Americanisms and British...isms?

[Camembert]

They don't mean it in a spiteful way, it's a joke they tend to make about me though. When I speak to them, I start to talk with increasingly more Scottish words and, therefore, become increasingly harder to understand. If I don't want to stop to explain what a word means every two seconds, I need to concentrate harder on what I'm saying and speak as "properly" as possible, using English words. It's a bit annoying, because even when I do explain what a Scottish word means, they don't bother to remember what I tell them and, because I assume they have a vague idea of what it means, I use it again and have to re-explain it.

I guess that's fair enough, but they should make the effort to remember. I'd be chuffed to learn bits of Scottish dialect.

I know one thing - to 'greet' is to cry

 

[ugeine]

I was lying in my bed thinking "I really want some chips". Then I got thinking about how if I said that to American, they'd assume I meant these:

Spoiler: crisps!

Because they're known as chips in America, if I'm not mistaken?

& what I know as chips, are fries in America, I believe, though perhaps not quite the fries they're used to.

I can't think of any more examples of words like this though, and I'm quite curious to see how many different words there are that are used by Brits and taken to mean something else by Americans & vice-versa.

One of my friends from Canada has highlighted that you don't have to "skip across the pond" to find significant differences.

Case in point: In canada, to tweak means to annoy someone so much that the person wants to rip your head off.

Example: When those girls wouldn't shut up, it really tweaked me.

I think an American equivalent would be "torqued". And a universal equivalent would be pist off.

Still, I can't think of any examples right now, but I know everyday, conotative speech is VASTLY different. I've hung out with someone from Scotland once, and it was like I could make out everything they were saying, but almost every word was different than American.

I think in many ways American and English are like Spanish and Italian - when we speak to eachother we can understand one another, but the subtle differences in spelling, accent, expression, and structure/words means they're different languages.

Oh, fun fact: who has the most "pure form" of English: America or England?

The answer: America. The reason is because America's english is more strictly based off of older 1600-1700 english. It hasn't changed much accept for minor spelling changes and the addition of the letter J (or I, I don't remember). In England, during the early 1800's, there was a very strong movement to look "proper"; birthed from a desire to have a strong culture. Where did England get their cultural inspiration from? Why France of course! the English began dressing like the french, talking with a more french accent, and even spelling like the french. As an example, this is why America and England spell certain words like "color" (vs. colour) differently. America has what you might call the "Standard English" version, while England has the "Franco-English" version.

Interesting, huh?

Interesting but inaccurate. Thousands of French influenced words have been spoken in English before the 1700s. Parliament, for example (kind of similar to your senate) comes from the French word for 'talk' (parlé) and dates back to The Norman invasion of England.


The English language is made up of lots of different languages spoken by the people that have invaded us: Viking (the town of York, the words 'skirt' and 'starve') Anglo Saxon ('night' 'midday' etc) and so on. The Normans (Normandy was a separate country from France a the time) invaded us in 1066, and took over England. French became the official language of England and was spoken in the courts and written down. As English was only spoken by the poor and not written down it changed dramatically, and as French culture was seen as rich, proper and desirable the English Language became heavily influenced by French, a good while before East Anglians set sail on the mayfair. Also, French fashions and influences were common during this time.

You might be mistaken with the Renaissance, which saw English language influenced by Latin and Greek as was the fashion in those days.

English spelling of words has changed radically in the last 100 years, let alone the last 300.

The reason Americans and English spell words differently is because we both standardised our languages sometime in the late 1700 / early 1800s, Samuel Johnson wrote the English Dictionary while you lot have the Webster's English dictionary.

It's simply to do with the fact that before then spellings would have altered differently between place to place and less to do with who speaks the 'truer' from of English.

Which is us Brits anyway, because it's our language.

One thing that really annoys me for some reason is when Americans say the English speak with a 'British accent'. It's not an accent, this is what it sounds like when you speak English properly!

 

[Dahni]

One thing that really annoys me for some reason is when Americans say the English speak with a 'British accent'. It's not an accent, this is what it sounds like when you speak English properly!

WRONG.

I can speak English properly, and I'm from Britain, but no matter how properly I speak English, I still have a Scottish accent.

 

[ugeine]

One thing that really annoys me for some reason is when Americans say the English speak with a 'British accent'. It's not an accent, this is what it sounds like when you speak English properly!

WRONG.

I can speak English properly, and I'm from Britain, but no matter how properly I speak English, I still have a Scottish accent.

It's a Jimmy Carr quote, I was only joking!

To be honest with you, I don't think there's a 'correct' way to speak English, considering it's made up of about fifty different over languages.

 

[Project_Omega]

British = I couldn't care less (right context - you really could not care less)
American = I could care less (wrong context - you could care less, so you care to some degree)

There's a good book about how phrases and words have changed over the years called 'P.O.S.H' but I forget the authors name, but it emphasises how different countries end up with similar phrases or words which are intended to mean the same thing.

It explains why Americans are the only people in the world to call 'Aluminium', 'Aluminum' due to poor transcripts and general acceptance over many years. I think up until the early 20th century, Americans were on the whole still calling it aluminium. And before Americans dispute this, 'Aluminium' is the accepted IUPAC spelling and it was originally named by a British chemist.

I am an American and I agree. I see peoples names and places every day that are obviously spelled incorrectly from a proper word 100 years ago or more, when the average American was about as literate as a one year old. Hell the term OK was created by an American GENERAL in the army that thought it was an acronym for "All Correct" because he spelled it "Oll Korect".\

Woah woah woah...woah....Woa- Excuse mr.american it is YOUR incorrect modifications that corrupt the language, not the other way.

