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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To hate Americanisms...?

768 replies

Groof · 05/01/2025 22:54

I think maybe because it feels like all English-speaking cultures are becoming boring and homogenous.

New ones I've noticed that people in the UK didn't routinely say five years ago but are now EVERYWHERE:

  • birth control (instead of 'contraception' or 'the pill')
  • wait list (instead of waiting list)
  • reach out

Which ones do you hate or AIBU?

OP posts:
Lemonyfuckit · 06/01/2025 13:52

Givemethreerings
Happy holidays instead of Christmas.

That's not an American thing, that's a polite thing when you don't know if everyone celebrates Christmas

I've found myself (and today stopped myself because I realise I sound ridiculous and contrived) for ages writing on work emails around Christmas time "I hope you have a great festive period" - my version of "happy holidays" because I can't bring myself to write something so American but equally want to be polite in case the recipient of my email doesn't celebrate Christmas. "Festive period" eurgh Confused(albeit I don't have a better alternative).

The Americanisms I hate which I have particularly noticed more and more on MN:

Movie instead of film
Meds for medicine / prescription

Dreamingoftheunknown · 06/01/2025 13:51

Whydoeseveryonewanttoargue · 06/01/2025 13:44

The saying is “I could care less but I don”t.

Take off you hoser?

Show quote history

But doesn’t that mean you do actually care a little bit?🤔

StMarie4me · 06/01/2025 13:50

Givemethreerings · 05/01/2025 23:15

Happy holidays instead of Christmas.

But it incorporates New Year too. Been around in the UK since Bing Crosby sang it.

CuddlyDodoToy · 06/01/2025 13:47

Foundanotherwrinkle · 06/01/2025 13:09

What else would you call Halloween if not Halloween? 🤔

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All Hallows Eve.

Whydoeseveryonewanttoargue · 06/01/2025 13:47

HotCrossBunplease · 06/01/2025 08:14

Mac and cheese

It’s actually a branded meal Kraft Mac and Cheese.

It’s like saying hoover here.

Dreamingoftheunknown · 06/01/2025 13:47

wholettheturnipsburn · 06/01/2025 13:22

Parking lot for car park
Pissed for pissed off
Diapers for nappies
Missing out "and" like come visit, go see,

I don't care if Americans say these, but British people saying them make me cringe

Shakespeare used the word diapers, though it had a slightly different meaning back then.

StMarie4me · 06/01/2025 13:45

Language evolves. It's not worth getting stressed or annoyed about tbh.

Whydoeseveryonewanttoargue · 06/01/2025 13:44

Butteredtoast55 · 06/01/2025 12:40

Eh?

Show quote history

The saying is “I could care less but I don”t.

Take off you hoser?

Whydoeseveryonewanttoargue · 06/01/2025 13:42

Foundanotherwrinkle · 06/01/2025 13:21

But "I couldn't care less" is a lot less wordy and confusing.

Show quote history

Maybe but in this case the saying was shortened not “correct” in the first case.

RaraRachael · 06/01/2025 13:41

@TheYoungestSibling "Can I get" isn't an Americanism. It's the most common way of asking for something in Scotland.

JobhuntingDespair · 06/01/2025 13:41

Whydoeseveryonewanttoargue · 06/01/2025 07:53

It is correct to I say I could care less because it’s not the complete phrase and meant in a different way. It means I could care even more less than I do but I won’t.

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What?!

"Couldn't care less" means "I care so little about this, it is impossible for me to care any less".

"Could care less" implies "I do care a little bit about this, as it is possible for me to care less".

The phrase is supposed to mean "I don't care" so surely the first phrasing is the only one that makes sense?

StarlightLady · 06/01/2025 13:33

FatOaf · 06/01/2025 12:50

New ones I've noticed that people in the UK didn't routinely say five years ago but are now EVERYWHERE:
birth control (instead of 'contraception' or 'the pill')

Birth control was standard in the UK in the seventies & eighties. I don't know when the word contraception came into common use (I lived outside the UK for most of the nineties).

Birth control was commonly used in 70s and 80s UK, as the above poster says, mainly referring to the pill.

Contraception generally had a wider meaning, including condoms, the coil and injections

HotCrossBunplease · 06/01/2025 13:23

I’m hearing a lot of “anyways” from young people these days.

