50 Americanisms That Brits Apparently Hate

[Sthom]

BBC trolling win!

A lot of these are just silly, there are regional differences within the different countries of the UK, let alone within the UK as a whole. Somebody from South Wales uses a different dialogue from a Gog (North Welsh); a Glaswegian doesn't talk the same way as an Aberdonian; a Geordie and somebody from Cornwall use different dialects; I can't speak for Northern Ireland as to dialects.

I suppose what irritates me about language is that Americans sometimes seem to think everybody from the UK sounds the same. We don't; I spend 2/3rds of the year on the West coast of Wales, drive a 100-odd miles East and you're in the English Midlands where they literally speak a different language (45% of Ceredigion's populace speak Welsh as a 1st language, not English). It's far more of a difference than between, say, the accents of New Jersey and Alabama.

That said, "math" is just plain wrong. The abbreviation is of mathematics, not mathematic; maths is correct.

 

[Moochkin]

BBC trolling win!

A lot of these are just silly, there are regional differences within the different countries of the UK, let alone within the UK as a whole. Somebody from South Wales uses a different dialogue from a Gog (North Welsh); a Glaswegian doesn't talk the same way as an Aberdonian; a Geordie and somebody from Cornwall use different dialects; I can't speak for Northern Ireland as to dialects.

I suppose what irritates me about language is that Americans sometimes seem to think everybody from the UK sounds the same. We don't; I spend 2/3rds of the year on the West coast of Wales, drive a 100-odd miles East and you're in the English Midlands where they literally speak a different language (45% of Ceredigion's populace speak Welsh as a 1st language, not English). It's far more of a difference than between, say, the accents of New Jersey and Alabama.

That said, "math" is just plain wrong. The abbreviation is of mathematics, not mathematic; maths is correct.

i think towards how alot of Americans ive met seem to think we all speak the queens english i think its more amusement than anger, as for a small country we have so many different accents and ways of speaking, you can cross a bridge and they will speak a totaly different way.

In all fairness i think there is more hatred towards places in england than towards the americans..... Those bloody macams for example, hate the buggers ( )

 

[XHolySmokesX]

Some of them seem to be a bit over-reactive to small phrases. So what, you said cart instead of trolley once, how is that a reason to be digusted with yourself?

becasue were british, and we take our britishness very seriously, but ironically, we do it in a not so serious way =P

The word that most get's on my nerves is Aluminum, it's spelt aluminium. If you take out the i at the end it corrupts the 'i'm a metal' part of it's name!

 

[DALashley]

This is so stupid. I'm British and there are tons of the "americanisms" I loathe that are missing. None of these make sense. When we do notice these things its us trying to be snobbish really. I only become annoyed with americanisms when Microsoft changes an "s" to a "z" when attempting to correct me.
Here are some ones I am not really bothered by but just notice:
-Using a word I believe is English when it is actually any American phrase such as
shows and programmes
movies and films
chips and crisps
fries and chips
(and I admit) cart and trolley

 

[holy_secret]

I'm Swedish and I just realized I use most of this.
Speaking of which, I don't like the word flat and lift.

Why are people getting upset over this? The Brits are just having fun

 

[Viptorian]

Oh for fuck's sake, I put in for "Have a nice day", how the hell does that not make the top 50? It's fucking nauseating. In English, if you're rude enough to say it, then you at least have the decency not to abbreviate it; you'd just hit them with the full "I don't give a fuck whether you have a nice day or not".

"You do the math" is pretty terrible. Apart from anything else, why not skip the "You"? In any other context it makes you sound like Mr. Kobayashi or some stereotypical Hollywood immigrant-with-a-poor-grasp-of-the-language. "You stop here please, driver.". "You get down and you give me twenty, soldier". "You take it all, *****."

What the hell is wrong with telling someone to have a nice day?

 

[snappydog]

I'm a Brit and frankly am fine with all of those (apart perhaps from 'winningest'). Language needs to change - Americanisms are part of that, although if they became prevalent in British English then that might start being a problem for more people.

 

[Asymptote Angel]

You can't expect us to speak the Queen's English when we haven't been interested in listening to her since 1776... (and yes, I know it was George III back then...)

