Oxford University Press studied about 74,000 entries for Radio 2’s 500 Words contest, discovering Americanisms such as trash can, sidewalk, candy, soda and cupcake were threaded through many of the entries,
An awareness of the cult of fame also shone through with footballers Lionel Messi and Wayne Rooney making repeated appearances, along with singer Jessie J. Justin Bieber and Prince William also received multiple mentions.
Technology had a big influence with apps and Google popping up consistnely but books proved popular with many writers citing the works of Rowling, Tolkien and Carroll.
And it seems that the youth is aware of when or when not to use test peak – it generally only appeared when the story featured an imagined text message.
David Walliams, Charlie Higson, Lauren Child and Andy Stanton join Dame Jacqueline on the all-author judging panel.
What are your favourite/ most-hated Americanisms? Let us know below.
