50 Americanisms That Brits Apparently Hate

[Vidi Kitty]

My 2:

That Americans call things by state and not Country. 'Where are you from?' 'Oklahoma' 'Oh is that in Africa?' '...' What do you expect? Everyone else says country, why can't you? You can instantly tell a website is American if you see this, especially places like wikipedia where it'll list countries and then American states -_-.

The second is that Americans don't even understand what lag or ping are and it frustrates me to have to tell them that when you live in another country that the host is at fault for your poor latency when you use 20Mb/s or above and they use 512Kb/s... but hey, it's my fault because my bar is red durrrr

Anyway, parts of the list seem like major overreactions.

The lat/ping issue isn't an American thing, its a technology thing. Some people don't know or just don't get that electricity, signals, etc., take time to get from them to the server and back to them.

And I am guilty of the first piece here, though when it comes to some states, they feel like a completely different country.

 

[Versuvius]

The chips vs fries and chips vs crisps thing irritates me to no end. Damn Americans can't even get that right.

Nobody is getting anything wrong, they're just differences. Why can't people understand that differences between English dialects (or any language) aren't good or bad?

I refer you back to an earlier quote of the Queen. "Dear Mr. Jobs: There's no such thing as 'american english', just english.... and mistakes"

I refer you back to the post I made before this. Language evolves, it doesn't devolve, that's would make no sense, is the English of the 13th century wrong? Which "version" of English is best? No version is the best, and here we can back to the word "different".

Because America is bastardising the language in illogical ways. Should it not be up to ENGLAND (And possibly the british isles if they want to join in) to evolve the language? Not colonists who didn't like our taxes and dumped tea in the ocean? I mean the Boston Tea Party by law means that the US has no right to actually evolve a language they just borrowed because lets face it, it is the best.

 

[Musashi inc]

Okay I have to complain now. I once worked at a French/English bistro/cafe as a server. On one occasion an English woman came to the food counter and asked for a slice of rhubarb pie, with cream. Now I serve coffee & tea. So when some one says to me "cream" the first thing I think of is liquid cream that you would put in coffee or tea. So I'm slightly confused by her request. I ask her "Would you like that on the side?" she replies "Oh no dear, put it right on top!" .
Just then my chef makes a timely intervention to clear up the misunderstanding, he turns around and says (with a thick French accent) "She wants whipping cream!" and I was like...OH. Well that makes considerably more sense. There is a fairly big difference between cream and whipped cream, at least that I have always known. To agree with many who mentioned it before, never in my life have I heard any one say "deplane".
Also chef made a point of saying, when the lady was only like 5 feet away. "Stupid British, don't know how to speak English!"

 

[BumblebeeEU]

I would just like to point out that I don't think this article is saying 'AMERICANS SAYS THINGS STUPID.' It's more the saturation of Americanisms into British speech that is annoying. The article isn't meant to be sent to Americans so they can see how stupid they are and that they should change their speech patterns it's more about the amount of American culture that infiltrates British media. While the article did take a ridiculous tack (like Math and Maths, who cares really?) It can get annoying when people give up their traditional dialects and colloquialisms so they can speak like the people on Friends or Will & Grace.

I've been to America quite a few times and (if you haven't guessed already am British) and you guys are just as guilty of making fun of our speech patterns as we are yours.

Basically my point is this isn't insulting the way you speak more getting annoyed at the saturation of American culture in British media. Then again we're all being controlled by an Australian, damn you Rupert Murdoch!

 

[BloodSquirrel]

I was laughing at first, but reading 50 english people ***** about stupid things really puts me on edge

*watches new skyward sword trailer*

All better

I do have a distain for buzzwords. Such as "ahead of the curve". What. Fucking. Curve?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaussian_function

 

[megamanenm]

The chips vs fries and chips vs crisps thing irritates me to no end. Damn Americans can't even get that right.

Nobody is getting anything wrong, they're just differences. Why can't people understand that differences between English dialects (or any language) aren't good or bad?

I refer you back to an earlier quote of the Queen. "Dear Mr. Jobs: There's no such thing as 'american english', just english.... and mistakes"

I refer you back to the post I made before this. Language evolves, it doesn't devolve, that's would make no sense, is the English of the 13th century wrong? Which "version" of English is best? No version is the best, and here we can back to the word "different".

