British vs American English (1 Viewer)

Gazolba · Sep 6, 2017

Someone on here posted a while back how he hated the Americanisms creeping into English usage.
I just found an interesting article on the subject.
How do you feel about this? What Americanisms do you like or hate and which ones do you use often?
How Americanisms are killing the English language

fernandopartridge · Sep 6, 2017

There is no such thing as 'American English'. There is English and there is misspelling.

vow · Sep 6, 2017

Gazolba said:
Someone on here posted a while back how he hated the Americanisms creeping into English usage.
I just found an interesting article on the subject.
How do you feel about this? What Americanisms do you like or hate and which ones do you use often?
How Americanisms are killing the English language

The whole abbreviation thing has gotten out of control a bit, SHFWF is fun but other shortened words/abbreviation tend to annoy me a little. Like this in the linked piece:
"ATM is a boring but brief alternative to the British cash point, cash machine and hole in the wall"

Gazolba · Sep 6, 2017

fernandopartridge said:
There is no such thing as 'American English'. There is English and there is misspelling.

Well my computer (and yours I'm sure) has settings for British English and American English and the spell and grammar check are completely different.
And if you ever move to the USA and use British spellings, you'll be brought to task pretty quickly.

Sick Boy · Sep 6, 2017

I think I mentioned it before.

The worst one is 'can I get'.

vow · Sep 6, 2017

Sick Boy said:
I think I mentioned it before.

The worst one is 'can I get'.

Hmmm, is "may I get" ok? as I sometimes say that .

Edit: I actually say "May I have" tbf.

singers_pore · Sep 7, 2017

I posted this on my FB page and it got a lot of likes from most of my friends but it got zero likes from my American friends. (I've been working in California for the past two years.) Yanks have a very limited sense of humour, I find.

To the citizens of the United States of America from Her Sovereign Majesty Queen... Elizabeth II:
October 15, 2011 at 11:32am
To the citizens of the United States of America from Her Sovereign Majesty Queen... Elizabeth II:

( Not meant for those lacking a sense of humor, and or those that refuse to read a note in its entirety before making a comment)

In light of your immediate failure to financially manage yourselves and also in recent years your tendency to elect incompetent Presidents of the USA and therefore not able to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective immediately. (You should look up 'revocation' in the Oxford English Dictionary.)

Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths, and territories (except Kansas , which she does not fancy).

Your new Prime Minister, David Cameron, will appoint a Governor for America without the need for further elections.

Congress and the Senate will be disbanded. A questionnaire may be circulated sometime next year to determine whether any of you noticed.

To aid in the transition to a British Crown dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect:

1. The letter 'U' will be reinstated in words such as 'colour,' 'favour,' 'labour' and 'neighbour.' Likewise, you will learn to spell 'doughnut' without skipping half the letters, and the suffix '-ize' will be replaced by the suffix '-ise.'Generally, you will be expected to raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels. (look up 'vocabulary'). (I love that one)

2. Using the same twenty-seven words interspersed with filler noises such as ''like' and 'you know' is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication. There is no such thing as U.S. English. We will let Microsoft know on your behalf. The Microsoft spell-checker will be adjusted to take into account the reinstated letter 'u'' and the elimination of '-ize.' ' (I love that one too)

3. July 4th will no longer be celebrated as a holiday.

4. You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns, lawyers, or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers and therapists shows that you're not quite ready to be independent. Guns should only be used for shooting grouse. If you can't sort things out without suing someone or speaking to a therapist, then you're not ready to shoot grouse.

5. Therefore, you will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything more dangerous than a vegetable peeler. Although a permit will be required if you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.

6. All intersections will be replaced with roundabouts, and you will start driving on the left side with immediate effect. At the same time, you will go metric with immediate effect and without the benefit of conversion tables. Both roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the British sense of humour.

7. The former USA will adopt UK prices on petrol (which you have been calling gasoline) of roughly $10/US gallon. Get used to it.)

8.You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call French fries are not real chips, and those things you insist on calling potato chips are properly called crisps. Real chips are thick cut, fried in animal fat, and dressed not with catsup but with vinegar.

9. The cold, tasteless stuff you insist on calling beer is not actually beer at all. Henceforth, only proper British Bitter will be referred to as beer, and European brews of known and accepted provenance will be referred to as Lager. New Zealand beer is also acceptable, as New Zealand is pound for pound the greatest sporting nation on earth and it can only be due to the beer. They are also part of the British Commonwealth - see what it did for them. American brands will be referred to as Near-Frozen Gnat's Urine, so that all can be sold without risk of further confusion.

10. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as good guys. Hollywood will also be required to cast English actors to play English characters. Watching Andie Macdowell attempt English dialogue in Four Weddings and a Funeral was an experience akin to having one's ears removed with a cheese grater.

