Why Americans Say Fall to Mean Autumn | Distant Words

In North America, there is one particularly seasonal word that continues to raise the curiosity eyebrow of my British compatriots and it this: the word “fall” as an alternative to autumn.

The assumption, of course, is that Americans originated this usage, that—much like the altered spelling of “colour”—“fall” was added to American English to distance itself from its British equivalent.

But unlike a vibrant October morning, the issue is not quite so black and white. This video explains why Americans say "fall" to mean "autumn."

And since you’ve read this far, you’re almost certainly prepared to stalk me on social media. I am okay with this. Just don’t send me any more of those Kate and William plate sets (I’m looking at you, PrinceWilliamOfficial).

[missblackwood]

I like using both fall and autumn!! It’s my favorite season 🧡🍁🧡🍂🧡

[deltamp]

Awesome video Lost in the Pond. I grew up in Utah. we used both fall and autumn. I loved that bit of word play. Well done

[cloudkitt]

I generally use fall, but "Autumnal equinox" is a beautiful term that I look for excuses to use.

But yes, as with the rest of this series, the British panic at being influenced by their own words that Americans held on to is most peculiar.

[JohnMichaelson]

Out here in the mountain west where I am (and probably lots of other places, too), it's almost like "eat" vs. "dine". We eat at McDonalds, we dine at a fine restaurant. We talk casually about "fall" in everyday speech, but in fancy print or advertising it's often "autumn". Our local school has an "autumn holiday" next month, but people usually _say_ things like "fall" is their favorite season.

[j-me]

Great video, Laurence. Your dedication to researching these word origins is impressive!

[criskity]

Winter, spring summer and autumn, all you've got to do is... caught 'em?

[JMMRanMA]

@Lost in the Pond
These Distant Words videos are wonderful! The lexical item retention seems to be related to colonial conservation of language that is also responsible for our use of the older past perfect verb forms. Another odd difference is that we may both use a French word, but a different one, for the same thing as in detour for diversion. Thanks for all your efforts.

[jacquelinehagedorn]

I love this one! 🍁🍂😁 I really enjoy learning about the origin of certain words or terms from you ( too lazy to look it up myself, plus I get to listen to your wit & accent 😉) Thank you Laurence! 👍🏼

[kiradeki]

🧡🍁🧡🍂🧡 I use both fall and autumn interchangeably. It's a wonderful season and honestly my favorite. Up here in New England the leaves turn every shade from a deep purpley red to a brilliant gold. And almost everywhere around where I live starts smelling like pumpkin spice and apple pies and cider long before November. It's heavenly. 🧡🍁🧡🍂🧡

[suesylvester]

Would it be interesting to you to delve into the world of idioms? I’ve recently come across some British idioms that certainly made me smile.

[howtubeable]

1:05 "It FELL into use..." Then Lawrence giggles.

Alright, young man. Go to your room without supper.

[bonecanoe]

I'm American; I and most people I know use "fall" almost exclusively. "Autumn" sounds a bit pretentious to my ears if said by another American. But on a slightly unrelated note there is a beautiful lesser-known Genesis song called "Evidence of Autumn" which is a beautiful song. Though Genesis, of course, are English.

[perihelion]

"Spring ahead, autumn back.' NOPE 'Spring ahead, fall back.' YEP

Daylight savings time to the rescue, as silly as it is nowadays.

[amberhiggins]

Some Americans still you the word Harvest or Harvest time and even have harvest dances.

[englishlessonswithsilviopa]

FALL (chiefly US, Canada, Wales, Northwest England, archaic in Britain)
AUTUMN (UK, poetic in North America)
HARVEST (UK dialect)
BACK END (UK dialect)
AFTER SEASON (UK dialect)
LATTER END (UK dialect)

[christinedorman]

+Lost in the Pond Thank you, Mr. Brown, for once more taking the time to research the issue; whereas, others just want to declare what they believe to be true without bothering with little things like, oh I don't know...facts. I use the words Fall and Autumn fairly indiscriminately as the mood hits me. As it happens, Autumn is my favorite season and my favorite month, October, will be here in just a few days. Life is glorious! Thanks as always for the video!

[curtbarnes]

Beautiful production! I can't believe you can't sell (as in $$ or ££) these jewels to TV new shows or PBS as "color" shorts. 27, 000 viewers ain't hay, though. Personally I think it's great that we have a choice of words and can choose one or another for clarity, disambiguity, etc. So many synonyms! Was that you with an American accent? I could never get over--from an old Peter Ustinov LP--that an Englishman finds it more, rather than less, difficult to ape our accent, since our flat sounds would seem so much easier on the mouth. They are to us!

[hotwax]

This is the case with most "Americanisms." They weren't created so much as a political statement as they were already in existence and gained favor due to the influence of Webster's dictionary. Even the Declaration of Independence used the spelling "honor" instead of "honour, " indicating that some of these "American" spellings were already in existence before the Revolution.

[davejones]

It's amazing how many cases of this sort of thing... Americans using an old English spelling/pronunciation...I've run across. Just recently discovered that the American pronunciation of "buoy" as boo-ee is in fact an older English pronunciation of the word.

[richardsuggs]

Fall, Autumn, Harvest time is the best time of the year.