Two nations divided by a common language
Commonly attributed to George Bernard Shaw
One thing you have to learn as a Brit visiting the United States is that we DON’T speak the same language! You will be loading your luggage into the car’s trunk rather than a boot, and filling up with gas, not petrol. You will drive on the pavement (NOT a good idea in the UK!) and walk on the sidewalk. In your hotel you will take the elevator rather than a lift, although confusingly if your room is on the first floor you won’t need one as that’s what we call the ground floor!
When it comes to the seasons however the two nations are less divided, except at this time of year. What we in the UK call autumn is known for the most part as fall in the US. On our recent California trip we made sure to comment on the ‘fall colours’! But why the difference? According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary:
The older of the two words is autumn, which first came into English in the 1300s from the Latin word autumnus. … Names for the season didn’t just end with autumn, however. Poets continued to be wowed by the changes autumn brought, and in time, the phrase ‘the fall of the leaves’ came to be associated with the season. This was shortened in the 1600s to fall.
Abridged from a fuller explanation here: https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/autumn-vs-fall
Around this time, England’s empire was fast expanding, which meant that the English language was going places. One place it went was to the New World, and it set up shop in North America in the 1600s. As time went on, the English spoken in America and the English spoken in Britain diverged: there wasn’t as much contact between the two groups of English speakers. … A handful of words got caught in the identity crisis, and fall was one of them. Both autumn and fall were born in Britain, and both emigrated to America. … By the middle of the 1800s, American English and British English had diverged, and so had fall and autumn.
Whatever we call it however, it is a glorious season, and travelling at this time of year brought extra pleasure – and extra photos. At Rebecca’s suggestion I’m sharing a small collection of squared autumn / fall photos from California as a virtual gift for Cee and Becky. They both give so much to the blogging community, so this is just a little thank you in return.
And at Jude’s suggestion I’m adding a link to Dawn’s Festival of Leaves, my first (but hopefully not last) contribution to that lovely season challenge.
I last visited California in September / October 2024, when all these photos were taken
35 Comments
Rebecca
Haha, from an American’s perspective, British English can be a conundrum at times! However, having lived abroad in Europe and making friends with the Brits, I’ve also incorporated some “British-isms” into my speech (i.e. queue, timetable). At least here in California, we don’t say “pavement” to refer to the road; I think it’s more common to say “asphalt” or just “road.” All the same, it is true that “fall” is more-commonly spoken here, but regardless of what it is, it is a beautiful time of the year! Thanks for sharing the gorgeous autumn foliage, Sarah 🙂
leightontravels
Two nations divided by a common language indeed. Autumn is my favourite season too and I’m so glad it has finally hit rural Georgia following one of the longest and most fierce Indian summers I have ever experienced. I like your autumnal gallery very much Sarah, especially the incredible deep red of those leaves.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Leighton, I’m glad you liked these autumn colours and now have some in Georgia to enjoy in person 🙂
Easymalc
My favourite time of the year and you’ve captured it perfectly in California
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Malcolm 🙂 It’s my favourite season too – if only it weren’t followed by autumn!
Easymalc
😃 What two autumns in a year? 😃
Sarah Wilkie
Oops, should have been ‘winter’ 😀 I clearly have autumn on the brain!
Heyjude
What a superb gallery of autumnal delights! You should share this with Dawn for her Festival of Leaves (https://wp.me/p2JQV1-lpK), she’d love them too. Interestingly I would not have associated California with autumn colours. Though I suppose it depends which part of the state you were in, the north I suspect more likely.
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks so much Jude 😊 We weren’t necessarily expecting to see autumn colour either, our main ‘tree aim’ was to see the Redwoods and Sequoias, neither of them deciduous of course! But we were mainly in the north and came across some great pockets of colour at lower levels inland. Some of these were taken at roadside stops when we’d said ‘wow’ too many times not to pull over and get some photos!
Good idea about Dawn 🙂 That’s not a challenge I usually do but it would be fun to contribute these – thanks for the suggestion!
Anonymous
Well, what a fab set of autumn/fall colours, Sarah!