11. You will cease playing American football. There are only two kinds of proper football; one you call soccer, and rugby (dominated by the New Zealanders). Those of you brave enough will, in time, be allowed to play rugby (which has some similarities to American football, but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full kevlar body armour like a bunch of nancies).

12. Further, you will stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to host an event called the World Series for a game which is not played outside of America . Since only 2.1% of you are aware there is a world beyond your borders, your error is understandable. You will learn cricket, and we will let you face the Australians (World dominators) first to take the sting out of their deliveries.

13. You must tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us mad.

14. An internal revenue agent (i.e. tax collector) from Her Majesty's Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all monies due (backdated to 1776).

15. Daily Tea Time begins promptly at 4 p.m. with proper cups, with saucers, and never mugs, with high quality biscuits (cookies) and cakes; plus strawberries (with cream) when in season.

God Save the Queen!

Liquid Gold · Sep 7, 2017

I caught myself saying A to Z with the American pronunciation of Z the other day. I was not pleased.

Otis · Sep 7, 2017

singers_pore said:
I posted this on my FB page and it got a lot of likes from most of my friends but it got zero likes from my American friends. (I've been working in California for the past two years.) Yanks have a very limited sense of humour, I find.

To the citizens of the United States of America from Her Sovereign Majesty Queen... Elizabeth II:
October 15, 2011 at 11:32am
To the citizens of the United States of America from Her Sovereign Majesty Queen... Elizabeth II:

( Not meant for those lacking a sense of humor, and or those that refuse to read a note in its entirety before making a comment)

In light of your immediate failure to financially manage yourselves and also in recent years your tendency to elect incompetent Presidents of the USA and therefore not able to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective immediately. (You should look up 'revocation' in the Oxford English Dictionary.)

Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths, and territories (except Kansas , which she does not fancy).

Your new Prime Minister, David Cameron, will appoint a Governor for America without the need for further elections.

Congress and the Senate will be disbanded. A questionnaire may be circulated sometime next year to determine whether any of you noticed.

To aid in the transition to a British Crown dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect:

1. The letter 'U' will be reinstated in words such as 'colour,' 'favour,' 'labour' and 'neighbour.' Likewise, you will learn to spell 'doughnut' without skipping half the letters, and the suffix '-ize' will be replaced by the suffix '-ise.'Generally, you will be expected to raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels. (look up 'vocabulary'). (I love that one)

2. Using the same twenty-seven words interspersed with filler noises such as ''like' and 'you know' is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication. There is no such thing as U.S. English. We will let Microsoft know on your behalf. The Microsoft spell-checker will be adjusted to take into account the reinstated letter 'u'' and the elimination of '-ize.' ' (I love that one too)

3. July 4th will no longer be celebrated as a holiday.

4. You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns, lawyers, or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers and therapists shows that you're not quite ready to be independent. Guns should only be used for shooting grouse. If you can't sort things out without suing someone or speaking to a therapist, then you're not ready to shoot grouse.

5. Therefore, you will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything more dangerous than a vegetable peeler. Although a permit will be required if you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.

6. All intersections will be replaced with roundabouts, and you will start driving on the left side with immediate effect. At the same time, you will go metric with immediate effect and without the benefit of conversion tables. Both roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the British sense of humour.

7. The former USA will adopt UK prices on petrol (which you have been calling gasoline) of roughly $10/US gallon. Get used to it.)

8.You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call French fries are not real chips, and those things you insist on calling potato chips are properly called crisps. Real chips are thick cut, fried in animal fat, and dressed not with catsup but with vinegar.

9. The cold, tasteless stuff you insist on calling beer is not actually beer at all. Henceforth, only proper British Bitter will be referred to as beer, and European brews of known and accepted provenance will be referred to as Lager. New Zealand beer is also acceptable, as New Zealand is pound for pound the greatest sporting nation on earth and it can only be due to the beer. They are also part of the British Commonwealth - see what it did for them. American brands will be referred to as Near-Frozen Gnat's Urine, so that all can be sold without risk of further confusion.

10. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as good guys. Hollywood will also be required to cast English actors to play English characters. Watching Andie Macdowell attempt English dialogue in Four Weddings and a Funeral was an experience akin to having one's ears removed with a cheese grater.

11. You will cease playing American football. There are only two kinds of proper football; one you call soccer, and rugby (dominated by the New Zealanders). Those of you brave enough will, in time, be allowed to play rugby (which has some similarities to American football, but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full kevlar body armour like a bunch of nancies).

12. Further, you will stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to host an event called the World Series for a game which is not played outside of America . Since only 2.1% of you are aware there is a world beyond your borders, your error is understandable. You will learn cricket, and we will let you face the Australians (World dominators) first to take the sting out of their deliveries.

13. You must tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us mad.

14. An internal revenue agent (i.e. tax collector) from Her Majesty's Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all monies due (backdated to 1776).

15. Daily Tea Time begins promptly at 4 p.m. with proper cups, with saucers, and never mugs, with high quality biscuits (cookies) and cakes; plus strawberries (with cream) when in season.

