It's cultural appropriation of the snowflake kind that some Gen Z Americans are adopting faux English accents.

Whether thought up by Sir Winston Churchill or George Bernard Shaw, someone famous said something like, "England and America are two countries separated by a common language."

The language as expressed by commoners in England is not always charming; sometimes it can even grate.  Whom do you prefer listening to in Pygmalion: Polished professor Higgins or cockney Eliza Doolittle?

Evidence that the English language can separate the two countries occurs when a blabbering idiot, like an ex-English soccer player cum analyst, is accompanied by closed captions on TV so listeners can follow along.  The main commentators of EPL games are respectable, but the diction of their sidekicks is so abysmal as to require frequent usage of one's remote control mute button. 

And if you visit Old Blighty, and inevitably get lost, be careful whom you ask for directions — you could be sent around the bend, matey.

Admittedly, the accents and cadence of more refined Brits can be engaging, something Gen Zers in America appear to recognize.  Disconcertingly, some of that cohort even appropriate English accents as a defense mechanism.  Just typical — the poor little Gen Zers, who once hid in safe zones, now need a defense mechanism.  Now they are hiding behind agreeable English accents.

Stop it! 

It's tolerable that a luminary like astronomer Edwin Hubble would become an English dandy, complete with a pompous English accent after his Rhodes scholarship, but please, not Gen Z snowflakes.  Some of them don't know their elbow from their earhole.

They say imitation is the highest form of flattery, but flattery from some of today's Gen Zers is hardly welcome.  After their flailing in the self-esteem and de-masculinization movements, they are prone to sorrowful soppiness.

Become a Rhodes Scholar first, or at least do something to enhance the supposed "special relationship" between the two countries.  Blimey, do anything useful for anyone; perhaps even follow Vivek Ramaswamy's exhortation to serve.  Then, after you attain the minimum level of consciousness to appreciate America's exceptionalism, look across the pond to determine your Anglophilia credentials.

In the meantime, this quote, attributed to different people, comes to mind: "Tell me your friends, and I'll tell you who you are."

Image via Public Domain Pictures.