Why in America do you call Autumn 'Fall'?

Question

Is it like a nickname for Autumn?

Why do you have to say 'common sense girl' I was asking a legitimate question. In Australia we dont call it fall, I was asking if it was a nickname, which it seems it is... gee no wonder I dont like asking questions

Answer 1

I assume you are thinking that Americans *changed* the English word for the season, while the British kept the earlier one.

But that's not at all the case.

Until Modern English the season was usually called "Harvest" (a good Germanic sort of word -- many Germanic languages still use a relative, such as the German "Herbst").

In Middle English -- Chaucer in 1374 made use of "Autumn", borrowed from French [originally from Latin], but it did not yet replace "Harvest" as *the* word for the season.

In early Modern English (the 1500s) the word "Fall" begins to be used (obviously with reference to the falling of leaves). This, of course, is BEFORE the British American colonies were founded.

Thus the American colonists of the 1600s brought the word "Fall" to them from England. Later, after the period of colonial settlement, "Autumn" became the favored word in England, and "Fall" died out.

(In America, on the other hand, "Autumn" is used alongside "Fall", though the preferences may vary by regions. Note that the main features of the four original regional dialects of American English reflect the dialectal differences of the regions of England from which the four great migrations of the colonial period came. Very likely the American regional preferences for "Fall" and "Autumn" tell us something about which word was dominant in the regions each migration stemmed from.

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(Note that MANY British-American differences are accounted for this way -- either BOTH versions were being used in Britain in the 17th-18th centuries and different ones 'won out' on each side of the Atlantic, or the American form was actually THE standard form during this period, and British English subsequently changed. The assumption that Americans "changed" the British forms or words is often mistaken.)

Answer 2

Probably they call it Fall because that's the time of year when the leaves turn color and then 'fall' off the tree and the trees go dormant so that it can survive the cold winter months.

Answer 3

Autumn is like the "falling away" of life. The leaves fall, the plants lose their color and in general the entire world seems to lose the bright colors of spring and summer to winter greys and whites.

Answer 4

I had assumed it was an American thing as well, but I've been told by Brits and Australians that it is not.

We call it fall because leaves and fruits and nuts fall from the trees a that time of the year. It's rather poetic. We also use autumn, but not as often.

Answer 5

Because in the north the leaves fall off of the trees

Answer 6

Because the leaves FALL off the trees

Answer 7

Because that's when the leaves fall off the tree.

Answer 8

Yes, it is just a nickname-and I know what you mean about asking questions-ppl around here can be mean.

Answer 9

Well I reiterate what the 20+ ppl before me said. Because the turning of Autumn is marked by the falling of the leaves from the trees. (Except here in South Florida - we have no seasons! - No wait, we have tourist season. But that's all year, it doesn't count!)

Answer 10

Because the characteristic of the season is the falling of the leaves off of the trees.

Hence, "Fall".