 

[ugeine]

Slang / Swears / Insults:

Wanker - Jerk (a wanker is someone who wanks, see below, while doesn't 'jerk off' mean to masturbate? Is a jerk a masturbator?)

Wank - Jerk off

Arse - Ass

Poof - Fag

twat - (Do Americans have a slang word that means a woman's genitalia like Brits have this one?)

 

[ugeine]

British = I couldn't care less (right context - you really could not care less)
American = I could care less (wrong context - you could care less, so you care to some degree)

There's a good book about how phrases and words have changed over the years called 'P.O.S.H' but I forget the authors name, but it emphasises how different countries end up with similar phrases or words which are intended to mean the same thing.

It explains why Americans are the only people in the world to call 'Aluminium', 'Aluminum' due to poor transcripts and general acceptance over many years. I think up until the early 20th century, Americans were on the whole still calling it aluminium. And before Americans dispute this, 'Aluminium' is the accepted IUPAC spelling and it was originally named by a British chemist.

I am an American and I agree. I see peoples names and places every day that are obviously spelled incorrectly from a proper word 100 years ago or more, when the average American was about as literate as a one year old. Hell the term OK was created by an American GENERAL in the army that thought it was an acronym for "All Correct" because he spelled it "Oll Korect".\

Woah woah woah...woah....Woa- Excuse mr.american it is YOUR incorrect modifications that corrupt the language, not the other way.

Woah is an Americanism...

 

[Captain Pancake]

I'm sure they have something called Taffy, and I'm sure it's the equivalent of Nougat.

In the same vein, Candy=Sweets.

another oddity, In america it's illegal to cross the road when there's no light, and it's called jaywalking. Man, I would;ve been cracked down on quite a bit if I'd been caught over there. Luckily it's not a big deal. Either that or it's a horrible in-joke and I'm talking out of my arse.

 

[General BrEeZy]

Ah, you're British; I like you even more XD

I don't understand the cultural differences enough, so I can't say I have any sort of comment, other than how much fun it would be to say something in England, but they think you're talking about something else; that would be an interesting conversation!

 

[Pinguin]

I know what Americans call gas (for cars) the British call petrol.

I never understood why they call it gas, for it isn't a gas... Does anyone know where the term came from?

I believe it's a brand-naming thing. Similar to the way one doesn't photocopy in the US, one "Xeroxes". I believe petrol was either originally or perhaps just most prolifically sold under the brand name of 'Gasoline' which just eventually became _the_ name.

Of course it's not fair to suggest such brand reference is an entirely US phenomenon. In the UK we don't 'vacuum' our carpet, we 'hoover' it most of the time.

 

[Agent_Jayden]

I've always pronounced the 'H' in herbs... I think it's a regional dialect thing. There are some areas in the U.S. where they do, and others where they don't. I think that also goes for the pronounciation of about any other words. (There have been people who have been in arguments regarding the pronounciation of 'karaoke', for example. While most people I know pronounce it 'kah-rah-oh-kay', others say 'carry-oh-kay'). I gather it's the same for the U.K. as well?

 

[sms_117b]

The only two that ever get me are:

> Billion/Trillion 10^12/10^24 (traditional UK) and 10^9/10^12 (newspaper and pop UK now and US), I refuse to conform to the Americanisms but it does make some calculations when given the name of numbers from a lecturer off slightly.

Laser (UK) - Lazer (US) it only annoys me as the word is a annagram, Light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation.

British = I couldn't care less (right context - you really could not care less)
American = I could care less (wrong context - you could care less, so you care to some degree)

This nonsense really pisses me off. I have never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, EVER heard ANYONE say "I could care less."

I've heard "I could care less" far to often (I'm American by the way) both in real life and on t.v. ,but I think it's more people being ignorant of how to actually use that phrase, much like how a lot of people use "You can't have your cake and eat it to." (which you can) when they mean "You can't eat your cake and have it to." (which is impossible to do.)

Oh and those few things too, I hate it when peiople say "I could care less" and "you cant have your cake and eat it" gaaaaaaaaaaarggg!

 

[Weaver]

I know what Americans call gas (for cars) the British call petrol.

I never understood why they call it gas, for it isn't a gas... Does anyone know where the term came from?

It's a short from for Gasoline. It's obtained from distillation of petrolium which results in hydrocarbons. Gasoline was a brand name, though it was never trademarked.

 

[ugeine]

Slang / Swears / Insults:

Wanker - Jerk (a wanker is someone who wanks, see below, while doesn't 'jerk off' mean to masturbate? Is a jerk a masturbator?)

Wank - Jerk off

Arse - Ass

Poof - Fag

twat - (Do Americans have a slang word that means a woman's genitalia like Brits have this one?)

Yes, it's twat. Some things are universal.

Ah, cheers for that.

Another one - Booze - Alcoholic drinks.

Taffy is a very soft and chewy version of toffee, which is popular in Britain, not sure if you have it in the US.

 

[Agent_Jayden]

RE: 'Twat'...

Well, there is the 'c' word... And, I think you guys use it, too? (Just pronounce it differently?)

 

[ugeine]

One more:

'Asian' in Britain means a person who comes from India / Pakistan, while in America it means someone from China / Japan.

 

[ugeine]

RE: 'Twat'...

Well, there is the 'c' word... And, I think you guys use it, too? (Just pronounce it differently?)

If by you guys you mean Brits then it's quite a popular swear word over here.