8/26/2023 0 Comments Spring vs autumn vs fallIf you prefer to give your English a British flair, consider sprinkling in “autumn” in the next few months. If you observe daylight savings time, “fall” fits excellently into the mnemonic “fall back, spring forward” to remember when each type of time change occurs. This all begs the question: Which of these terms should you use? There is no definitive answer. For revolutionary reasons or otherwise, the two nations diverged, with the British overwhelmingly favoring “autumn” while Americans favored “fall,” a trend that has continued to this day. “Autumn” was supposedly more popular at first in the British American colonies, with “fall” not being recorded as a term for a season until Samuel Johnson’s “Dictionary of the English Language” was published in 1755. Despite “fall” being newer and arguably more evocative of the season, “autumn” rose in popularity in England during the 1600s, surpassing “fall” as the preferred term for the season.Īround this time, English was spreading via colonization to the Americas, leading to the regional divide we observe today. Poets were inspired to use “fall” and “spring” in this way, adding an artistic flair to “fall” despite its seemingly simple origins. While the broader usage of “fall” to describe downward-moving objects was already long-established with its Old English predecessor “feallan,” the seasonal meaning of “fall” appeared in conjunction with “spring,” in reference to “fall of the leaf” and “spring of the leaf” as ways to describe the times between summer and winter. “Autumn” gets its roots from the Latin “autumnus,” which refers to the season we know today. Both “fall” and “autumn” originated in England, with the latter predating the former by about 200 years. What the meme does get right is the regional divide between the two terms: While the names are interchangeable in the United States, in Great Britain, autumn is much more common. Perhaps I’m prejudiced against “autumn” because of this mildly pretentious meme what’s wrong with naming a season after one of its most characteristic features? Is there something inherently better about a word with Latin etymology? But on a personal level, I’ve always preferred “fall” for its simplicity. The Associated Press’ style guidelines have no preference, which is surprising given its penchant for highly specific rules (“OK” versus “okay,” “toward” versus “towards” and anything involving a hyphen come to mind). Leaves are changing color, midterms are in full swing and I’m feeling an uncontrollable urge to decorate my room with miniature gourds.
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