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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:
Whydoeseveryonewanttoargue · 06/01/2025 00:35

YankSplaining · 06/01/2025 00:32

What?! I’m an American and I’ve never heard of this in my life.

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Same here.

steff13 · 06/01/2025 00:35

Femme2804 · 06/01/2025 00:26

I really curious here. I’m not english so i wanna ask, why you hate americanism? Its just language? Why though?

Snobs.

dreamingbohemian · 06/01/2025 00:35

GustyGertie · 06/01/2025 00:26

Ghosting

Right?

New pronounced noo. Noo York

How on earth can you complain about people pronouncing New York the way New Yorkers pronounce it

AngelsWithSilverWings · 06/01/2025 00:34

@mathanxiety thanks for the explanation. I've just realised that when I was growing up they were called second hand shops or junk shops. I don't actually remember when they became charity shops!

YankSplaining · 06/01/2025 00:32

devilspawn · 06/01/2025 00:27

"talk to" is considered rude in the US, it's "talk with" to imply equality

Edited
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What?! I’m an American and I’ve never heard of this in my life.

Whydoeseveryonewanttoargue · 06/01/2025 00:32

Mikiamo · 06/01/2025 00:03

Grab a bite.

Have a sit

Can I get is not correct unless youre actually getting it. If you're not, it's could I have.

Never saying please or thank you.

Anything that butchers words, such as swapping e and r - centre, fibre, or removing the u - colour.

Never saying please or thank you? Having lived in both places believe me this is equally bad in both.

YankSplaining · 06/01/2025 00:30

craycray431 · 05/01/2025 23:41

The one Americanism I don't understand is the use of the word 'soda.' From what I can gather, 'soda' refers to coke, pepsi, sprite etc, so when you read or hear 'can you get me a soda' etc being said, how do they know exactly which drink to get?
Also the 'I'm on birth control' . . . what do you mean? there are many types of birth control. Are you on the Pill? have an IUD?

“Can you get me a soda?” means you don’t particularly care which kind you get.

”The Pill” drives me insane - there are all different types of pills in the world, so what makes contraceptive pills worthy of being “the” pill? I would understand if it was still 1960-something, but it’s not. “The spectrum” drives me crazy for the same reason.

I agree that “birth control” meaning specifically “oral contraceptives” is annoying.

Whydoeseveryonewanttoargue · 06/01/2025 00:28

devilspawn · 06/01/2025 00:25

Yes, my entire post was Australianisms. I can't be bothered to repeat what I said all over again, so you can go back and look if you're that interested.

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Umm but this is a post about Americanisms……

SerenityNowInsanityLater · 06/01/2025 00:28

QuizzlyBears · 05/01/2025 23:53

Perhaps those of you complaining about irritating ‘Americanisms’ your children have picked up from
YouTube should perhaps reflect on the amount of screen time you’re allowing them on said platform if it is influencing their language development to such a degree….

Edited

As an American whose children are on screens as much as anyone else's, thank you for saying this! None of my three have picked up my Americanisms, which, I admit, have been watered down by my decades of living over here, nor do they sound like YouTubers. Honestly, even as a Californian (an old one, mind), the American accents have totally changed (for the worse). That's my gripe. My Californian accent doesn't sound like that of a 22 year old Californian influencer's. I think mine is superior because it's mellow, old school, quieter. But I also realise I'm just being a bit of a curmudgeon here. Accents do change. I need to accept this.

One Americanism that does bother this American right here is when those American 'chefs' on TikTok (or Instagram/FB reels) offer a recipe in 3 seconds then finish the clip with this raised, singsong, "Enjoy!" They ALL do it.

AshCrapp · 06/01/2025 00:27

steff13 · 06/01/2025 00:23

And when British people say they "feel shit," I wonder why you're putting your hands in shit. 🤷‍♀️

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The British expression that most infuriated and delighted my American friend is "take the piss". I can hear him now, incredulously, repeating "take? Take? Like... Extracting the piss? They are taking the piss? What piss, your piss?"

Whydoeseveryonewanttoargue · 06/01/2025 00:27

Redwinedaze · 05/01/2025 23:32

Cell phone, no it’s mobile.

Truck, no it’s lorry.

An American invented the cell phone so actually it is correct.

devilspawn · 06/01/2025 00:27

MerrilyOnhigh · 05/01/2025 23:29

I do think using "reach out" when you mean "talk to" or "contact" should be a criminal offence.

"talk to" is considered rude in the US, it's "talk with" to imply equality

2024TN · 06/01/2025 00:26

dreamingbohemian · 05/01/2025 23:49

Yes, soda is the collective noun. 'What kind of soda do you have?'

Then you ask for a specific one.

