[Closed] Creeping Americanisms

Or 'bugger'. It's a word that only Brits can sound right using.

I can stand "can I get" or "my bad" and frankly I thought "burglarized" was a joke word.

But I don't complain, language is an ever evolving thing and belongs to anyone who wants to use it, some people seem to thing that if it's not in the OED then it's not a 'real' word - but dictionaries are reactive things, they're there to try to catalogue language, not to impose any sort of rules.

Wait until 'socialize' makes it over here...

Oh, it's made it, believe me 👿

"Socialize" has arrived, but I don't think anybody actually knows what it means... Least of all the people who use it.

I got away with "deacronymizing" in an email a while back while making a sarcastic point about incomprehensible acronyms and jargons, but I'm slightly worried it catches on

"Socialize" has arrived, but I don't think anybody actually knows what it means... Least of all the people who use it.

Doesn't it just mean going to the pub?

Although it's 'Socialise' obviously.

Me either.

That's just from stupid, not America. It's close to those who 'wandered' about something.

"Legos" to refer to some Lego.

I landed on my ass!, I do hope your donkey is alright old boy?.... 🙂

I have an MTB-specific one that's been getting my goat... "rowdy".

Pinkbike, NSMB etc are full of rowdy trails, rowdy bikes and rowdy riding (but no Rowdy Yates).

I can't even bring myself to use it ironically.

"You're all set!" 👿

Isn't MTB an Americanism - IIRC ATB was the term used here originally..

"Legos" to refer to some Lego.

Most Americans do this, and it has been the subject of some debate which ended up with the Lego company officially declaring that they are Lego pieces, and saying 'Legos' is wrong.

Definitively answered.

where did that thing come from when they hold 2 fingers each side of the head and bend the fingers as though making apostrophe's each side of the head. this really boils my piss

chakaping

Pinkbike, NSMB etc are full of rowdy trails, rowdy bikes and rowdy riding

Don't forget Rowdy Roddy.

[img] [/img]

Most Americans do this, and it has been the subject of some debate which ended up with the Lego company officially declaring that they are Lego pieces, and saying 'Legos' is wrong.

LEGO [i]Bricks [/i].

"Legos" is plainly wrong in the same way that a flock of sheeps is. They could at least capitalise it so that it doesn't read it's like somewhere in Portugal.

These:
Low hanging fruit. (easy sales opportunities)
Hunting elephants. (as above)
Reaching out. (getting in contact)
Strategize. (Really? It's not even a word!)

Low hanging fruit

That's just a metaphor though. There's nothing wrong with those - both Britsh English and American English are enriched by them I think.

LEGO Bricks .

You are quite correct to capitalise LEGO but may I remind you that not all LEGO pieces are bricks 🙂

And the use of the verb 'to like' when describing the progress of a conversation;

"He was like, 'can I get an Americano?', and she was like 'no, I'll have to get it for you, you tosspot'"

What, they were both like that? They didn't actually say it, instead they portrayed the meaning of the conversation in some other form? How did they do it, by the power of interpretive dance?

There's a similar phrase when describing an argument or heated conversation, "Turned round", e.g. "So I turned round to him and said". Not sure if it is an Americanism or not, but I'm yet to see two people spinning on the spot while conversing.

dday - Member

These:
Low hanging fruit. (easy sales opportunities)
Hunting elephants. (as above)
Reaching out. (getting in contact)
Strategize. (Really? It's not even a word!)

In fairness at lot of them are just 'management bullshit' and we lead the world in that crap.

A lot of people have started to say December 15 than December 15th.

Not that I care, I'm American 🙂

And why does Maths have an s on the end? Nobody does Geographies or Englishes?

I sure hope y'all got a date for the prom.

And why does Maths have an s on the end? Nobody does Geographies or Englishes?

Australianisms are good. A workmate was told on her first day she could wear her thongs on a Friday. It turned out they meant flip flops (dress down day).

And apparently sprog means spunk while spunk doesn't mean jizz 😕

And apparently sprog means spunk while spunk doesn't mean jizz

Isn't jizz what New Zealanders go to Ronnie Scott's to listen to?

