The French expression en route (meaning “on your way to”) is so widely used in English that it’s quite acceptable to not place it in italics every time you use it. What isn’t acceptable is replacing the en with on.
I understand why this happens. Because the French pronunciation of en sounds like on in English to the undiscriminating ear, people could easily assume “on route” is the correct spelling.
But a sentence like “We were on route to Provence” makes no sense with the English spelling. “We were driving on route 66” is fine, but that’s not where the confusion arises.
Instead, it’s in news headlines like this one: “Norwegian Flight Crew Injured In Turbulence On Route To Helsinki“. That is simply wrong.
The easy rule of thumb? If you’re not sure how a foreign expression has been adapted into English, it’s safer to avoid it. Accuracy matters.
Mind Your Language is an occasional series where I provide nit-picking advice on writing. Language always changes and evolves, but that doesn’t mean anything goes.
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