English has shrugged off many challengers to become the world’s leading language but the creative contribution of “British English” speakers to the global vocabulary is fading fast, eclipsed by linguistic innovators in technology, international call centres, and film franchises, according to data analysis to be published next week.
The UK still punches above its demographic weight in colourful areas such as politics, royalty, and sex, says research from the Global Language Monitor (GLM), which advises corporations on linguistic shifts.
British words now found around the world include 53X, for sex; Tope, for totally dope or extremely good; and, inevitably, Brexit and Megxit.
But the percentage of new British words adding to the total mass of English-derived words employed around the world has been falling since Queen Victoria’s reign.
The contribution is set to fall further, from 10 percent today to 3 percent by 2060, predicts the report, The Rise and Fall of England as a Word Generator.
[Read the entire article on the Sunday Times site.]
