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The other British invasion: how UK lingo conquered the US
The long read: It used to be that Brits would complain about Americanisms diluting the English language. But in fact it’s a two-way street
One meaning that has not taken hold in the US is defined this way by the OED: “Of an item of food, drink, etc, or an activity: mildly irresponsible or illicit; indulgent.” The first citation is from a 1989 novel by Irish writer Michael Curtin: “Bourke that had his cheeky pint with George Blake in the King’s Arms.” It became a popular catchphrase in Britain within the next few decades and remained active enough in the late 20th century for British critic Melvyn Bragg to use a variation in calling the polymath Jonathan Miller “too clever by three quarters”. In discussing this topic a few years ago, Lane Greene, who writes the Economist’s “Johnson” column on language, observed that despite (and to some extent because of) American imports, British English was “in rude health”.
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