YES! THANK YOU SO MUCH. XDMegahedron said:
On a (slightly) more serious note, this list is begging for a grammatically-retarded English guy poster thread.
50 Americanisms That Brits Apparently Hate
- Thread starter Shock and Awe
- Start date
Recommended Videos
On a (slightly) more serious note, this list is begging for a grammatically-retarded English guy poster thread.
So: 50 people who live in europe somplace besides america are bothered enough by regional slang daring enough to differentiate from their understanding of the english language to go whine about it to a news agency.
Boo hoo. This is the the lingual equivalent of complaining about shows you don't watch.
I call water fountains bubblers. Fontains are for wishing!
Boo hoo. This is the the lingual equivalent of complaining about shows you don't watch.
I call water fountains bubblers. Fontains are for wishing!
I fail to see how this is a problem that Americans caused. Nobody calls coffee "Americano" in AmericaShock and Awe said:
I work for Starbucks, a global company, and an Americano is a shot of espresso diluted with water, not bean coffee.Kevin Lyons said:
Really? How many wars is your government involved in (that you know of)? How many of the textile plants/electronics factories that build the clothes you're wearing and the PC you're posting on use slave wages and have high suicide rates? How many of your friends can't get a job, or won't be going "to uni" because their parents aren't filthy rich?Argol228 said:
The above are things that drive reasonable people "fucking insane." Not dialectical differences that offend you for purely arbitrary reasons.
And I know a few Brits. Y'all aren't as prim and proper as YOU would have us believe. "Petrol." We don't call petroleum "petrol" because we aren't fucking twats. Perhaps if you ever have to defend yourself in a fist fight you'll drop this illusion that you're a monacle-wearing intellectual.
1. If Steve has a more efficient way to ask casually I'd love to hear it.
4. This is a useful contraction. Simon needs to relax.
5. I've never heard this before, but disembark sounds like a good alternative to me
6. This is also a contraction designed to sound casual- and less pretentious than most of these complaints.
10. Yes, physicality is a real word. Outside of France language is dynamic.
11. Transport is usually used as a verb; transportation is always a noun. My opinion is that transport acts as a very awkward noun, the same way that forks make poor spoons.
12. You say poh-tay-toe, I say po-tahh-toe, now let's all get along!
14. Relax, not everyone is as pretentious as Graham is.
15. It's a word that people say when they want to sound casual, and not like a stiff-necked English teacher.
16. Again, a variant for sounding relaxed, rather than formal. It's called dialect.
17. The term originated in the 1950s, as a hairstyle called the "bang-off"s. It is nothing new. Even the Beatles referred to themselves as having bangs.
18. Sure, why not? I mean, limiting the variability of language is double-plus ungood!
21. A heads-up is what you offer someone you care about when a piece of news might clobber someone if they contemplate their navel when it arrives. If you didn't care about their wholeness of body you might think the collision looked pretty funny.
22. Do you have another suggestion? I didn't think so.
23. Again, a useful contraction. Chris needs to smoke a bowl.
24. Again, somebody young wants to sound casual and friendly rather than stiff-necked and formal. Relax Simon.
29. Fortnightly? Really? In your world has King Henry the 8th divorced his first wife yet?
36. You're assuming "maths" is an appropriate contraction of "mathematics". Not all contractions retain the character of their parent words. Again, dialect.
37. An Americano is a cup of water percolated through espresso coffee grounds; what you want is a cup of water percolated through non-espresso grounds. When you say that you hate having to order this way it is better to say that you hate your own ignorance.
40. This can be obnoxious if the corruption is intended; common nomenclature uses it ironically. In the latter case it can feel friendly and funny. But I sympathize with you in the former circumstance.
41. I remember a friend of mine told me he once dated a Newfie. He was headed out for awhile, and she asked him, "where you to?" He replied, "I'm right f*n here!" (paraphrased for the forums)
42. Yeah, no thanks. Assuming you mean this in terms of rhetoric, period is a concise, definitive method for delivering emphasis. "Full stop" is rhetorically weaker.
