50 Americanisms That Brits Apparently Hate

[Mr. Brightside]

Where are they getting these?

Who the fuck says "deplane"?

Say what you will about us Americans, we are well aware that the de- suffix and plane are incompatible.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/deplane

 

[JaceArveduin]

I have a legitimate question:

How the fuck do you get "kernal" out of "colonel". I know it might not be pronounced like that everywhere, but I'm rather curious to see if any of you know, and how that bit ended up in the language to begin with.

It is sort of a strange thing. When the word first appeared in English it was spelled coronel (not sure why). So it was pronounced similar to the spelling. Yet there were more formal writings that used colonel, which is closer the the origin of the word (Italian colonnella based on the latin word for column). Eventually colonel won out as the correct way of spelling it, but the pronunciation never changed.

Thanks for that, it never made sense to me. Then again, the English language is a huge mess when you think about it.

 

[BNguyen]

I'm an American and I hate the phrase "I could care less" too.. I couldn't understand it when I was little because it means the opposite of what it says.. -_-

not actually, "I could care less" going for sarcasm and "I couldn't care less" meaning " I couldn't even if I tried" two meanings, both can be used equally

more on the topic, some of the points I could agree on because they are dumbed down phrases or words, and some I've never heard of before, but ones like pronouncing the letter "Z" as "zee"? How else do you plan on having us pronounce the letter?
What I have to say to the Brits that are too picky is that I find your language annoying in that you haven't developed a more laid back sense with grammar, nothing has to be entirely prim and proper to be understood.

 

[JaceArveduin]

How do you get "leftenant" out of lieutenant?

Odd, I've always said "Loo-ten-ent"

 

[dante brevity]

I can understand a few of these, but some seem completely insane hang-ups. #44, what else are you supposed to call an annual or semi-annual collection of episodes in a television series?

Just to lob a little linguistic snobbery right back, let me demonstrate the proper use of the word "lift" as a noun: "The woman took the elevator to her plastic surgeon's office, where she had a face lift."

You're welcome.

 

[cruzermac619]

Dear Brits, I don't mind you. In fact, I rather like you guys. But nit picking at us Americans for the things that make us a unique culture and people is not cool.

 

[Mr. Brightside]

I have a legitimate question:

How the fuck do you get "kernal" out of "colonel". I know it might not be pronounced like that everywhere, but I'm rather curious to see if any of you know, and how that bit ended up in the language to begin with.

How do you get "leftenant" out of lieutenant?

Because in old French lieu was luef.

 

[Agayek]

Deplane?

I have never heard someone say deplane ever, anywhere.

It's fairly common in airports in the US. I've heard it in Europe and Australia before as well though, so I'm not sure it's an Americanism.

 

[Jake0fTrades]

I'm going to try and use each of these every day simply to spite any British people I may meet.

 

[crop52]

HAW. I might as well say that I hate when British people eat crumpets, because nobody fucking eats crumpets. Not even British people eat crumpets.

 

[JaceArveduin]

I have a legitimate question:

How the fuck do you get "kernal" out of "colonel". I know it might not be pronounced like that everywhere, but I'm rather curious to see if any of you know, and how that bit ended up in the language to begin with.

How do you get "leftenant" out of lieutenant?

Because in old French lieu was luef.

I should probably mention that I'm from America and have no idea how that works*

 

[Araksardet]

That list is funny. As a Canadian, I can say I've never seen or heard two thirds of what the Brits are complaining about. Some of the ones I have heard don't seem like that big a deal. Cart vs Trolley? Turning 21? Train station? What do the British say in stead of train station?

But a lot of the things they named would irritate me as well. Do people in the US really say "winningest"? Now that's just awful.

 

[Mr. Brightside]

I have a legitimate question:

How the fuck do you get "kernal" out of "colonel". I know it might not be pronounced like that everywhere, but I'm rather curious to see if any of you know, and how that bit ended up in the language to begin with.

How do you get "leftenant" out of lieutenant?

Because in old French lieu was luef.

I should probably mention that I'm from America and have no idea how that works*

So, say the word was lueftenant in Old French, Middle English didn't have a word for that rank, so they took it as their own, starting saying either luef-tenant or lef-tenant, and that was that for a while. Then when the languages evolved into Modern French and English, it became Lieutenant, but the old pronunciation remained the same.

 

[Loop Stricken]

HAW. I might as well say that I hate when British people eat crumpets, because nobody fucking eats crumpets. Not even British people eat crumpets.

Pikelets then, innit? Slathered in butter.

I'm indifferent. We speak our dialect, they speak theirs, let's live and let live eh Govna?

GUV'NA!

/seethe

 

[JaceArveduin]

I have a legitimate question:

How the fuck do you get "kernal" out of "colonel". I know it might not be pronounced like that everywhere, but I'm rather curious to see if any of you know, and how that bit ended up in the language to begin with.

How do you get "leftenant" out of lieutenant?

Because in old French lieu was luef.

I should probably mention that I'm from America and have no idea how that works*

So, say the word was lueftenant in Old French, Middle English didn't have a word for that rank, so they took it as their own, starting saying either luef-tenant or lef-tenant, and that was that for a while. Then when the languages evolved into Modern French and English, it became Lieutenant, but the old pronunciation remained the same.

So in "luef" is the f silent?

 

[JezebelinHell]

Deplane?

I have never heard someone say deplane ever, anywhere.

I am not reading through 6 pages of posts to see if this was covered.
In the 80s there was a show on TV called Fantasy Island. In this show there was one French midget, Hervé Villechaize, that would run out at the beginning of the show ringing a bell and shouting "Deplane! Deplane!" when the plane would arrive at the island with the new guests. This is the only time I have ever heard anyone say that and he was butchering "The plane! The plane!". I would cringe if I heard anyone say deplane just because of that show.

And just so you can also enjoy this historical bit of TV nostalgia:
http://youtu.be/1x_QbVDlLbI?t=33s
http://youtu.be/iwaEydIpS0E?t=48s

Oh, and Hervé apparently spent some time singing too... Yeah, I think I will gladly miss out on that.

 

[Sean951]

I have a legitimate question:

How the fuck do you get "kernal" out of "colonel". I know it might not be pronounced like that everywhere, but I'm rather curious to see if any of you know, and how that bit ended up in the language to begin with.

How do you get "leftenant" out of lieutenant?

Because in old French lieu was luef.

So long as there is an actual reason... I actually had no idea they were the same spelling/rank until this thread, so I was quite curious.

 

[Tomster595]

"that'll learn you"? Winningest? Who says these things? I live in America and I've never heard a lot of things on that list.