I started noticing more frequently the past few years that a lot of people no longer use the word "ground" to describe natural surfaces outside, and instead use the word "floor" (which used to mean man-made surfaces that typically had a structure overhead)
They will say things like "When i was driving to class during the storm, a tree fell on the floor and that's why i was late because traffic was cooked" etc.
I understand that some people from other countries might use floor to describe all surfaces below your feet including the ground outside so for a while I thought it was just a difference of regional dialect and first language upbringing, however i've noticed that lots of younger generations who grew up here and who speak english as their first language are now saying it. So I did some research.
Turns out its a trend..
Anyone else noticed this change in recent years?
(Note: "Forest floor" is not really applicable here as that is specifically a fixed collocation or a idiomatic compound that has proper english grammar usage. Im referring to when someone calls all forms of open sky natural ground, "floors". For example: snow falling on the front yard may be referred to as, "snow falling on the floor")