God Save the Queen!

Not wishing to poke the hornets nest here, but color actually makes more sense than colour, favor too and it would be so much easier to learn for children, especially dyslexics, who more often than not would indeed plump for color in a spelling test. Rumor, honor, behavior etc. make perfect sense I would say.

Now excuse me while I go polish my fender and then scoop up the dog crap off my sidewalk.

ajsccfc · Sep 7, 2017

I find it hard to be bothered by Americanisms, particularly when English people can't agree amongst themselves what to call a batch or when dinner is.

Otis · Sep 7, 2017

ajsccfc said:
I find it hard to be bothered by Americanisms, particularly when English people can't agree amongst themselves what to call a batch or when dinner is.

You call a batch a batch and it's at 6.45pm.

ajsccfc · Sep 7, 2017

Some people have dinner during the day and think tea is anything but a drink, I think nuclear war may be the only option for humanity to be honest.

smouch1975 · Sep 7, 2017

I'm not enjoying the

'I'll go right ahead'

Sent from my SM-N915G using Tapatalk

Malaka · Sep 7, 2017

Ve Here Cul instead of vehicle

xcraigx · Sep 7, 2017

Aloominum. No, it's aluminium.

Otis · Sep 7, 2017

xcraigx said:
Aloominum. No, it's aluminium.

Same as tomato and tomato and oregano and oregano.

clint van damme · Sep 7, 2017

someone told me, and I've no idea if it's true that a lot of the 'American' spellings are actually the way we used to spell them and our spellings have become mixed with other languages.
For example color is the original and colour has the additional U because of dilution with French. As I say, just what someone told me, it may be bollocks.

oscillatewildly · Sep 8, 2017

clint van damme said:
someone told me, and I've no idea if it's true that a lot of the 'American' spellings are actually the way we used to spell them and our spellings have become mixed with other languages.
For example color is the original and colour has the additional U because of dilution with French. As I say, just what someone told me, it may be bollocks.

Or just a bunch of horse crap?

fernandopartridge · Sep 8, 2017

oscillatewildly said:
Or just a bunch of horse crap?

A bunch of arse

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

singers_pore · Sep 8, 2017

"It's all bottoms with you people isn't it" - Basil Fawlty

Ranjit Bhurpa · Sep 8, 2017

A few years back, Jane Fonda was in the UK promoting her fitness workout program(me).
The former Mrs Bhurpa, a humble Northern lass attended one of the promotional events at a club in Preston along with a couple of hundred leotard-clad females. She reported that when Ms. Fonda opened up with 'OK ladies, hands on thighs, all of the women put their hands over their eyes.

wingy · Sep 8, 2017

Two sporting related perennials for me.
Off season and Overtime.

Gazolba · Sep 9, 2017

clint van damme said:
someone told me, and I've no idea if it's true that a lot of the 'American' spellings are actually the way we used to spell them and our spellings have become mixed with other languages.
For example color is the original and colour has the additional U because of dilution with French. As I say, just what someone told me, it may be bollocks.

It's true. Read Bill Bryson's "The Story of English".
I'm not sure about your particular example, but it's true with lots of supposed 'Americanisms'.

Gazolba · Sep 9, 2017

Otis said:
Same as tomato and tomato and oregano and oregano.

Well no, your examples are spelt (spelled in USA) the same but pronounced differently. The aluminum/aluminium example is spelt different.

Gazolba · Sep 9, 2017

Otis said:
Not wishing to poke the hornets nest here, but color actually makes more sense than colour, favor too and it would be so much easier to learn for children, especially dyslexics, who more often than not would indeed plump for color in a spelling test. Rumor, honor, behavior etc. make perfect sense I would say.

<snip>.

What about Centre and Center and Theatre and Theater, they make more sense too (unless you use a French pronunciation).

Otis · Sep 9, 2017

Gazolba said:
What about Centre and Center and Theatre and Theater, they make more sense too (unless you use a French pronunciation).

Yep, agree.

I bet you ask any young child how they believe centre would be spelled and without my previous knowledge they would surely go for center rather than centre.

Makes perfect sense and I DO think we should change some words so they make more sense and are therefore easier to learn.

Obviously in some places down south in the UK you would have to change the spelling of water to war ah.

Apparently a number of children down south do indeed miss out the T when spelling water, because all theyr hear every day is war ah.

chiefdave · Sep 9, 2017

Its Lego not Legos you stupid Americans.

singers_pore · Sep 9, 2017

chiefdave said:
Its Lego not Legos you stupid Americans.

Has Simon confirmed that?

Gazolba · Sep 9, 2017

chiefdave said:
Its Lego not Legos you stupid Americans.

There's a trend in the USA, don't know if it afflicts the UK too, of calling pants 'a pant' or trousers 'a trouser'.

British vs American English (1 Viewer)

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