[Closed] Creeping Americanisation of the English language on the BBC.

No more Americanisms? OK! 😉

Can you unpack that for me?

Hell yeah.

What about the Anglicisation of the American language? A little more comprehensive I feel 🙂

(as in, the entire country speaks our language almost exactly as we do)

I nearly throw my life away for a meaningless brutal assault every time I hear someone say, "can i get a....". I can't go into starbucks or costa any more for fear I can't resist the urge to bludgeon some groli to death with a sturdy mug.

I don't care - except that anyone found using the term "Colourway" should be forcibly dragged outside and force fed hedgehog suppositories.

[edit] - MBUK magazine, I'm looking specifically at you.

Yes, I agree, the use of 'Colourway' should be punishable by whipping the offender through the streets like a common dog.

Using 'swap out' instead of the simpler and perfectly acceptable 'swap' should be punishable by death however, even for a first offence.

And I'm sorry, but anyone using 'Can I get...?' should be forcibly transported to the despicable country that first coined this abomination.

I'm sorry but I think it would give you a warm feeling inside just knowing that you are fluent in Americanese, everyone wants to be bilingual, don't they?

May be our language originally but the US own us and they can do what they bloody well like

hegemony my arse, it's a takeover

now, where's my tinfoil ?

Did anyone see Lewis Hamilton on the piece about NASCAR on F1 qualifying yesterday? It's hard to imagine the lad is from Stevenage.

you should move to France, they're [i]really[/i] protective about their language

They even have their own video format in France.

Awkward buggers. Means they can't use normal DVDs and that.

probably no great loss 😉

Don't worry Spanner, it's just a short term problem. Creepy Chinese will prove to be a much bigger problem. And kids will laugh at your inability to understand mandarin street slang.

"Can I get" do people actually say this though? I've never heard anyone ever use it

why don't you write them and complain about it? 😉

Ernie, you watched firefly?

No I haven't headfirst, what's it about - Chinese hegemony ?

Jeez you guys need to chillax out more..

emsz - Member

"Can I get" do people actually say this though? I've never heard anyone ever use it

Emsz, I hear it in the North West all the time - both of my partner's otherwise reasonably blameless daughters use it regularly.
They are lovely individuals, but I'd happily send both of them to the USA, never to return, if they persist with this nonsense.

I'd have to say I hear it used in shops on a regular basis, mostly by young women in their 20's and early 30's.

I'm going to have to watch the Olympics with the sound down as well.
'Medal' is a noun, not a verb, but some smug, self satisfied commentator, confident in their delusions of adequacy will use it incorrectly, causing me to foam at the mouth and shout at the screen.

I may have turned into my dad 😀

mrlebowski - Member

Jeez you guys need to chillax out more..

Writes down name: First against the wall when the revolution comes.....

Ii

Creeping?

When was the last time you heard 'controversy' or 'privacy' pronounced correctly on the Beeb?

Wouldn't be too bad if it were a private company, but as I'm forced by law to contribute to their wages it would be nice if they could do me the courtesy of speaking my language!

Wouldn't be too bad if it were a private company, but as I'm forced by law to contribute to their wages

How are you "forced" ? ....... no one "forces" you to own a TV.

You are however forced to contribute to the "wages" of private TV companies - whether or not you own a TV.

Unless of course you are totally self-sufficient and never buy any products or services, which I very much doubt.

Ernie, you watched firefly?

+1

shiny

I find it quite strange listening to British presenters reading an American written script on CNN, the accent and vocabulary don't go together.
Some of the US spelling I can accept. Why is there a 'u' in colour.
And finally any country that can not use the present perfect, ain't worth shit!

What's the beef with "can I get..."?
I use it, or some variation of it, all the time.

American expressions I can deal with, but lots of teenage girls round here, like, totally speak with a pseudo-Californian accent.

totally speak with a pseudo-Californian accent.

Whilst we're trying to derail this thread in a Whedonesque direction, I blame Buffy for that. It even gave me an Australian-style rising inflection wor a while until I had a word with myself.

American expressions I can deal with, but lots of teenage girls round here, like, totally speak with a pseudo-Californian accent.

yes, i much prefered it when all the kids were speaking like they were third generation west indians from peckham.

