[Closed] Misuse of Language/Creeping Americanisms.

"are" is not a suitable substitute for "our" as which side of the pond you're on. You're confusing Americanisms with illiteracy.

Sorry, but it's the nature of language to change and alter and adopt over time. I suggest that you just get used to the fact. Americans were bitching about creeping 'englishisms' entering their language in the 18thC, according to Bill Bryson.
Or maybe you want to be like the French, and pass useless laws to keep English 'pure'?

Enough already!

And what use is the word "gotten"...?

Arse only for the Celts among us please, don't want any English using it, just doesn't sound correct.

Misuse of punctuation is a far greater crime.

And what use is the word "gotten"...?

Short for forgotten obv.

it'll always be marathon not snickers

Americanisms are inevitable. My nephews and nieces (in or around 10 years old) all use words like side-walk and elevator. It's being bombarded by American TV / culture all the time. It's not a new thing, it's been happening for decades.

My youngest son says 'like' more than once in each sentence. I despair.

Not as bad as 'swap out'......so horrible 🙁

America kept some original english spellings to maintain their englishness. They also produced a dictionary with standard spellings as for a long time there was often not a defined spelling.

It's us that's evolving the language and couldn't make our minds up.

I get hacked off with the amount of Greek and Latin that's crept in over the years!!!
Change and development, who the freakin' hell wants it?

I cringe every time I hear french words creeping in.. bidon, chapeaux, bolleaux et cetera

merde, sacrebleu!!

Mange tout, iDave, mange tout.

^ or when people type in what I understand to be an approximation of Scotch. Disney Ken this and canny doo that. It's a little bit peculiar, to say the least.

iDave is a French word if I remember correctly.. and diet certainly is..

Sorry, but it's the nature of language to change and alter and adopt over time

[u]chinese[/u] burns.. there's another one..

And what use is the word "gotten"...?

It's primary usage is to annoy pedantic British people. (It annoys the carp out of me.) See also "draw" instead of "drawer."

Americanisms are inevitable.

Not at all, I expect Chineseism to start finding it's way into our vocabulary, as US global influence continues to diminish.

And since Brazil became a wealthier country than Britain this weekend, I expect a future for Portuguese words too.

By 2099 Americanism will be so last century, and no doubt the basis of much old fogie ridicule.

Jefferson's draft of the Declaration [of Independence] contains several spellings and usages that strike us today [...] as irregular. For one thing, Jefferson always wrote it's for the possessive form of it, a practice that looks decidedly illiterate today. In fact, there was some logic to it. As a possessive form, the argument went, its required an apostrophe in precisely the same way as did words like children's or men's. Others contended, however, that in certain common words like ours and yours it was customary to dispense with the apostrophe, and that its belonged to this camp. By about 1815, the non-apostrophists had their way almost everywhere, but in 1776 it was a fine point, and one to which Jefferson clearly did not subscribe. [Bryson's ref: William Saffire, Coming to terms, Doubleday, 1991, p. 140]
[Chapter 3, A 'Democratical Phrenzy': America in the Age of Revolution, p. 53]

David Simpson observers in The Politics of American English [OUP, 1986, p. 23]: "Except for Samuel Johnson, no one in 1776, on either side of the ocean, seems to show much concern for a standard spelling practice."
[...] To begin with, such a statement contains the implied conceit that modern English is today somehow uniform in its spellings, which is far from true. In 1972 a scholar named Lee C. Deighton undertook the considerable task of comparing the spellings of every word in four leading American dictionaries and found there are no fewer than 1,770 common words in modern English in which there is no general agreement on the preferred spelling. [...] The dictionaries are equally - we might fairly say hopelessly - split on whether to write discussible or discussable, eyeopener, eye opener or, eye-opener, dumfound or, dumbfound, gladiolus (for the plural), gladioli or, gladioluses, gobbledegook or, gobbledygook, licenceable or, licensable, and many hundreds of others. The champion of orthographic uncertainty appears to be panatela, which can also pass muster as panatella, panetela or panetella.

[Chapter 3, A 'Democratical Phrenzy': America in the Age of Revolution, p. 53-54]

I hate the americanisations - especially fire road and switchback as used by mountinabikers.
We do not have fire roads in the UK. A switchback goes up and down - its not s set of zig zags.