44. Any other ideas to describe a program with a definite, recurring frequency with intermittent variability? Then why is a metaphor that compares that program to a physical phenomenon a bad thing?
45. This is only a problem because pervasiveness has rendered "issue" a cliche. With an articulate orator it can still be funny.
48. Actually, I would say it that way. Otherwise the sentence fragment lacks the complex predicate. Maybe your dialect is just more casual than mine?
49. Uhh, what? You have a problem with an impatient imperative?
50. This sentence fragment is meant to be ironic; you even explained that in your criticism, Jonathan. A person says they could care less when she actually couldn't, and that she cares so little that she won't even articulate herself properly. Do you listen when other people speak?
Honestly, most of these complaints are bad.
4. This is a useful contraction. Simon needs to relax.
5. I've never heard this before, but disembark sounds like a good alternative to me
6. This is also a contraction designed to sound casual- and less pretentious than most of these complaints.
10. Yes, physicality is a real word. Outside of France language is dynamic.
11. Transport is usually used as a verb; transportation is always a noun. My opinion is that transport acts as a very awkward noun, the same way that forks make poor spoons.
12. You say poh-tay-toe, I say po-tahh-toe, now let's all get along!
14. Relax, not everyone is as pretentious as Graham is.
15. It's a word that people say when they want to sound casual, and not like a stiff-necked English teacher.
16. Again, a variant for sounding relaxed, rather than formal. It's called dialect.
17. The term originated in the 1950s, as a hairstyle called the "bang-off"s. It is nothing new. Even the Beatles referred to themselves as having bangs.
18. Sure, why not? I mean, limiting the variability of language is double-plus ungood!
21. A heads-up is what you offer someone you care about when a piece of news might clobber someone if they contemplate their navel when it arrives. If you didn't care about their wholeness of body you might think the collision looked pretty funny.
22. Do you have another suggestion? I didn't think so.
23. Again, a useful contraction. Chris needs to smoke a bowl.
24. Again, somebody young wants to sound casual and friendly rather than stiff-necked and formal. Relax Simon.
29. Fortnightly? Really? In your world has King Henry the 8th divorced his first wife yet?
36. You're assuming "maths" is an appropriate contraction of "mathematics". Not all contractions retain the character of their parent words. Again, dialect.
37. An Americano is a cup of water percolated through espresso coffee grounds; what you want is a cup of water percolated through non-espresso grounds. When you say that you hate having to order this way it is better to say that you hate your own ignorance.
40. This can be obnoxious if the corruption is intended; common nomenclature uses it ironically. In the latter case it can feel friendly and funny. But I sympathize with you in the former circumstance.
41. I remember a friend of mine told me he once dated a Newfie. He was headed out for awhile, and she asked him, "where you to?" He replied, "I'm right f*n here!" (paraphrased for the forums)
42. Yeah, no thanks. Assuming you mean this in terms of rhetoric, period is a concise, definitive method for delivering emphasis. "Full stop" is rhetorically weaker.
44. Any other ideas to describe a program with a definite, recurring frequency with intermittent variability? Then why is a metaphor that compares that program to a physical phenomenon a bad thing?
45. This is only a problem because pervasiveness has rendered "issue" a cliche. With an articulate orator it can still be funny.
48. Actually, I would say it that way. Otherwise the sentence fragment lacks the complex predicate. Maybe your dialect is just more casual than mine?
49. Uhh, what? You have a problem with an impatient imperative?
50. This sentence fragment is meant to be ironic; you even explained that in your criticism, Jonathan. A person says they could care less when she actually couldn't, and that she cares so little that she won't even articulate herself properly. Do you listen when other people speak?
Honestly, most of these complaints are bad.
A few of them are a bit ridiculous, but I completely understand the last one. Seriously, I've been correcting people about that for years.
"I got it for free" is a pet hate. You got it "free" not "for free". You don't get something cheap and say you got it "for cheap" do you? Mark Jones, Plymouth
I got it for $2.50
See? It works.
The last one on the list is used sarcastically, or at least I use it in such a way.
I got it for $2.50
See? It works.