Because America is bastardising the language in illogical ways. Should it not be up to ENGLAND (And possibly the british isles if they want to join in) to evolve the language? Not colonists who didn't like our taxes and dumped tea in the ocean? I mean the Boston Tea Party by law means that the US has no right to actually evolve a language they just borrowed because lets face it, it is the best.

... wow. I really hope you're trolling here. Do you think that people sit around a table and decide how language evolves or something? Of course not, it just happens. When a group of people split off, they evolve their languages in different ways, this is how dialects arise. It happens to Dutch (Afrikaans) and it happened to Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese for example). And grammaticality isn't based on "logic" in any language, if you want logic then use math, if you want to communicate then use language.

 

[Slash12]

4. Using 24/7 rather than "24 hours, 7 days a week" or even just plain "all day, every day". Simon Ball, Worcester

Oh fuck off, im a brit, 24/7 is fin, much quicker than 24 hours, 7 days a week.

Christ what happened to the British stiff upper lip. Its a fucking word. Allthough the way some things are pronounced annnoy me, and deplane is jsut fucking stupid. But 24/7 is nothing.

To be fair, I'm from the US and I've never heard the word "Deplane" until now.

There were also a few other phrases that I have never head before, and some of those complaints just didn't make any sense at all. I don't really understand why they have a problem with "Shopping cart" or "Train station" or "Expiration date" or "Period" and so on and so on and so on......

 

[A Free Man]

Oh my God, really? You know what I hate? People who get all worked up over completely insignificant things like slight changes in speach. In my opinion proper english is completely redundant. The point of language is to communicate thoughts between people, if what is being said is understood by the general population then it works. Why does it even matter if it isn't exactly what is written in the dictionary?

It matters when what you are saying means something completely different then what you actualyl meant. Which is the case in many of things mentioned on the list. Besides that if you are going to speak the English language then speak the dam language instead of butchering it.

Perhaps it means something totally different to you, but the vast majority of people in America (or in the smaller social circles of those who actually use the terms) would know exactly what they are saying. But that's just it isn't it. The real issue. Which is why shouldn't people "butcher" the language. Every languange that is currently in spoken by a large group of people is derived from some other language, or more likely, multiple others. What makes English so great that people aren't allowed to change it? Perhaps a better thing to say is if you are going to go to America you should learn the few slight differences between their language and yours.

 

[rapidoud]

Maybe we should just all speak Drokthari to avoid any and all confusion (sorry, just had the first episode air in my country this week and trying DESPERATELY to not have it spoilt as I've been meaning to read the book for a few months).

 

[mental_looney]

Some are a bit derp but I hate " I could care less" it makes no sense just say I couln't care less if that's what you mean

 

[Michael K]

To all you people, I say ....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hJQsvoY6VU

and yes, I am dutch, smoke weed, and speak 5 languages.

 

[Versuvius]

The chips vs fries and chips vs crisps thing irritates me to no end. Damn Americans can't even get that right.

Nobody is getting anything wrong, they're just differences. Why can't people understand that differences between English dialects (or any language) aren't good or bad?

I refer you back to an earlier quote of the Queen. "Dear Mr. Jobs: There's no such thing as 'american english', just english.... and mistakes"

I refer you back to the post I made before this. Language evolves, it doesn't devolve, that's would make no sense, is the English of the 13th century wrong? Which "version" of English is best? No version is the best, and here we can back to the word "different".

Because America is bastardising the language in illogical ways. Should it not be up to ENGLAND (And possibly the british isles if they want to join in) to evolve the language? Not colonists who didn't like our taxes and dumped tea in the ocean? I mean the Boston Tea Party by law means that the US has no right to actually evolve a language they just borrowed because lets face it, it is the best.

... wow. I really hope you're trolling here. Do you think that people sit around a table and decide how language evolves or something? Of course not, it just happens. When a group of people split off, they evolve their languages in different ways, this is how dialects arise. It happens to Dutch (Afrikaans) and it happened to Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese for example). And grammaticality isn't based on "logic" in any language, if you want logic then use math, if you want to communicate then use language.