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Sue, I’m happy you like them 🙂
Monkey's Tale
Beautiful fall pictures, although I noticed you wrote ‘fall colours’ which in Canada is correct, but in the US it is colors. I knew of all of the different terms except sidewalk. What is it called in the UK? Maggie
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks Maggie, and well-spotted 😀 I wrote ‘colours’ deliberately – although I’m happy to try to use US terminology while in the country, I can’t bring myself to spell things ‘incorrectly’ haha! Confusingly, what Americans call a sidewalk is called a pavement here, which is why I said driving on it would be such a bad idea 😆 What in the US is called pavement, here is tarmac or simply the road!
Monkey's Tale
And in Canada we call it a road but it is paved. For us pavement is what’s on the surface or more often asphalt. But we’d never call a road or a sidewalk pavement. If you told me to walk or drive on pavement I wouldn’t really know what you meant 😀
Sarah Wilkie
That’s interesting Maggie – yet more differences to absorb!
bushboy
Love the gallery Sarah
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Brian 🙂
Anonymous
Beautiful colours Sarah. When the clocks go back in October don’t you say fall back into Autumn and then in March Spring forward into Spring..or have I got it the wrong way round
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks – yes, that’s how we remember which way to turn the clocks, but that’s the only time a Brit will use fall rather than autumn!
Terri Webster Schrandt
I love the differences in our English language, Sarah! When I talk with my friend from Ireland, we both snicker at our word usage.
A few years ago, I started referring fall to Autumn since Autumn is the actual season. I had read somewhere that FALL is when the leaves are actually falling from the trees. In any case your autumn leaves/trees are gorgeous and it’s so sweet of you to dedicate them to Cee and Becky!
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Terri 🙂 I’ve noticed a few US friends starting to use autumn more so maybe the language is evolving again?!
Anne Sandler
You found some beautiful color Sarah. I liked your comments about the English language. I think accents and idiomatic expressions account for the biggest difference. It was amazing to hear the difference during our cross country trip. I’m sure you have the same in Britain.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Anne, I’m pleased you liked all the colours here 🙂 Yes, it’s just the same in Britain even though we’re such a small country – there is a huge variety in accents, dialect words etc.
the eternal traveller
We say autumn too and I love the word autumnal. It is so evocative of the glorious colours you have here as well as the subtle changes in temperature and light. Here in Queensland that happens much later than in the southern states though. I also find any discussion about the evolution of language fascinating so I enjoyed this post very much.
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks so much 😀 I agree about ‘autumnal’ and I don’t think there’s an equivalent adjective derived from fall, interestingly.
Egídio
Besides the beautiful photos, Sarah, you narrative about language differences was fun.
Sarah Wilkie
Glad you enjoyed the narrative too Egidio, thank you 🙂
kzmcb
Lovely selection, Sarah. The language differences always interest me. Even in Australia, the different states have different words for things and different pronunciation. I’d consider doing a thesis on the reasons why, or not realistically just ponder it now and again. We Adelaideans are considered more ‘English’ sounding and I think the West and North are the same, so it’s just those Easterners.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Karen 😀 It’s the same here – my husband and his family (from north east England – Geordies) have different words for some things to those we use in the south.
margaret21
Marvellous autumn – er fall – pictures for Cee and Becky!
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Margaret, glad you like them 🙂
Alli Templeton
I prefer autumn to fall, but either way, you’ve caught the most glorious of the four seasons beautifully here, Sarah. After all, there’s really nothing to beat nature’s own show, especially at this time of year. 🙂
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Alli 🙂 I prefer autumn too, but I can see that fall suits the season too (although in practice we’re well into winter before trees lose their leaves completely!)
Annie Berger
Had never really thought of fall vs autumn before so thank you for the derivation of the former, Sarah! I shall always think of it as the ‘fall of the leaves’ now. Glad you were able to enjoy the magnificent fall/autumn season while you were in California. I understand from friends in Denver that the fall colors were unusually beautiful this year in our home city, too.
Sarah Wilkie
Hi Annie 🙂 Those American/British English differences always strike us when travelling although my impression is that some US blogging friends are using autumn rather than fall which surprises me! We hadn’t planned on seeing these lovely colours when we chose September/October for our trip, so they were a real bonus 🙂