It seems 'take' is out of fashion now:

[i]"I'm going to bring my camera on holiday"[/i]

A new one to me yesterday - Calendaring.
http://lifehacker.com/5815573/five-best-desktop-calendaring-applications

It's gotten to be not that big of a deal, but I could care less.

but I could care less.

?_?

don simon - I agree, I can understand that some spellings like color and center make sense.

A few years ago I was in a car with two Americans, one of whom had not been to the UK before.

She saw a sign for the 'town centre' and said "Oh, look, they spell funny!"

The guy broke into a big smile, turned round and said to her "We're in England. I think you might find that it's us that spell funny!"

She looked confused.

"Can I get" do people actually say this though? I've never heard anyone ever use it

I'm more of a "I can haz..."

Whilst we're trying to derail this thread in a Whedonesque direction, I blame Buffy for that.

WWBS?

Do you prefer steel or aluminum?

I can understand that some spellings like color and center make sense.

I'll give you center, but TBH neither colour nor color particularly look right. I'm going to start a campaign for "coulor."

Did anyone see Lewis Hamilton on the piece about NASCAR on F1 qualifying yesterday? It's hard to imagine the lad is from Stevenage

Sometimes when in the US you have to 'code switch' - that is, talk more like them so they understand you. It's just not worth the hassle to deliberately use words you know they don't know the meaning of.

Re the spelling thing - when the colonies were being set up spelling was all over the shop. The fact that the standards that ended up being nailed down on either side of the Altantic are so similar is actually quite remarkable.

I'm going to start a campaign for "coulor."

Nah, it'd have to be "KULLER"

<edit> coulor will just get mixed up with couloir </edit>

It seems 'take' is out of fashion now:

"I'm going to bring my camera on holiday"

I'm glad it's not just me then.

I work with under-graduate students, and 'can I get...' is the norm now. It's not quite as annoying as the increasing amount of people who want to 'grab' something we sell.

What's the beef with "can I get..."?
I use it, or some variation of it, all the time.

I don't know - it (or Can I have...) sounds pretty normal to me. I think some folk from the home counties have been indoctrinated that the only correct way to address the question is "May I have...". There may be a north south divide one this? Or perhaps the home counties version is somewhat submissive seeking "permission" whereas the northern version is more of a demand, subject to availability?

However I am particularly impressed that someone is getting wound up about this creeping Americanism whilst he is in Starbucks. The irony!

How do you feel about -ize word endings?

And the serial comma?

Half of what people moan about as an 'Americanism' is actually normal British English usage, or archaic British English usage that has been kept alive [i]over the pond[/i], or even just normal colloquial language or slang that you get everywhere, in every country, in every age. It's how language evolves. Deal with it 😉

I'm sure I read that the "american" language is how we spoke in England in the 17th century.

Therefore, its us who have evolved, and the yanks are just old-fashioned.

Have a nice day. 🙂

Read Chaucer. Read Shakespeare. Compare with English today.

English is an evolving language: deal with it!

How do you feel about -ize word endings?

It makes it a boatload easier to play Scrabble.

God damn limeys, probably just angry at the realization you're no longer a world superpower 😛

Quite the opposite, we're just surprised that the 'B' Ark did so well.

I'm guilty of "Can I get a" and every time I hear myself say it I want to cut my face off...

Is there a support group I can join?

There's a certain magazine *just goes to check that shouldn't acutally be spelt with an s* that is favoured in these parts that has been slipping an increasing number of 'super this' and 'super that' references in of late. That REALLY gets my goat. You're from bleeding Todmorden, not Califonia.

and what's [i]for free[/i] meant to mean ? what's the [i]for[/i] for ? if there is no cost its simply [i]free[/i]
and don't get me started on [i]train station[/i]

Train station?

its a railway station and was for at least 150 years before train station crept across the water

When was the last time you heard 'controversy' or 'privacy' pronounced correctly on the Beeb

Its not just me then!

Really?

Seems reasonable, by analogy with bus station.

A bus station is where buses stop. A train station is where trains stop.

(Sent from my workstation)

[i]train station[/i] may well be a reasonable term - but its not British nor historically correct

A bus station is where buses stop. A train station is where trains stop.

Bus terminus?

but its not British nor historically correct

Don't be stupid.

I'm sure you are so incensed you can barely see your VDU. Why not go out for a walk to calm down, taking care to avoid any motorcars or omnibuses, or even ladies with perambulators.

