[Closed] Misuse of Language/Creeping Americanisms.

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.

I think I prefer my interpretation tbh. 😐

So sad, the aasumption that change is inevitable, good or not to be challenged.
Anyway what p**** me off is the use of Sea Bass on menus.
We don't have fresh water Bass so all are sea bass.
Also can you fry any other way but in a pan? So why "pan fried"?

And not only that, right, but you get diffrunt sorts of payns;

Saucepayns, Frying payns, erm, woks...

Monetize

It's quite an old word really, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, and means to express in the form of currency.

late 19th century: from French monétiser, from Latin moneta 'money'

It's not an Americanism.

I think I prefer my interpretation tbh

I am not a religious man but i wish to god it was a photoshop filter like what you have suggested.

Sadly we are not that lucky.

jon1973 - Member

Monetize

It's quite an old word really, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, and means to express in the form of currency.

late 19th century: from French monétiser, from Latin moneta 'money'

It's not an Americanism.

Is it just that spelling it with a Zee 😡 makes it look like one?

Thanks for that Jon. Still bugs though.

Is it just that spelling it with a Zee makes it look like one?

It's not just an American thing, it's words with Latin roots that use the z. The Americans have just retained it more that other English speaking countries. English is such a mix of different languages, you're bound to get variations. It is just evolution - you can't dictate how people use the language, cos it's a living thing really.

We'll all b using txt spk in 20 yrs time. imho.

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 [b]spelt[/b] differently for no discernible reason?

I quite like that as an explanation. 😀

Words are only spelt as they are cos someone wrote them down like that once. And then other people agreed that maybe a particular word should be [b]spelt[/b] like that. And how many words are actually diffrunt to their original spelling?

Take the word 'home', frinstance. Now Sottish folk will know that this word can be pronounced 'hyem'. Many actually do. That's because it's originally a Norse word, [i]hjem[/i], what's bin corrupted over time to become 'home'. Lots of things were probbly [b]spelt[/b] diffrunt to dissacociate them from the culture from whence they came. Certainly, a lot of English words were 'Frenchified' by ponces wanting to look all posh an ting. And some poncy types still use French words to try to appear posh, dun't they? 😉

Language is a marvellous, organic, [i]living[/i] thing. Embrace it, don't be frightened of it...

We'll all b using txt spk in 20 yrs time. imho.

Not whilst I've got a hole in my arse we won't.