Brits still use the word somewhat frequently, though I haven’t bumped into many of them in the last ten years.
replyKeen is definitely a word but when used to describe a person it’s often a bit of a backhanded compliment… you don’t really want to be keen.
replySaying "I'm keen to do x" or "he's keen to do y" is a fairly common normal usage but having said that, wouldn't normally be my first choice of language as a millennial, maybe does sound a bit old fashioned
Right, as far as live exposure, I associate its usage with UK/AU/NZ expats in my western US, academic R&D microcosm.
replyYeah, I guess I can also see it as more of a Britishism (etc.) currently.
replyI'm also a native English speaker, sounds perfectly normal & commonplace to me.
replyStill in common use in Britain as far as I know. A more local (Bristolian) word would be "keener" used to describe someone who puts lots of effort into a task to win praise.
replyIn Canada I hear keener more often than keen (although both are rare).
reply“It offers fewer words for the people directly around you, but more for belonging at a distance” - the further I get into this article the more it just seems like sampling bias as a narrative.
replyIt's a wordy (/AI?) way to say it, but I took it to be commenting on our lives being more 'abstract'/digital than they were, so naturally a lot of our language is less physical.
replyOughtn't really affect emotive language like 'keen', though.