I admit there's hundreds of reasons why the world can't stand Americans, but this list is very nit-picky. A lot of the replies to this thread from Americans, however, have definitely put them back in their place.
50 Americanisms That Brits Apparently Hate
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I have never heard a single American pronounce the letter "H" with an actual "H" sound, did you not check that link? hit the play button and it CLEARLY says "Aitch"Mr. Brightside said:
put them back in there place...Draitheryn said:
how so? since apparently you are so high and mighty of the cultural differences police, please, tell me.
Wasn't really getting defensive, most of this list confuses me anyway, probably due to being from Oklahoma where most of those phrases aren't used or only sound like that cause we have a hard time pronouncing some things.Booze Zombie said:
Ok, maybe the last bit is over exaggerated, but I digress
While i can understand and in fact agree with some of these issues, it seems like they're taking offense with the fact that we have coined our own version of English. Its no worse than the New Zeland or Austrailan versions of the language and if they're of the mind that all forms of English are inferior to the home grown variety than they can fuck right off.
Language, for better or worse, evolves or it dies.
Besides we have to do somthing to cope with the fact that we'll never have those sexy accents you devilish bastards
Language, for better or worse, evolves or it dies.
Besides we have to do somthing to cope with the fact that we'll never have those sexy accents you devilish bastards
As said elsewhere in this thread, the people making that list seem to be incredibly picky. More than half of those, I have never encountered in my entire life of living in America.
Not to mention, people should just be able to accept cultural differences.
Not to mention, people should just be able to accept cultural differences.
gmaverick019 said:
'Haich' is very common in Australia but not in England, it seems. I was brought up on my ingrained Australianism by many British speakers, and as I am an English teacher, I changed. The official pronunciation of the letter is unchanged.Mr. Brightside said:
As for the pronunciation of the letter in words, well, it depends largely on where those words came from. Generally, 'h words' of Anglo Saxon origin use a 'hard h'. Many words imported from French, Norman and Latin use 'soft h', thus reflecting the original language.
Any changes beyond that are the result of English being a living language. Did you know, for example, that the word 'miniature' originally referred to the elaborate chapter pages and starting characters of handwritten books. These used a red pigment derived from the mineral 'minium'. Thus, this illustration was called 'miniature'. Later, because of the fine and tiny detail of these designs, the word changed meaning to 'very small' especially in comparison to a larger version ('miniature poodle').
Imagine if we'd had the Net back then! Flame wars galore! But this kind of change is the nature of a living language.
How do you think we pronounce H? Aitch is what I would say. I live in Michigan, however, and cant speak for the south.
Hey, did you know that in the South they call all soft drinks "coke"? I guess I shouldnt complain because we call it "pop" here.
Hey, did you know that in the South they call all soft drinks "coke"? I guess I shouldnt complain because we call it "pop" here.
Fixing to is the most hilarious Americanism. Usually with these types of American sayings I at least can understand or guess what they are talking about, but I had to have it explained thoroughly to me to even understand what it meant and I still don't get the logic. I guess a word meaning repair somehow means 'getting ready' over there.
All going well, nothing I would use myself but whatever I'm not bothered and then this
Guess eveyone just has little things that they come across that just piss them right off.
RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGEEEEEEECOULDJUSTDOESNTMAKESENSEYOUTWATSShock and Awe said:
Guess eveyone just has little things that they come across that just piss them right off.
then who were you talking about in the original post about the letter "H"?Mr. Brightside said:
because apparently you said that you pronounce it "Aitch", in which I confirmed through my own use of the letter and the link I provided that in America we say "Aitch" also. I'm still curious as to what is different and who says it differently..
We have a large body of water separating us, QED, we have some cultural differences. Get over it. I don't mind when Brits say "rubbish" or "loo" instead of "garbage" or "restroom."
I was speaking about the people who say Haitch, I was not saying Americans do it.gmaverick019 said:
The difference in pronunciation is that instead of saying Aitch, like with no H on the front, as thought it starts with an 'A'. And saying Haitch, as though there were an 'H' on the start. It's hard to explain lol
It is usually English people who say Haitch.
