A Teacher Tapp poll of more than 10,000 UK educators finds younger children are increasingly using American words such as "trash" and "candy". Over 50% of primary teachers reported pupils saying "trash" or "garbage", while 40% heard "candy" instead of "sweets". Linguist Professor Lynne Murphy urged parents not to worry, noting children's speech changes quickly and media exposure drives much of the influence. Parents cited streaming and YouTube as common sources of U.S. vocabulary.
‘Trash’ and ‘Candy’: Survey Finds Younger UK Kids Borrowing American Words
A Teacher Tapp poll of more than 10,000 UK educators finds younger children are increasingly using American words such as "trash" and "candy". Over 50% of primary teachers reported pupils saying "trash" or "garbage", while 40% heard "candy" instead of "sweets". Linguist Professor Lynne Murphy urged parents not to worry, noting children's speech changes quickly and media exposure drives much of the influence. Parents cited streaming and YouTube as common sources of U.S. vocabulary.
22:10, 03.11.2025Culture
Survey: Younger British children increasingly use American vocabulary
A Teacher Tapp survey for The Times of London, which polled more than 10,000 educators, finds that younger children in the U.K. are more likely than older pupils to pick up American English words.
More than 50% of primary-school teachers who responded said they had heard pupils use the words "trash" or "garbage" instead of the more typical British terms "rubbish" or "waste". The survey also found that 40% of teachers reported hearing "candy" in place of "sweets".
Other commonly reported substitutions include "apartment" for "flat", "diaper" for "nappy", and "movie theater" instead of "cinema". Teachers of older, high-school-aged pupils reported fewer such instances, suggesting the trend is strongest among younger children.
Why it's happening — and why parents needn't panic
A linguist interviewed for the piece, Professor Lynne Murphy (University of Sussex), urged calm. She explained that children's vocabulary can change rapidly and that researchers often rely on adult speech to identify long-term shifts.
"We adults don't talk like we did when we were four, or eight or 12, and neither will today's children," Murphy told The Times.
Murphy noted that online media and streaming make it easy for American terms to spread — but influence works both ways. In 2019, for example, some parents reported their children adopting British accents after watching the global hit children's show Peppa Pig.
Parental reactions
Several parents who spoke to The Times said they had tried to correct Americanisms at home. Stacie Swift, a mother of three in Cambridgeshire, said she corrects her 10- and 8-year-old when they slip into American words, which she attributes to watching U.S. YouTube videos and cartoons. Frank Young blamed the wider range of streaming services for exposing children to more American accents and vocabulary beyond traditional BBC programming.
Bottom line: The Teacher Tapp data suggest American vocabulary is making noticeable inroads among younger British children, largely driven by media exposure — but experts say such patterns can be temporary as language use evolves with each generation.