However we do have a lot of Indian words. Bungalow, veranda, khazi, Pyjamas
[url=

you its suprising what is indian[/url]
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Santa claus is indian[/url]

Anyways it's not arse, it's erse, alright.

And scxc, disney ken? Talk about/aboot creeping americanisms!

An is isnae scotch ye numpty, it's scot-ish (with obligatory glottlestop). 😀

especially fire road and switchback

Wow, really? Only you've never mentioned them before. 😛

A switchback goes up and down - its not s set of zig zags.

Actually it means both of those in English, the former probably being an Anglisiation of an American term.

The OED lists the zig-zag version first -

[i]a. Applied to a form of railway used on steep slopes, consisting of a zigzag series of lines connected by switches, at each of which the train or car is ‘switched back’ or reversed in direction. Also fig. and in extended transf. uses.[/i]

Probably an Indian word anyway

I always thought that "gotten" was a past tense of the verb "to get" that we lazy English had stopped using, while the US English continues to use that, and many other, old-english words that we have long since forgotten.

Remember, when the American colonies seceded from the Empire, they were isolated pretty much from "the rest of the world", while our version of the language continued to evolve as the empire continued to expand.

Why complain about "creeping Americanisms" when what you're referring to is probably more like "creeping old-englishisms"?

anyway, if you want to hear old english dialects, come to Barnsley, they're alive & well 😉

having said that, though, it was very strange hearing my 6yo Geordie niece singing in an American accent 😯

The one I really hate now is saying "Can I get?" Instead of "May I have?"

When I'm in a cafe and the person in front of me says "Can I get a cappuccino?" I just want to hurt someone.

Has anyone yet said that those are examples not of the misuse of language, but rather of its evolution?

Ah, thought so.

and also "swap out' / "change out"

what's all that about?

Indian words........khazi

Khazi isn't an Indian word - I'm fairly sure most Indians wouldn't understand if you used it. It's a Polari/London word which used to be spelt "carsey". The more recent spelling makes it look Indian. Many Polari words originate from Yiddish, Romany, and Italian, it's probably Italian - whore house/casa and was corrupted to carsey. As "vin blanc" was corrupted to plonk.......as in "cheap plonk".

Well there you go Ernie - every day is a school day.

I suppose yo are going to tell me the queen isn't indian either?

Course she is, think about it........

The Amercanisation through the introduction of new vocabularby doesn't bother me as long as we recognise that bonnet is British and hood is American, etc.
getting used to american grammar is a little more difficult to get my head round, particularly the lack of present perfect in the USA, but, but I am equally appalled by the mistakes made and poor usage of British grammar by Brits, the present perfect doesn't require a finished time reference, e.g. [i]I have been to the shops this morning[/i] is incorrect. I [i]went[/i] or I [i]have been to the shops.[/i]
My second gripe is the change in pronunciation that I'm hearing and can't work out if it's me or not. There appears to be a move to change the stress in certain words, you know, récord (noun) or recórd (verb), I'm starting to hear verbs being said with the stess on the first syllable, when it is clearly a verb, e.g. I am [i]récording[/i] the TV show as we speak.

An breathe....

😀

Anybody gift anything over the holidays? I'm conflicted on this. It's likely a done deal.

Swap out/change out/ride out this needs to be stopped.

^ or when people type in what I understand to be an approximation of Scotch. Disney Ken this and canny doo that. It's a little bit peculiar, to say the least.

this, in relation to faux-cockney speak on STW.

*yawn*

Hey limeys you realize you don't have an empire any more, right? What a sad state of affairs for you guys, Europe hates you, us "septics" don't consider you to be relevant, the best thing you can do right now is become the 51st state 🙂 USA USA etc 🙂

the change in pronunciation that I'm hearing and can't work out if it's me or not.

Not sure as I've come across that. Maybe it's a regional thing?

the best thing you can do right now is become the 51st state

You're right, apart from the order. We were the first state out of the 51, sunshine.

this, in relation to faux-cockney speak on STW.

In fairness to the 'faux cockney', he does actually talk like that in real life too.

I am also guilty of including the odd burst of my 'other' language on here, but largely I avoid typing English in a/my westcountry accent.

