all about correcting children’s grammar, it’s now about reversing the trend of kids speaking with an American accent. According to new findings, Americanisms are creeping into classrooms throughout the UK, with words like “diaper”, “apartment”, “movie theatre”, “candy”, “elevator”, and “garbage” becoming the new norm – and US accents are also on the rise.A survey by Teacher Tapp for The Times, which involved feedback from more than 10,000 teachers, found it is particularly prevalent among younger children in key stage 1 (up to the age of six or seven), which is exactly what I am witnessing on playdates and at home.More than half of primary school teachers reported hearing pupils use “trash” or “garbage”, compared with nearly 34 per cent of secondary teachers. Sixty-five per cent of primary teachers said they had caught children saying “candy” for sweets, compared with only 26 per cent in secondary schools.open image in galleryThe US nursery-rhyme YouTube channel Cocomelon is a prime culprit for Americanisms among British children with 50 billion views globally in a year (Cocomelon)“Trash” or “garbage” tops the list of the most overused Americanisms, reported by a staggering 44 per cent of teachers, while “candy” came in second place at around 40 per cent. The truth is, it can be jarring to hear your own flesh and blood importing terms from the US – like “sneakers”, “sidewalk”, “closet” and “cell phone” – into their day-to-day speech, and speaking to you as if you aren’t related to them, complete with an American twang.But I refuse to get het up about it.I’ve already been through this with my eldest daughter, Lola, now nine. I was baffled at first, until I discovered that my then-childminder often strapped her into a buggy during her pre-school era and let her watch the American animated comedy Kung Fu Panda on her phone for hours at a time while I was at work.Frequent exposure to American media like television, movies, online games and YouTube is being cited a primary reason for this phenomenon. Other factors include imitation of US influencers, or being taught English by an American teacher. It can be more common in children who are neurodivergent and can be prone to mimicking and repeating phrases they hear.Should I be worried – and ban American TV shows and stop Liberty watching the American YouTube channel Dress to Impress, where I suspect she picks most of it up?The truth is, it can be jarring to hear your own flesh and blood importing terms from the US — like ‘sneakers’, ‘sidewalk’, ‘closet’ and ‘cell phone’ — into their day-to-day speech, and speaking to you as if you aren’t related to them, complete with an American twangWhile it’s awkward enough having other parents ask what part of America your child is from – and having to reply “west London” – it also suggests you’re allowing excessive screen time. Cue deep mum-shame. I restrict Liberty’s iPad use, but if I’m honest, it’s free childcare – and somehow she always ends up on a US kids’ channel.What shows are to blame? The American nursery-rhyme YouTube channel Cocomelon is a prime culprit among British children (globally, 50 billion views in a year), and both my children loved its 3D-animated kids’ music videos in their early years. Then there’s US hit Paw Patrol. Both my daughters are also heavily influenced by KPop Demon Hunters, a 2025 American-Korean animated film about a K-pop girl group called Huntrix, who are secretly demon hunters.Across the pond, it apparently happens the other way round. Parents in the US claim their children have acquired British accents thanks to UK hit Peppa Pig, after it became the second most in-demand cartoon in US households in 2020. The “Peppa effect” has meant American toddlers saying “mummy” instead of “mommy”, using phrases like “give it a go”, and pronouncing “tomato” the English way, rather than “to-may-to”.The good news is that linguistic experts aren’t overly concerned about UK children speaking Americanised English – which is reassuring. Professor Lynne Murphy, who teaches British and American English at the University of Sussex, says children’s language is fluid and trends won’t stick with them forever: “We adults don’t talk like we did when we were four, or eight, or 12 – and neither will today’s children.”open image in galleryBoth my daughters are also heavily influenced by ‘KPop Demon Hunters’, a US-Korean animated film about a K-pop girl group (Netflix)Rather than new words replacing old, Murphy says English is “a magpie language” that loves adding vocabulary to communicate more precisely.Which is why I’m relaxed about this phrase phase, and tell myself, “this too shall pass”. Language is ever-changing, shifting and transforming – like our children themselves and we should embrace their linguistic contortions, warts and all.Next time Liberty asks me to give her “more bucks, Missy” in a toy shop, I won’t bat an eyelid – I’ll see it as a temporary blip. As long as children grow out of it – which I also realise I will only know when they turn up at uni and don’t call it college.
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‘Mom, can we take the elevator?’ Why I’m fine with my daughter speaking Americanese