Its 50/50. Yes i believe language should evolve but i do find americanisms infuriating, coupled with the godawful, ear raping accents i feel im obliged to be opposed to this nonsense infiltrating the nation through wank US media. It should evolve. Just not from the US brand of change. I guess i just dont like the US

 

[snave]

I get pissed off at the phrase "Big Rig".

The one that annoys me the most however is the way Americans say Aluminium. THERE'S A SECOND "I" IN THERE YOU KNOW.

The problem here is not laziness so much that there's a semantic difference.

Bauxite is the ore, aluminum is a refined white powder derived from bauxite, which is then used to produce aluminium, the metal.

 

[Versuvius]

I get pissed off at the phrase "Big Rig".

The one that annoys me the most however is the way Americans say Aluminium. THERE'S A SECOND "I" IN THERE YOU KNOW.

snip

English: Aluminium / American: Aluminum. Get your hate the right way around >.>

 

[megamanenm]

The chips vs fries and chips vs crisps thing irritates me to no end. Damn Americans can't even get that right.

Nobody is getting anything wrong, they're just differences. Why can't people understand that differences between English dialects (or any language) aren't good or bad?

I refer you back to an earlier quote of the Queen. "Dear Mr. Jobs: There's no such thing as 'american english', just english.... and mistakes"

I refer you back to the post I made before this. Language evolves, it doesn't devolve, that's would make no sense, is the English of the 13th century wrong? Which "version" of English is best? No version is the best, and here we can back to the word "different".

Because America is bastardising the language in illogical ways. Should it not be up to ENGLAND (And possibly the british isles if they want to join in) to evolve the language? Not colonists who didn't like our taxes and dumped tea in the ocean? I mean the Boston Tea Party by law means that the US has no right to actually evolve a language they just borrowed because lets face it, it is the best.

... wow. I really hope you're trolling here. Do you think that people sit around a table and decide how language evolves or something? Of course not, it just happens. When a group of people split off, they evolve their languages in different ways, this is how dialects arise. It happens to Dutch (Afrikaans) and it happened to Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese for example). And grammaticality isn't based on "logic" in any language, if you want logic then use math, if you want to communicate then use language.

Its 50/50. Yes i believe language should evolve but i do find americanisms infuriating, coupled with the godawful, ear raping accents i feel im obliged to be opposed to this nonsense infiltrating the nation through wank US media. It should evolve. Just not from the US brand of change. I guess i just dont like the US

First of all I never said that language should evolve (that would make the job of linguists SO much easier), I just said that it does. Anyway it's clear that you just hate the US for some unknown reason, and that you are looking for ways to justify that. As long as you understand that change isn't bad (as humans like to thing with EVERYTHING), then my job here is done.

 

[orangeban]

Well, frankly that list makes the British look bad, though I have to agree with the "math" one. Purely because it doesn't make sense, we say "maths" because in full it's "mathematics". But the American version sounds like it should be "mathematic" which is an adjective. I don't boil at it's use, I just wonder about it.

 

[repeating integers]

First off, "winningest"? WHAT. KILL. BURN. DESTROY. SINDRIIII

Secondly, "Bangs" confuses me. I thought it was a separate word from Fringe entirely. For example:

I first heard "bangs" used to describe those... things of hair that go down past her face. If not bangs, then what do you call them? They're certainly not a "fringe". And on that note, if "bangs" means "fringe", then... why? "Fringe" is a perfectly acceptable term, isn't it?

Stuff like "could care less", "deplane", "least worst option" etc. are all stupid, but I have to admit, most of the stuff is nitpicking. Also, Y U NO GIVE COLOR ITS U BACK!?!?!?

Want some METAHL BAWKSES with your Sindri?

TODEH, THE ENEMEH IS AT OUH DOAH! So that would be much appreciated!

thought for the day: silence is golden. It's funny, because it's written in green.

 

[DSK-]

This is amusing? I see various people complaining about the British use of English and I don't really see how this is much different.

This is what I thought. Bunch of complete prats in that article to be honest.

 

[BlackStar42]

Most of these are just stupid, but it's "I couldn't care less" and it's pronounced ZED. Other than those, most of the points on that list are rubbish.