The last one on the list is used sarcastically, or at least I use it in such a way.
...So a bunch of non-americans are bitching about slang terms that aren't native to their region.
...Well good to see that human beings still have free time to ***** about shit NO ONE FUCKING CARES ABOUT.
Christ, it's like they took the most arrogant and sour comments from facebook pages on the net and put them into a list...
Wait, I BET THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT THEY FUCKING DID!! HAHA, I'M A FUCKING GENIUS!!
But more seriously, I don't ***** about how british or canadian or french or german people pronounce shit, I might find it mildly amusing but you know what? PRONOUNCE SOMETHING HOWEVER THE FUCK YOU WANT TO SAY IT.
It's a free world for gods sake... Well, sorta, but say whatever you feel like saying. If someone gives you shit for it, it means they're just being a nag or are just an asshole overall.
Hell, my mom gives me shit about pronouncing 'Poplar' as 'Pop-larr' instead of 'Pop-ler' but I keep on saying it the way I please.
...Well good to see that human beings still have free time to ***** about shit NO ONE FUCKING CARES ABOUT.
Christ, it's like they took the most arrogant and sour comments from facebook pages on the net and put them into a list...
Wait, I BET THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT THEY FUCKING DID!! HAHA, I'M A FUCKING GENIUS!!
But more seriously, I don't ***** about how british or canadian or french or german people pronounce shit, I might find it mildly amusing but you know what? PRONOUNCE SOMETHING HOWEVER THE FUCK YOU WANT TO SAY IT.
It's a free world for gods sake... Well, sorta, but say whatever you feel like saying. If someone gives you shit for it, it means they're just being a nag or are just an asshole overall.
Hell, my mom gives me shit about pronouncing 'Poplar' as 'Pop-larr' instead of 'Pop-ler' but I keep on saying it the way I please.
"bi-weekly" because no one in America knows what a "fortnight" is.
Also, "deplane" ...we use this all the time at work (helpful to note: I work for an airline). I don't hear it used much in announcement to passengers, but it's used all the time in Ops and our various notes and work-related conversations.
I join the group of people questioning what's wrong with "train station". You can't just say "station" because we have BUS stations, too. Or hell, "station" could mean gas station, where you've been assigned to work, or what your position is.
And Horben wins a YEAR'S worth of internets for that post.
Also, "deplane" ...we use this all the time at work (helpful to note: I work for an airline). I don't hear it used much in announcement to passengers, but it's used all the time in Ops and our various notes and work-related conversations.
I join the group of people questioning what's wrong with "train station". You can't just say "station" because we have BUS stations, too. Or hell, "station" could mean gas station, where you've been assigned to work, or what your position is.
And Horben wins a YEAR'S worth of internets for that post.
Most of our language is based on bastardised Latin, Slavic and French, having been conquered by people from those regions a couple times.Atobe-sama said:
"Weasel" it in? Look it up. Aluminium was accepted as the standard. Aluminum was only later accepted purely as an alternative, in the same way that a potato that has been stamped on is an alternative to chips. By the way, chips are the things you call French fries.lowkey_jotunn said:
Sorry to say, bi-weekly means twice a week, not two weeks.ZacktheWolf said:
EDIT: Sorry, apparently I was giving their interpretation of language too much credit.
Ok, I have a lot of problems with this.funguy2121 said:
Where did the war thing come from? Where did the slave labour thing come from? These are irrelevant comments. He was talking about gasoline and petroleum.
And by the way? Do you have student loans over there? Because I live in a single parent household on a less-than-average income, and I'm going to uni in a couple months.
Oh yes, because language differences are purely arbitrary, aren't they? Maybe everyone should speak English- sorry, American, because that's how it's turning out.
And I know a few Americans. Be glad they are nicer than you to talk to. Wait what? "We don't call petroleum "petrol" because we aren't fucking twats"? So when we shorten a word, we're fucking twats, but when you do it, you're redefining a language? Double standard any?
And where did the "fist fight" come from? Do you think that we never have fights here? I live in Newcastle, by far not the roughest place in the UK, and ever here there are streets you don't walk at night.
