Autumn/fall

[nq:1]Is the term "Fall" to designate the season used to any great extent outside of North America?[/nq]
More to the point, is its use INSIDE North America regarded as slangy? Should it be avoided in formal speech and writing?
Cheers,
Matt

[nq:2]Is the term "Fall" to designate the season used to any great extent outside of North America?[/nq]
[nq:1]More to the point, is its use INSIDE North America regarded as slangy? Should it be avoided in formal speech and writing?[/nq]
I can't speak for Canada (or Mexico), but "fall" in AmE isn't regarded as "slangy". What is true is that "autumn" is a sort of relatively formal, high-reg

R F wrote, correctly:
[nq:1]"Fall" in AmE isn't regarded as "slangy". What is true is that "autumn" is a sort of relatively formal, high-register, highfalutin' sort of word. I'd describe "fall" as normal, register-neutral. It appears in contexts that you might well consider to be formal.[/nq]
The everyday name for the season is . It's prominent in the mnemonic "spring forward, fall back,"

R F wrote, correctly:
[nq:1]"Fall" in AmE isn't regarded as "slangy". What is true is that "autumn" is a sort of relatively formal, high-register, highfalutin' sort of word. I'd describe "fall" as normal, register-neutral. It appears in contexts that you might well consider to be formal.[/nq]
The everyday name for the season is . It's prominent in the mnemonic "spring forward, fall back,"

[nq:1]R F wrote, correctly:[/nq]
[nq:2]"Fall" in AmE isn't regarded as "slangy". What is true ... in contexts that you might well consider to be formal.[/nq]
[nq:1]The everyday name for the season is . It's prominent in the mnemonic "spring forward, fall back," by which people ... used to a Spanish word cognate with, tend to use in English more than the rest of the population.[/nq]
I'

[nq:1]The everyday name for the season is . It's prominent in the mnemonic "spring forward, fall back," by which people recall the way to turn their clocks to begin & end daylight-saving time.[/nq]
I learned it as "spring ahead, fall back".

I would be surprised to find anyone in the UK using the word "semester", except Yank-wannabes - "term" is the term of choice. Though I did read yesterday someone who should know better referring to "returning from his vacation".
Edward

The reading group's reading group:
http://www.bookgroup.org.uk

[nq:2]The everyday name for the season is . It's prominent ... to turn their clocks to begin & end daylight-saving time.[/nq]
[nq:1]I learned it as "spring ahead, fall back".[/nq]
That seems rather strange, because, unlike "forward", "ahead" suits neither the springing action nor the time-shifting one.

Are you sure it wasn't "spring ahead, fall behind"? That is a slight improvemen

[nq:1]I would be surprised to find anyone in the UK using the word "semester", except Yank-wannabes - "term" is the term of choice.[/nq]
Prepare to be surprised. Although Oxford and Cambridge retain terms, many UK universities have now moved away from linear degrees and terms to modular degrees and an academic year divided into two 15 week semesters. I think Stirling may have been the first to

[nq:1]I would be surprised to find anyone in the UK using the word "semester", except Yank-wannabes - "term" is the term of choice.[/nq]
Actually "semester" is here, and has been for several decades. See, for instance:
http://www.external.stir.ac.uk/undergrad/course info/stru