I don't know about you, but I've noticed certain anglicisms creeping into everyday American English. One is “spot on,” which I take to mean “exactly right.” I like it. It sounds good, for one thing, especially when uttered with the right accent.

Why the musing about Brit word usage? Because I'm going to use another one: We at Corporate Counsel are chuffed about an award we won in late March at the annual Jesse H. Neal Awards luncheon here in Manhattan. “Chuffed” means delighted, but I prefer how chuffed sounds; somehow it conveys our delight in a punchier way. The winning article, in the news story category, was a cover article written by senior reporter Sue Reisinger about the General Motors Co. ignition-switch debacle, “The Lawyers Were Here.” The story was a dissection of the actions—and inaction—of the automaker's legal department as the ignition switch problems came to light. Reisinger did what has become her specialty: She fashioned a gripping narrative from a paper trail and pointed out where events turned south.

We seem to have a thing (and a winning streak) when it comes to reporting auto defects. Last year, executive editor David Hechler won a slew of awards for his examination of the disarray at Toyota in a feature story, “Lost in Translation,” following allegations of unintended acceleration and electronic faults in several best-selling automobile models.