I admit I laughed several times while reading this, but in my experience, most Americans find this kind of thing funny. Especially when they hear it in a British accent. British accents really never cease to be novel over here for some reason.

On a side note, I assure you all that the divergence had nothing to do with George Bush and that we are, in fact, able to constructively express thoughts with the language.

 

[Xojins]

"Bi-weekly instead of fortnightly"... really? I've never heard anyone, British or American, say fortnightly.

So basically, the brits have a problem with the different variations/dialects of English...

 

[Hamster at Dawn]

Just for the record, I'm English and I think these people sound really annoying to be around. A few of these are justified for being actual grammatical errors but some are just using related meanings of phrases in slightly different contexts. Who the fuck cares?! How do you think our language evolved in the first place?

 

[EvilPicnic]

I'm English, and I have absolutely no problem with most of the phrases on that list.

Except for "I could care less". What the fuck...that makes no sense.

 

[Buzz Killington_v1legacy]

The word that most get's on my nerves is Aluminum, it's spelt aluminium.

Actually, it was originally spelled alumium [http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=aluminum] by the (English) chemist who discovered it. He then changed it to aluminum, and it was only changed to the now-current British spelling several years later by some editors.

 

[OtherSideofSky]

I've lived in the US my whole life and I've never even fucking heard some of these. A lot of the others aren't even grammar issues, it's just: "multiple dialects of our language exist! Oh, the horror!" over and over again. I mean, who the hell objects to "train station"? what would you say instead that's in any way better?

 

[Spookimitsu]

I can be a stickler for proper grammar as much as any other self-proclaimed GN, but this list is just ridiculous.

 

[Spookimitsu]

I've lived in the US my whole life and I've never even fucking heard some of these. A lot of the others aren't even grammar issues, it's just: "multiple dialects of our language exist! Oh, the horror!" over and over again. I mean, who the hell objects to "train station"? what would you say instead that's in any way better?

I think they were referring to railroad depot. I guess. I dunno I'd just as soon say train station.

 

[maninahat]

We don't seem to have a problem with "stiff upper lip", a very british term that it likes to use to refer to itself, but was actually invented BY AMERICANS.

 

[katsumoto03]

I'm glad the people in the UK are just as dumb as us North Americans. For a minute there I was worried that they were somehow superior...

 

[Nigh Invulnerable]

As my wife says, Americans don't really speak "English" anymore, we speak American. Sure, it's mostly the same, but connotations and subtleties change as cultures interact in different ways. Deal with it, Brits.

I found most of these points to be stupid complaints about cultural differences, not actual grammatical problems. If this was a list of ways Americans have butchered grammar I would be agreeing with many of the examples, I'm sure. As it is, this is just nitpicking and silly.

 

[Ben Edge]

ok i'm British and i can really say I've hardly encountered these let alone been annoyed by them ?

 

[maninahat]

Some of those people are morons. Especially 36 and 38.

My most hated Americanism is really one that encompases them all; the fact that it seems like most Americans are completely incapable of understanding alternative ways of saying the same thing. For instance while my family was living in the states for three years, she was ordering food from a resturant to bring back home, but the cashier couldn't understand what she meant by "take away." She had to spend so much time explaining the entire concept of it until stumbling across the words "To Go" at which point the girl finally understood what she was trying to say.

And this was all in the English language too, so it's not like either party didn't have a full grasp of it.

EDIT:

I think the Brits just don't like us butchering their precious language...

Funny thing; while a lot of Brits and Australians and other English-speaking nations like to think that American has bastardised English and changed it to their own means, their actually the only ones who use the spellings and other such things from 300 years ago. Since the revolution the rest of the English speaking world slowly evolved it, while the Americans didn't.

So really, the Americans are just holding onto tradition.

Well said. Glad you pointed that one out. It annoys me enough that us British seem to think no one else is allowed to make the language their own (though aparently we can do with it whatever the hell we like). I said earlier as well, there are some Americanisms we seem particularly fond of. Ever heard of one little phrase "stiff-upper-lip?" Yep, thank the yanks for that.