1. It's not a rubber. It's an eraser. A rubber is something a bit different....although it *is* used to prevent mistakes.
2. You're putting it in your mouth and inhaling deeply, do you really want to call it a fag? It's a cigarette, chaps.
3. What does pram mean? I know it's a baby stroller but a stroller is for taking the baby for a stroll. You don't take the baby for a pram. Walking isn't called pramming. How did this word evolve? It sounds like some dreaded act performed by proctologists.
4. There must be a great many surplus U's kicking around the Isles. Why else would you throw them into color, flavor, and a thousand other words that don't require them?
5. Just who the hell is this Al Yoominneum guy, anyway?
--Johnny Impact, East Coast
2. You're putting it in your mouth and inhaling deeply, do you really want to call it a fag? It's a cigarette, chaps.
3. What does pram mean? I know it's a baby stroller but a stroller is for taking the baby for a stroll. You don't take the baby for a pram. Walking isn't called pramming. How did this word evolve? It sounds like some dreaded act performed by proctologists.
4. There must be a great many surplus U's kicking around the Isles. Why else would you throw them into color, flavor, and a thousand other words that don't require them?
5. Just who the hell is this Al Yoominneum guy, anyway?
--Johnny Impact, East Coast
disregarding the arguments, I just saw your profile and your motto, is by one of my favorite if not my favorite quote ever to come from a tv show, so kudos to you for that from myself.Mr. Brightside said:
I can't imagine why, most Americans speak "proper" English better than most Brits--if there is such a thing as a "correct" version of a tongue that appears to have arisen from Vikings trying to speak Frenchified German with a Welsh accent. Or something like that.SilentCom said:
There's more formal, gentrified English, sure, but that varies from place to place quite a lot.
Trolley always sounds idiotic to me. Trolleys run on rails and go ding. That wire thing is a cart. As for transport/transportation--in America, transport is a verb and transportation is a noun (usually--there are rare cases when transportation may be used as a verb, but they're usually referring to teleportation and thus fictional). If you say "transport" as a verb, you sound like you're faking British mannerisms.
And nobody mentioned Irregardless. Shame.
OK, I was a little mad at reading some of this, but it started to grow on me (<-is that phrase in there?). Its pretty funny.
"Normalcy"? Thank President Woodrow Wilson for that one.
Also, People use alternate and alternitive when either works, and I'm pretty sure if you tried using "fortnight" in America you'd get beat up.
I think American English sounds cooler (<- another one that should be in there) than British English.
I should make my own list of Britishisms.
1) Not recognizing its acceptable to add suffixes and prefixes to words to change their meanings.
2) Not pronouncing the H in word, as in "Bloody 'ell"
3) Its called a shopping cart, not a shopping trolley. Trolley are what tourist ride around San Francisco in.
4) They're call FRIES not chips
(Its all tongue-in-cheek, guys)
"Normalcy"? Thank President Woodrow Wilson for that one.
Also, People use alternate and alternitive when either works, and I'm pretty sure if you tried using "fortnight" in America you'd get beat up.
I think American English sounds cooler (<- another one that should be in there) than British English.
I should make my own list of Britishisms.
1) Not recognizing its acceptable to add suffixes and prefixes to words to change their meanings.
2) Not pronouncing the H in word, as in "Bloody 'ell"
3) Its called a shopping cart, not a shopping trolley. Trolley are what tourist ride around San Francisco in.
4) They're call FRIES not chips
(Its all tongue-in-cheek, guys)
Come on. Are you serious?Bags159 said:
So does 'cake' = 'ceeaykayee'? Or does 'Escapist' = 'Ee-es-ceeaypee-eyestee?'?
'Zed' is the most widely accepted name for the letter and it reflects its origin, the greek letter 'zeta'. 'Zee' is an American invention, and they are welcome to it. Fine by me. The reason that non-Americans get annoyed by Americanisms is that they are bombarded by them day in and day out, not due to merit or worth, but solely due to economic power. Americans feel in no 'danger' of cultural subjugation or dilution because their aren't at all bombarded in the same way by foreign culture.