Oh in case you're not aware, classical performers in America "concertize".

Anyway. Have a nice day y'all.

Nobody does Geographies or Englishes?

im always picking people up on the "so then i turned round and said to him" thing, every time i hear it.
"why werent you facing him when you were talking to him?"
i probably annoy them more than they annoy me 🙂

not sure its american-ism tho. the one that really bugs me is 'regular' being a size now. "you want regular or large?"
"medium please"
"regular it is then"
"no, medium please"

i really annoy my family cos ill just refuse to use some words, as above. i remember when they used to badger me to go to mcdonalds, id never give in and call them 'mc-whatevers' cos then 'theyd' have won. id ask for 'one of those ice cream things' rather than actually say 'mcflurry', and id never be able to bring myself to say 'big mac meal'. it was a 'burger with chips and a drink'. which reminds me........ fries? nah, always chips.

*shouldnt have opened this thread should i*

Big mac is a specific kind of burger. Do you go into Indian restaurants and ask for chicken in sauce?

Honestly mate, life's too short. Or should that be "buddy"?

"ready to pull the trigger" as in ready to buy something.

"deliverables"

Big mac is a specific kind of burger.

its the little battles in life that make it all worth living doncha think? 😀

EDIT:

Do you go into Indian restaurants and ask for chicken in sauce?

They name their dishes just the same as anyone else. What should they call them? Hamburger, cheeseburger perhaps? Cos they do call them that.

I think the sausage and egg mc muffin and chicken mc nuggets are the only things with mc in the name. Everything else is just named. How dare they!

You are on the slippery descent into madness...

I think the sausage and egg mc muffin and chicken mc nuggets are the only things with mc in the name. Everything else is just named

How dare you forget about a McFlurry?

just nipping out ................

Like

I think the sausage and egg mc muffin and chicken mc nuggets are the only things with mc in the name.

You are on the slippery descent into madness...

A lot of people have started to say December 15 than December 15th.

Not that I care, I'm American

Evidently; otherwise you'd have realised that they're both incorrect, as it's the 15th of December. (-:

molgrips - Member
I don't think ass and arse are interchangable really, they feel pretty different in use.
Well as an insult they mean different things - arse being an unpleasant person, ass being a fool. However if you are talking about sitting down that's definitely an arse unless you are Jesus' mum.

The OED’s first citation for arse, with that spelling, to refer to a person or animal’s posterior is from 1480. There are multitudinous variations over the years, including this exchange from Ben Jonson’s 1602 “Poetaster”: ” Cris. They say, he’s valiant. Tvcc. Valiant? so is mine arse.” Ooh, snap.

The common and traditional U.S. term, of course, is ass. The OED says of this word: “vulgar and dialect sp. and pronunciation of arse. Now chiefly U.S.”
Its citations for ass are nearly all American, one exception being this from William Golding’s 1959 Free Fall: “You sit on your fat ass in your ‘ouse all the week.”

Arse and ass look different in print. However, in Britain, where non-rhotic (that is, silent r) pronunciation is the standard, they would sound the same. This site offers British and American pronunciations of arse. The former is non-rhotic. The latter is risible in the exaggerated New York accent it affects.

In My Fair Lady (Broadway: 1956, film version: 1964), written by the American Alan Jay Lerner, Eliza Doolittle famously shouts out at the racetrack scene, “Come on, Dover, move yer bloomin’ arse!” That, anyway, is the spelling one finds on the internet; I don’t have access to the libretto or screenplay. I also don’t have access to the Broadway or soundtrack record albums. I would suspect that Julie Andrews, the original Liza, says it non-rhotically; probably Audrey Hepburn in the movie version as well. Someone please let me know if that’s not the case.

Arse has been around for a long time in the U.S. as a sort of literary novelty item. Donald Barthleme’s first novel, “Snow White,” contained a chapter titled THE FAILURE OF SNOW WHITE’S ARSE. A 1971 letter by the anglophile S.J. Perelman noted that some New Yorker contributors ”tend to have a ramrod up their arse, acting as though they invented the paper.” (I would say that paper, to refer to a magazine, is a Britishism as well.)