My youngest son says 'like' more than once in each sentence. I despair.

us "septics" don't consider you to be relevant

's OK - soon, neither will you be. We can be joint in our international insignificance when the Chinese empire v2.0 gets rolled out...

Hey limeys you realize you don't have an empire any more, right?

And you realise that the US is in irreversible decline, don't you ? The Yanks have lost their empire in Latin America, are in the process of losing/screwing up the Middle East part of their empire, and as for not being liked, well few countries come close, in fact the US is in a league all of it's own.

51st state ? You're having a laugh. I doubt whether there will be one country of 50 states in North American in 50 years time. United only in name - not many countries are as polarised and divided as the United States.

Only 38% of Americans say their president was definitely was born in the USA. And more than half of Americans think that the president of the so-called 'greatest capitalist nation on earth' is a socialist. I know of no other country were their exists simular contradictions.

Add to that the fact that the irreversible decline which the US is experiencing is going to further accentuate the huge economic divisions which exist between states, and the uniquely American phenomenon of deep distrust/hatred of central government, and I think it's safe to say that it is merely a question of time before the US disintegrates into several small countries with varying degrees wealth and power. I give it 50-100 years. In 40 years time China will be the wealthiest nation on Earth, that will be significant.

The United States is now exactly where Great Britain was in 1914. It's tough being a former great power, but the yanks will get used to it.

Too easy

The United States is now exactly where Great Britain was in 1914. It's tough being a former great power, but the yanks will get used to it.

I've been saying a similar sort of thing for a while now.. it's a shame they're not feeling a bit more 1945 though..

Too easy

I couldn't have done it without you.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity 8)

Im not keen on my 8yr old daughter using words like garbage, cookie, elavator. But it doesnt grate as much as colleagues turning sentences into short statments that rise in tone towards the end .

Must be getting old as well as fat!

[i] this, in relation to faux-cockney speak on STW.

In fairness to the 'faux cockney', he does actually talk like that in real life too. [/i]

I like elfin's insistance of using the word 'bin' rather than 'been'. Has anyone pulled him up on it yet? Hope not.

In fairness to the 'faux cockney', he does actually talk like that in real life too.

I like elfin's insistance of using the word 'bin' rather than 'been'. Has anyone pulled him up on it yet? Hope not.

+1

I speak like a bumpkin that's been sniffing glue for the last 30 years instead of farming..

I think it's nice that we don't all feel like we have to type in the voice of a 1970s newsreader..

I know it's all part of evolving language and that, but Americanisms still do my head right in.

Blatant misuse of language/ just being thick is worse though.

'Hence why' makes me die a bit every time I hear anyone say it.

If i stood in a queue in a shop up here in the highlands and said "may i have" instead of what i would say myself.. "can i get" (or can i have)Folk around me would probably take a look at me. Unless of course they were from around your area.

The "can i get" also sounds like "cannaget" in my language/accent ;O)

If you stopped off in Glasgow it would be something like "maya hae" if you wanted to humour it ;O)

I've heard 'hood' and 'trunk' used recently 😯

Privacy, tomato, oregano are another story.............................

Surrounded by zulus - nice name by the way(fowsands of 'em).

Get a life, dude. There is more important things to discuss, like what tire for this, what singlespeed ratio for that, ect.

Don't have a cow!

I could care less about Americanisms.

I like elfin's insistance of using the word 'bin' rather than 'been'. Has anyone pulled him up on it yet? Hope not.

fair enough. i can't see the point in putting in the effort to type every word differently cos i want to be different... its not like anyone doesn't know where he comes from 🙄

i can't see the point in putting in the effort to type every word

that's alright.. some people can't see the point of putting in effort to type any words at all..

I want to be different... its not like anyone doesn't know

that's alright too.. if no one had ever wanted to be different we'd still all be flopping around on the shoreline..

boriselbrus - Member

The one I really hate now is saying "Can I get?" Instead of "May I have?"

When I'm in a cafe and the person in front of me says "Can I get a cappuccino?" I just want to hurt someone.

Really, out of all the americanisms and misuse of the english language used every day this annoys you the most. 😀 chortle

Anyone who using any form of foreign word in English should wash their mouth out with soap. 😀

now, now drac.... somewhere there's somebody with a split head needing a plaster. most likely they're drunk.

has anyone pointed out sbz's latin/french origin words yet?

strangely, when it comes to sbz and this type of post, the word fud springs to mind. i can't think why...

