Keith Stokes-Smith writes:

Your headline on page 14 of last week's MDA, Young actor wins role in hit movie sequel, reminds me yet again of how the UK media (and I am talking about all media inc television, newspapers, film makers etc) has, particularly over the last decade or so, unwittingly or without concern or care been content to allow part of our heritage, our language, to be eradicated or diluted as a result of the notable inroads made by American styled/made or controlled media outlets.

The aforementioned headline includes the word 'movie', which the concise Oxford Dictionary explains is a United States colloquial for a motion picture film. For decades in the UK, we have all been used to referring to a film as 'a film'; indeed, if you read the article under the above heading, it concludes rather inconsistently with the words 'the film's release'.

Do we care so little for our English language that we, or should I say the media, have like sheep to follow America and the language of what almost seems the most dominant and influential media outlet in the UK, 'Sky' this and 'Sky' that?

I have to say it is becoming difficult to do otherwise given the bombardment on our eyes and ears of words like 'movie', 'buggy' (instead of pram/pushchair), 'trash' instead of rubbish, 'elevator' instead of lift, 'cookies' instead of biscuits, 'vacation' instead of holiday etc etc.

To the response they are in common use so we use them as well, the answer must be (a) if they are in common use it is because you keep using them and therefore, as night follows day, people start using them (b) it does not make it right and (c) if you care then stop perpetuating their use.

There is always room to welcome new words to accommodate new creations/inventions etc where new words are required but there is no need or justification to replace a word which is common place in our language with another understood to mean much the same which is common place in another country's language.

UK English may have its quirks but it is part of our rich tapestry and unless we are all to become clones, let's value it and not allow ourselves to dilute what we have to such an extent that there is nothing left to distinguish ourselves other than, well, other than what one could ask the way things are going?

No doubt there will be those who agree with me, those who do not and those who do not really care. As the saying goes 'that's life'.

MORE LETTERS IN OUR DIGITAL EDITION