Moving up to the present, arse has become a vogue term in the U.S. in recent years, very much analogous to shite. A 2010 comment on a New York Times blog post by someone who signs him- or herself “AmericanYankee” says: “The last thing I want is for bin Laden and his sycophantic arse kissing illiterate supporters to think they are somehow special.”

Just two days ago, blogging his displeasure about the New York Times at Esquire.com just two days, Charles Pierce comments, “This is all my arse.” And bringing it all back home, a commenter on his post writes, “The Times is, for the most part, irrelevant, and this sort of link-trolling crap should be ignored. It only encourages more shite.”

Arse and ass look different in print. However, in Britain, where non-rhotic (that is, silent r) pronunciation is the standard, they would sound the same.

That only holds true if the pronunciation is the Southernesque "aah-ss". A pronunciation of "arr-se" is more [s]common[/s] Northern. Non?

It's akin to the short / long vowel regionally in "bath."

Basically, 'arse' was always pronounced 'ass'

Hmm.. Surely our pronunciation of arse could be considered non-rhotic - to rhyme with glass as a southerner might say it.

In America they always pronounce the R so it sounds quite different to both ass and (southerner's) glass. If you think about it, it's like a pirate's aarrrr but with an s on the end. So there are three different ways to say it and only two to spell it.

pulled the trigger
go-to [object] of choice
swapped out

feature in every other post.

I refuse to use "regular" too.

Do you go into Indian restaurants and ask for chicken in sauce?

If there are only two sizes then it's either small or large, there is no medium.

Happy to be a common southerner who dislikes creepy americans' arses.

I found it pleasant that an Indian friend (from Mumbai) used "Thrice" for "3 times", a word I hadn't heard since forever. Got me wondering if Indians who speak English as their first language use more traditional(?) English than the British these days?.

Anyway, 10 years ago I used to frequent waterski forums mostly used by Americans and 'than' was sometimes substituted with 'then', like "I'd rather have an X then a Y". In recent times I've noticed it a lot more often on the internet in general, even occasionally on this forum. With the internet being mostly dominated by American Websites (Facebook, You Tube), Americanisms will dominate even more so then they did previously thru films, TV etc. Better get over it.

The word you're looking for there is "through."

Surely "then / than" is another Stupidism?

Also,

Facebook and YouTube aren't "American websites," they're global websites. They're hosted in the US but the reason they have more Americans is that there's more of them.

Denim jeans. what wrong with corduroys?

Rock 'n' roll. ditto country music?

Ah. Corduroy breeches, red socks and stout boots.

I hear corduroy pillows are making headlines.

Got me wondering if Indians who speak English as their first language use more traditional(?) English than the British these days?.

In my experience Indian English is becoming more of a distinct dialect, with some old fashioned words, but the pattern of speech being more like some Indian languages. A mate at a previous job spoke perfectly clearly without a thick accent, but the way he'd talk would be incomprehensible at times and I'd have to tell him to start again in a form of English I could understand 🙂

I hear corduroy pillows are making headlines.

You're banned.

Hey bros you all know diddly squat. 😆

Nobody does Geographies or Englishes?

Well I never put it like that but I suppose I did, yes.

English Language and English Literature
Physical Geography and Human Geography

hh45 - Member

Rock 'n' roll. ditto country music?

Both American styles of music, I think you'll find. Country music has some of its roots in English Folk music, with a liberal sprinkling of a number of other national styles. Rock'n'roll was a mix of hillbilly music - a form of country music - gospel and blues, both also very much American styles.

Cougar - Moderator

I hear corduroy pillows are making headlines.

This made me laugh a lot more than it should have done.

[i]fries? nah, always chips.[/i]

Was I dreaming or did I see a British advert for a chip maker where they said they were making FRIES?

This made me laugh a lot more than it should have done.

after about 30 seconds I guffawed, bit thick me 😳