50 Americanisms That Brits Apparently Hate
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I'm glad the people in the UK are just as dumb as us North Americans. For a minute there I was worried that they were somehow superior...
As my wife says, Americans don't really speak "English" anymore, we speak American. Sure, it's mostly the same, but connotations and subtleties change as cultures interact in different ways. Deal with it, Brits.
I found most of these points to be stupid complaints about cultural differences, not actual grammatical problems. If this was a list of ways Americans have butchered grammar I would be agreeing with many of the examples, I'm sure. As it is, this is just nitpicking and silly.
I found most of these points to be stupid complaints about cultural differences, not actual grammatical problems. If this was a list of ways Americans have butchered grammar I would be agreeing with many of the examples, I'm sure. As it is, this is just nitpicking and silly.
Well said. Glad you pointed that one out. It annoys me enough that us British seem to think no one else is allowed to make the language their own (though aparently we can do with it whatever the hell we like). I said earlier as well, there are some Americanisms we seem particularly fond of. Ever heard of one little phrase "stiff-upper-lip?" Yep, thank the yanks for that.Shaoken said:
Some of those people are morons. Especially 36 and 38.
My most hated Americanism is really one that encompases them all; the fact that it seems like most Americans are completely incapable of understanding alternative ways of saying the same thing. For instance while my family was living in the states for three years, she was ordering food from a resturant to bring back home, but the cashier couldn't understand what she meant by "take away." She had to spend so much time explaining the entire concept of it until stumbling across the words "To Go" at which point the girl finally understood what she was trying to say.
And this was all in the English language too, so it's not like either party didn't have a full grasp of it.
EDIT:
Funny thing; while a lot of Brits and Australians and other English-speaking nations like to think that American has bastardised English and changed it to their own means, their actually the only ones who use the spellings and other such things from 300 years ago. Since the revolution the rest of the English speaking world slowly evolved it, while the Americans didn't.SilentCom said:
So really, the Americans are just holding onto tradition.
I agree that the term "winningest" needs to drop off the vocabulary tree that sports commentators use. You can't just say, "He has the most victories/wins on his record"?snappydog said:
My girlfriend's American so over time my brain just developed the cognitive ability to suplement anything American with its British English counterpart. The only thing that gets to me is when I see someone write down 'Cheque' as 'Check'.
Other than that the list seems to be nit picking, though I'm sure it's intended to be that way. Half of them don't sound serious,
Other than that the list seems to be nit picking, though I'm sure it's intended to be that way. Half of them don't sound serious,
The fuck? since when is "train station" american. What a bunch of fucking morons, not one of them mentioned the horrible use of "I could care less". There is nothing more retarded than that.
I have to say some of those are irritating but mostly just not at all. In fact I think some of those are just regional creations and not americanisms at all.
I have to say some of those are irritating but mostly just not at all. In fact I think some of those are just regional creations and not americanisms at all.
I'm a Brit and I don't care about Americanisms. It's nonsense for a phrase to annoy you that much...You know what if it's that bad, don't say it, and if you hear someone else say it so what? I'm sure they have far worse features / habits than choice of phrasing.
Not saying I use them, but language evolves...deal with it
Not saying I use them, but language evolves...deal with it
No it's just keeping the 's' from the end of the word it was shortened from, Mathematics, we keep the 's' and people from the US don't.The Rogue Wolf said:
....So...did anyone else notice that a bunch of those were sent in by Canadians?
Because slang and linguistics range and differ where you go and you can't stop everyone from saying it. All-and-all don't take this as "Brits and Canucks are mad at us"...take it as "Wow the people who wrote into that article are snobby douchebags now aren't they?"
You generalizing is the same as them generalizing.
Because slang and linguistics range and differ where you go and you can't stop everyone from saying it. All-and-all don't take this as "Brits and Canucks are mad at us"...take it as "Wow the people who wrote into that article are snobby douchebags now aren't they?"
You generalizing is the same as them generalizing.
What's wrong with train station or shopping cart or season? Well, there's another thing I can add to the list of why the British hate us.
What has happened to the British if they've decided to spend time bitching about such minor things , sure they are annoying but Americanisms are certainly not the worst problem in Britain at the moment.
Not all of the British hate america , a lot of us just have to learn that it is a different country and just because they speak our language ( or at least something close) doesn't mean they are just like us
Not all of the British hate america , a lot of us just have to learn that it is a different country and just because they speak our language ( or at least something close) doesn't mean they are just like us
Even better is to read the post in "reverse." So instead of "A half hour" instead of "half an hour". It's "Half an Hour" instead of "A Half Hour." Thought I'm just easily entertained I guess.
Course this is also from the same people who call a Car's Trunk a Car's Boot and it's Hood a Bonnet. So take this as you will.
Nope, they got it all right.
Course this is also from the same people who call a Car's Trunk a Car's Boot and it's Hood a Bonnet. So take this as you will.
50. "I could care less" instead of "I couldn't care less" has to be the worst. Opposite meaning of what they're trying to say. Jonathan, Birmingham.Daveman said:
Nope, they got it all right.
These are just bitter nit-picking at American dialects.
"3. The phrase I've watched seep into the language (especially with broadcasters) is "two-time" and "three-time". Have the words double, triple etc, been totally lost? Grammatically it makes no sense, and is even worse when spoken. My pulse rises every time I hear or see it. Which is not healthy as it's almost every day now. Argh! D Rochelle, Bath"
-You typically hear these from sport broadcasters. It's because something happened two/three/etc times and the phrase "double champion" sounds retarded.
18. Take-out rather than takeaway! Simon Ball, Worcester
-What's the ****ing difference?
50. "I could care less" instead of "I couldn't care less" has to be the worst. Opposite meaning of what they're trying to say. Jonathan, Birmingham
-The only comment that actually has merit.
Let's not forget than the UK has some pretty useless phrases as well. For instance, why do they call bathrooms the "loo"?
"the reason that the English "loo" is so named because the toilet was commonly located in room 100 of buildings and the two ("loo" and "100") look very much the same."
The English have their dumbass slang and we have ours. End of story.
"3. The phrase I've watched seep into the language (especially with broadcasters) is "two-time" and "three-time". Have the words double, triple etc, been totally lost? Grammatically it makes no sense, and is even worse when spoken. My pulse rises every time I hear or see it. Which is not healthy as it's almost every day now. Argh! D Rochelle, Bath"
-You typically hear these from sport broadcasters. It's because something happened two/three/etc times and the phrase "double champion" sounds retarded.
18. Take-out rather than takeaway! Simon Ball, Worcester
-What's the ****ing difference?
50. "I could care less" instead of "I couldn't care less" has to be the worst. Opposite meaning of what they're trying to say. Jonathan, Birmingham
-The only comment that actually has merit.
Let's not forget than the UK has some pretty useless phrases as well. For instance, why do they call bathrooms the "loo"?
"the reason that the English "loo" is so named because the toilet was commonly located in room 100 of buildings and the two ("loo" and "100") look very much the same."
The English have their dumbass slang and we have ours. End of story.