Some of you need to drink less coffee 😉

Who cares how other people talk, I use " can I get/ can I have" all the time. So what!

martinxyz - Member

If i stood in a queue in a shop up here in the highlands and said "may i have" instead of what i would say myself.. "can i get" (or can i have)Folk around me would probably take a look at me. Unless of course they were from around your area.

The "can i get" also sounds like "cannaget" in my language/accent ;O)

If you stopped off in Glasgow it would be something like "maya hae" if you wanted to humour it ;O)

If you stopped off in Glasgow and said "maya hae" they might wonder if you were one of those pan-pipe playing Peruvian buskers from Sauchiehall Street.

In Glasgwegian it would be "gonnae gie's", a corruption/truncation of "Going to give us?" Which is all kinds of wrong, gramatically speaking, but that's how they roll.

The verbal tic currently grinding my gears the most isn't an Americanism, it's a poshism that seems to have trickled down through the lower orders.

"Thank you [b]SO MUCH[/b]!!!"

The level of gratitude conveyed in the emphasis generally suggests that the thankee had just rescued the thanker's entire family from a burning building, rather than given them the change for the coffee they've just bought. It's such an obvious affectation, and it sounds so wrong in the mouths of so many.

I guess that's what happens when you elect an Etonian as Prime Minister and give airtime to programmes like Made In Chelsea.

"Thank you SO MUCH!!!"

my other half worked front of house in the grovelliest sector of the catering industry for many years..

as a consequence she has sub-consciously picked up so many of these simpering platitudes that I feel almost compelled to keep a ready supply of halfbricks to launch at her every time they start snidely oozing out of her mouth..

the frequency of use increases dramatically when she has her phone voice on and especially when dealing with customers.. I'm fairly sure that she must lose custom as a direct result and I'm 100% certain that her habit has given me ulcers and piles..

grovelliest

That's my word of the week.

That's my word of the week.

a yunkiism for your delectation.. 🙂

Even CMD is at it, using the phrase 'Game changer' in an interview. I for one cringed.

Even CMD is at it, using the phrase 'Game changer' in an interview. I for one cringed.

Call Me Dave. A well-used STW acronym for Cameron.

CMD. Whilst I thought it was about Cameron, I guessed it was short for **** of Mass Destruction.

i thought that was DC?

My personal inverse-favourite is "Leverage" used in the non-application of force to a pivot via a lever context. Grrrrr.

Monetize and Utilize are pulling our pubes at the moment.

I like elfin's insistance of using the word 'bin' rather than 'been'. Has anyone pulled him up on it yet? Hope not.

fair enough. i can't see the point in putting in the effort to type every word differently cos i want to be different... its not like anyone doesn't know where he comes from

Why does anyone think my Elfinisms are in any way 'colloquial'? There are a few, like 'cah' and 'vayn', but so what? I also use words like 'owt', which is a Northern thing. Loads onhere use regional colloquialisms, what's the problem?

And how on Earth can anyone get offended and all worked up over it?? Why does it bother some people so much? I just don't get that.

Some of you need to drink less coffee

Once again, Emsz is right. Chill out...

It really does not in any way matter how people type as long as you understand them, surely?

Call Me Dave. A well-used STW acronym for Cameron.

Monetize

I genuinely don't get what that one means.

What [i]does[/i] it mean?

Here's my interpretation, through the medium of French Impressionist painting:

[img] [/img]

[img] [/img]

I hope you like it.

Yunki - ulcers and piles?

You've got Pulcers.

That helps although i think it refers to people trying to make money out of something that is in effect hard to make money from.

Like Twitter or similar... or free flash games maybe.

what's the problem?

I genuinely find it distracting and awkward to read. It trips up the eye and breaks the flow of what you're saying; it's like watching a period drama and seeing a pocket calculator in the background, your brain goes "wait, what?" for a moment.

It might just be me, I don't know. I don't have the same problem with regionalisms generally, 'owt' and 'wee' and suchlike, perhaps because they're words in their own right rather than regular words spelt differently for no discernible reason?

I don't think it's specifically the London twang either; it's the difference between me typing "have you got owt for tea?" and "asti gorrowt fer tay?"

I think, anyway.