“Two countries divided by a common language” is a common saying misattributed to George Bernard Shaw. US and UK vocabulary differences are of perennial amusement: elevator, lift; sidewalk, pavement; gas, petrol; soccer, football. Brits say “pants” to mean underwear; Americans say it to mean what we call “trousers.”
A ubiquitous British slang word for a cigarette is also an offensive slur in the States. But if social media is anything to go by, the nicotine taboos run deeper than vocabulary.
Specifically, I’ve noticed regular tweets from US-based accounts which express surprise, amusement or even disgust about older people vaping. Examples include: “Seeing old people vaping will never not be funny to me,” “Anyone else cringe x 10 when they see old people vaping?” and “Old people vaping is just as shocking as babies smoking cigarettes.”
British adults over 55 have a higher vaping rate than the youngest adults.
These are strange tweets indeed, considering the millions of lives, in every adult age group, that have been saved by these products. What could be going on in the US to make some people believe that vaping is only for the young?
Martin Cullip – FilterMag – 2021-09-21.
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