Birth control, also collective. People don't usually specify because it's TMI. Same here right?

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I used to live in the South where all soda is referred to as “Coke”.

“What coke do you want?”

”Sprite”

Femme2804 · 06/01/2025 00:26

I really curious here. I’m not english so i wanna ask, why you hate americanism? Its just language? Why though?

YankSplaining · 06/01/2025 00:26

raysan · 05/01/2025 23:39

Guys
(When it is used for a mixed or even female group)
There are so many alternatives that are not 'default male'. Depending on context, could be: Yous, you, you all, colleagues, everyone, all, team, lasses, ladies, comrades.

There are articles on why the word is non-inclusive if you dont believe me. Also try asking "what do guys look for in a partner" or "how many guys have you dated/ has your partner dated?"

”Guys” is male, “you guys” is gender-neutral. I went to an all-girls school in the American Midwest and we said “you guys” all the time. I can see why you don’t like people in the UK saying it, but for people who grew up in the US saying it, your alternatives would sound like affectations.

Goldenbear · 06/01/2025 00:26

CulturalNomad · 06/01/2025 00:01

Yes, people complaining often just sound like parochial dinosaurs

Agreed! Like moaning that cursive isn't used by younger people.

The internet changed everything. People pick up slang words or expressions they like and adopt them. Nobody under age 30 gives a crap about any of this.

It is very funny to hear "ya'll" being used by anybody not in the American deep south! When I was growing up in New England it was viewed as very "country bumpkin" and never used by anyone not born and raised in the south.

How do you know that British people under 30 aren't interested in their cultural roots, that's quite a statement to make especially if you are American, it sounds quite arrogant.

GustyGertie · 06/01/2025 00:26

Ghosting

Right?

New pronounced noo. Noo York

devilspawn · 06/01/2025 00:25

Whydoeseveryonewanttoargue · 06/01/2025 00:17

Never heard this said in North America so not sure it’s an Americanism (how ya going). I think it’s actually Australian 😂

How”s it going, yes.

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Yes, my entire post was Australianisms. I can't be bothered to repeat what I said all over again, so you can go back and look if you're that interested.

mathanxiety · 06/01/2025 00:25

AngelsWithSilverWings · 06/01/2025 00:21

My DD used the term "thrift store" once and it took me a moment to work out that she was taking about a charity shop. I don't even know if that's the correct translation but she was definitely taking about having bought something from the charity shop. Is a thrift store a charity shop or just a shop that sells cheap or discounted stuff?

Cheap and discounted = discount store.

Donated previously loved items = thrift, aka opportunity store (in Australia). Called a charity shop in the UK.

bluesatin · 06/01/2025 00:24

Whydoeseveryonewanttoargue · 06/01/2025 00:19

Gotten is just bad English not an Americanism.

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It's old English, fell out of use in the U K in the 1600s. I suppose it's persisted in the US, like 'fall' for autumn.

devilspawn · 06/01/2025 00:24

RawBloomers · 06/01/2025 00:13

Importing ideas, language and other aspects of culture from other countries is British culture. We’ve done it for pretty much our whole history.

Let’s throw out pajamas while we’re at it. Much of the British Museum. And bras and democracy. Not to mention Christianity.

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Oh that IS one I hate - pajamas instead of pyjamas.

Whydoeseveryonewanttoargue · 06/01/2025 00:23

SerenityNowInsanityLater · 05/01/2025 23:41

I'm American and honestly, I had never heard 'play date' my entire life growing up in California. The first time I heard this term used was when my DC1 started school about 20 years ago. It's always annoyed me.

Orientated and oriented both drive me mad. I mean, I say 'orientated'. I've been conditioned! 😁 But I do get thrown when I listen to American podcasters saying 'oriented' and I'll think 'Wrong! Oh wait... maybe they're right and orientated is wrong." Still confuses me, decades later, as an adopted Brit. 😆

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Totally agree. Never heard okaydate until I came here. Maybe sometimes people hate a phrase and want to assume it’s from somewhere else?

steff13 · 06/01/2025 00:23

RuthW · 05/01/2025 23:24

I often wonder why they are drunk

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And when British people say they "feel shit," I wonder why you're putting your hands in shit. 🤷‍♀️

Dontlletmedownbruce · 06/01/2025 00:23

RuthW · 05/01/2025 23:24

I often wonder why they are drunk

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I had a day long misunderstanding with a US flatmate once, i wondered why she was drunk mid morning after being annoyed that her lecturer did something about a paper or exam. I was quite taken aback that instead of getting go work she went to the pub somewhere!! She couldn't understand why I asked her later if she was feeling ok and if she needed a lie down.

ploppiness · 06/01/2025 00:23

Deplane and beverize

Also yes to momentarily.