Along with “oftentimes” as someone else previously mentioned.

wholettheturnipsburn · 06/01/2025 13:22

Parking lot for car park
Pissed for pissed off
Diapers for nappies
Missing out "and" like come visit, go see,

I don't care if Americans say these, but British people saying them make me cringe

Billyandharry · 06/01/2025 13:21

Gifted. Wtf?

TheYoungestSibling · 06/01/2025 13:21

It's fascinating to me how we all find some varied aspects of speech ok and some awful.

I say pr-eye-vacy because it matches pri-vate. Rather than privet which is a shrub used to cultivate a hedge.

But I dislike "can I get" and have been known to say "when I've finished in the kitchen feel free to get whatever you'd like" (to friends, I don't work in a kitchen).

Foundanotherwrinkle · 06/01/2025 13:21

Whydoeseveryonewanttoargue · 06/01/2025 07:53

It is correct to I say I could care less because it’s not the complete phrase and meant in a different way. It means I could care even more less than I do but I won’t.

Show quote history

But "I couldn't care less" is a lot less wordy and confusing.

Foundanotherwrinkle · 06/01/2025 13:09

mainecooncatonahottinroof · 05/01/2025 23:27

My young adults say "elevator" instead of "lift". I'm sure there's more - that's just off the top of my head.

Hallowe'en. Baby showers.

What else would you call Halloween if not Halloween? 🤔

RaraRachael · 06/01/2025 13:07

I've always wondered - there are loads of Americanisms creeping into our language - my current pet hate is snuck - do they adopt UK words and phrases to the same extent?

gotmyknickersinatwist · 06/01/2025 13:03

CuddlyDodoToy · 06/01/2025 11:13

"Santa Claus" or "Santa" instead of Father Christmas.

"Pissed" to mean annoyed (instead of drunk).

"Mad" to mean angry (instead of insane).

"Can I get" instead of "May I have".

"Momentarily" to mean in moment instead of for a moment.

In Ireland in the 80s it was Santy or Santy Claus.

gotmyknickersinatwist · 06/01/2025 12:58

Deedee248 · 06/01/2025 08:39

Totally agree with this. I’m always hearing ‘a bunch of guys’ to which my response is that guys don’t come in bunches.

Also ‘obligated’ really does my head in. Aaaargh!!!

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Obligated, whilst not incorrect, really seems to have taken over. When I say obliged it almost feels arcaic. 😔

SpanThatWorld · 06/01/2025 12:55

CuddlyDodoToy · 06/01/2025 12:14

  • Santa Claus
  • The modern Santa Claus originated in the United States in the 19th century. The character evolved from Dutch gift traditions surrounding St. Nicholas, and was influenced by the 1823 poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas".
  • Father Christmas
  • Father Christmas has a much longer history than Santa Claus, and originated in ancient British mid-winter festivals. He was originally a pagan figure who represented the coming of spring. In the 1850s, the American myth of Santa Claus arrived in England, and Father Christmas began to take on Santa Claus's attributes.
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Surely Father Christmas was originally English rather than British?
Scotland and Ireland (not sure about Wales?) have used Santa Claus ever since the bearded dude became part of the whole Christmas extravaganza - bearing in mind that Christmas itself was far less of a Thing in Scotland until the mid 20th century.

gotmyknickersinatwist · 06/01/2025 12:51

mathanxiety · 06/01/2025 05:06

Wagon instead of lorry?

Never. It's truck instead of lorry.

Unless you're in Belfast and it's 'lurry'

FatOaf · 06/01/2025 12:50

New ones I've noticed that people in the UK didn't routinely say five years ago but are now EVERYWHERE:
birth control (instead of 'contraception' or 'the pill')

Birth control was standard in the UK in the seventies & eighties. I don't know when the word contraception came into common use (I lived outside the UK for most of the nineties).

HotCrossBunplease · 06/01/2025 12:47

YankSplaining · 06/01/2025 12:20

Americans don’t say “the Feds” as street slang for the police. “The Feds” in the US are people who work for the federal government - FBI, CIA, et cetera. Someone might get arrested by the Feds, but only if it’s a federal crime, like drug trafficking.

in the US, braces are the metal things bonded to your teeth. A retainer is the plastic thing you wear over your teeth after your braces have been removed.

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I never said that “the Feds” had been correctly imported. Clearly that would be impossible given that we don’t have a Federal system here.

It’s clearly picked up from US crime movies and TV though. That is the only point I was making.

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