Ok so which is worse americanism's or estuary english?

I'm still mourning the loss of the Sussex dialect...
(I blame those naughty but pretty girls of the 4th form who preferred a coarser tongue)
at least some of the words survive - I often sneak through a twitten and climb a bostal

Its? It's 'it's'. FFS.

Those in glasshouses ...

those naughty but pretty girls of the 4th form who preferred a coarser tongue

[img] [/img]

Americanisation is the Americanization of the word Americanization
"the -ize spelling is often incorrectly viewed in Britain as an Americanism" apparently

I'm sure I read that the "american" language is how we spoke in England in the 17th century.

Therefore, its us who have evolved, and the yanks are just old-fashioned.

That's a common claim, although it would appear to me that "centre" for example, is from Norman French and the yanks somewhere along the line changed it.

Personally I'm not bothered how the yanks speak or spell, I just wish they wouldn't call it English.......there must be copyright/intellectual property infringement issues there somewhere.

I'm not bothered how the yanks speak or spell, I just wish they wouldn't call it English...

I don't really mind them calling it English, it's American English but it's still English. The problem for me is when it's assumed that English = American.

What really chaffs my arse is websites etc that use the Stars & Stripes to signify an English language choice, or when I'm installing software and it says "Choose language: [English (US)]."

This recurring ranting amuses me greatly. My work requires precision in language, which appeals to my pendantic nature. However, none of the above examples that so irritate and annoy have the slightest concern for me; I understand them clearly.

The quesiton is not one of trying to grasp a singular and accurate definition of English (for we don't have an Academie), but to recognize which are the preferred modes of speech and written communication to enable us to deal with each other on the most efficacious bases.

Everything else is just reactionary middle-aged men looking for something about which they can feel superior. Get a grip, granddads.

Everything else is just reactionary middle-aged men looking for something about which they can feel superior.

To be fair, I'm not sure anyone's ever claimed otherwise?

S[u]k[/u]edule - it's [u]sch[/u]edule FFS

What really chaffs my arse is websites etc that use the Stars & Stripes to signify an English language choice, or when I'm installing software and it says "Choose language: [English (US)].

You should be proud of it - it just demonstrates what an enormous impact this small island has had on the world 🙂

Skedule - it's schedule FFS

What about "technical"? How do [u]you[/u] pronounce that?

I don't really mind them calling it English, it's American English but it's still English.

Yeah well I do. They ought to call it American. Although to be fair English like what we speak, should perhaps be called British. Preferably Great British.

EDIT : And why do they pronounce "missiles" as you would rissoles - there's really no excuse for that 😐

They ought to call it American

Then we'd be saying, "cheeky bastards, stealing our language and then renaming it to look like they came up with it."

pendantic nature

Not pedantic enough.... ;O)

recognize which are the preferred modes of speech and written communication to enable us to deal with each other on the most efficacious bases.

You might want to work on that a little. Something like "speak and write clearly" ought to do it.

🙂

They ought to call it American

Get a grip, granddads.

+1!

Get over yourselves or better still try this place

[url= http://www.grumpieroldmen.co.uk/forum/phpBB3/index.php ]Grumpies[/url]

I'm so with ourmaninthenorth on this one. Bill Bryson wrote a whole book about it, well worth reading by the grumpy old men on here. [i]Mother Tongue[/i] is what you ought to check out.

gwj72 - Member
I nearly throw my life away for a meaningless brutal assault every time I hear someone say, "can i get a....". I can't go into starbucks or costa any more for fear I can't resist the urge to bludgeon some [b]groli[/b] to death with a sturdy mug.

'groli'...is that Guardian Reader of Low Intelligence?

My bugbear is the failure to distinguish between an adVERB and an adjective in sports commentary. Ok - we accept it in football (just, because....) but now it has invaded Wimbledon. He played good, she is breathing heavy.....aaaaarrrrghhhh!!

My bugbear is the failure to distinguish between an adVERB and an adjective in sports commentary. Ok - we accept it in football (just, because....) but now it has invaded Wimbledon. He played good, she is breathing heavy.....aaaaarrrrghhhh!!

And prepositions! It's "different FROM", not "different than".

The pussyfication of BrE by AmE is an insidious & unwelcome encroachment – much like how McDonalds nudged Wimpy into the shadows by the mid 80’s. Yeah... you may laugh now but this is serious business.