Americanisms | Mumsnet

dailyconniptions · 08/04/2026 14:04

notatinydancer · 08/04/2026 08:17

I thought it was ‘hand to mouth’?

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It is hand. As in you receive money into your open hand then it goes straight to buy food to feed yourself.

notatinydancer · 08/04/2026 08:17

WonderingWanda · 06/04/2026 18:56

Not sure I've ever heard wage to wage as an alternative, I'm more familiar with 'Living fist to mouth'.

I thought it was ‘hand to mouth’?

RunningOnEmptyish · 08/04/2026 01:57

ErrolTheDragon · 06/04/2026 19:58

Dont people say ‘payday to payday’ …cf ‘payday loans’.

Well they do in the U.S.

Original poster

Differentforgirls · 08/04/2026 01:39

Abitofalark · 07/04/2026 22:09

Or footway, as the councils call it, or path.
'Sidewalk' to me isn't a good example of making sense, unless it is to describe what a crab does.

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🤣

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Abitofalark · 07/04/2026 22:09

Differentforgirls · 07/04/2026 17:52

Rather than pavement?

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Or footway, as the councils call it, or path.
'Sidewalk' to me isn't a good example of making sense, unless it is to describe what a crab does.

Mixerfixer · 07/04/2026 21:16

Hereforthecommentz · 07/04/2026 17:57

Not heard that one. My son watches American you tubers. He uses lots of American words, trash and candy for example. Really annoying but I remember when my dd was 6 she used to do fake you tube videos and would talk in American accent. She grw out of it though! I think it's to be expected, we all consume a lot of US TV, films ect.

But when you spend more time consuming films, TV etc (regardless of what language it's in) than talking with the people around you it's definitely gone too far!

Original poster

Differentforgirls · 07/04/2026 18:49

Dahlietta · 07/04/2026 18:48

Oh, that's okay @Differentforgirls , but thank you! It's definitely very normal in the NW colloquially. I used to say it all the time growing up, but I would never have written it because I knew it was informal. I'm actually a dreadful grammar pedant normally, so no offence taken

❤️

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Dahlietta · 07/04/2026 18:48

Oh, that's okay @Differentforgirls , but thank you! It's definitely very normal in the NW colloquially. I used to say it all the time growing up, but I would never have written it because I knew it was informal. I'm actually a dreadful grammar pedant normally, so no offence taken

Original poster

Differentforgirls · 07/04/2026 18:30

Dahlietta · 07/04/2026 18:04

'I was sat' and 'I was stood' are no less grammatically correct than 'it needs washed' and are very common in North-West England. Why is one excused on the grounds of being commonly used in Scotland (and NI, in my experience), while the other is ridiculed?

I think that’s the thing on here. We all have our ways of saying things in the UK which is really culturally diverse. In my experience MN seems quite London centric. But thank you. I had no idea it was a NW England thing. We’re all learning but I apologise if I offended you.

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Dahlietta · 07/04/2026 18:04

'I was sat' and 'I was stood' are no less grammatically correct than 'it needs washed' and are very common in North-West England. Why is one excused on the grounds of being commonly used in Scotland (and NI, in my experience), while the other is ridiculed?

Hereforthecommentz · 07/04/2026 17:57

Not heard that one. My son watches American you tubers. He uses lots of American words, trash and candy for example. Really annoying but I remember when my dd was 6 she used to do fake you tube videos and would talk in American accent. She grw out of it though! I think it's to be expected, we all consume a lot of US TV, films ect.

Original poster

Differentforgirls · 07/04/2026 17:52

Sartre · 07/04/2026 17:37

I have zero issues with Americanisms. I have a colleague who detests and actually gets seriously upset with them. We’ve noticed our Gen Z students use them a heck of a lot. We get math, line rather than queue, takeout, flashlight, candy etc as well as “like” and “my bad”. Colleague gets properly irate. I guess because I specialise in 20th century American Lit, I really don’t care as much. I’ll go a step further and say certain Americanisms make far more sense. Sidewalk for example, perfect sense.

Rather than pavement?

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Sartre · 07/04/2026 17:37

I have zero issues with Americanisms. I have a colleague who detests and actually gets seriously upset with them. We’ve noticed our Gen Z students use them a heck of a lot. We get math, line rather than queue, takeout, flashlight, candy etc as well as “like” and “my bad”. Colleague gets properly irate. I guess because I specialise in 20th century American Lit, I really don’t care as much. I’ll go a step further and say certain Americanisms make far more sense. Sidewalk for example, perfect sense.

CotswoldsCamilla · 07/04/2026 17:30

WheretheFishesareFrightening · 07/04/2026 09:08

Aren’t you sat at a table in a restaurant? So they were both sat there and sitting there? Unless it was a fast food joint where you find our own table…

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Would it have been "seated there" in your example though?

Although that wasn't the case, it was an al fresco place; we hadn't been seated by a server, but my husband had been sitting there when he went in to grab a coffee. He came out with his coffee and some folks were sitting at "our" table. So when he said "we were sat there", he meant that we had been sitting there, not that we had been seated there. Either way, gramattically he was incorrect but I think this is more an example of vernacular British english rather than bad grammar per se.

There's a similar example in Ireland, where you might say "I'm after naming her Georgina" (a very specific example, I know!) about your newborn daughter which would mean, "I have named her Georgina" and despite being grammatically incorrect, it's more a turn of phrase than someone having poor command of grammar.

Gonnagetgoingreturnsagain · 07/04/2026 15:53

This thread is amusing. I have an American Jewish friend so she mostly taught me Yiddish phrases and words not American ones.

WheretheFishesareFrightening · 07/04/2026 15:40

Differentforgirls · 07/04/2026 15:10

“Sat him down” has an element of violence. 🤣.

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Absolutely! It’s an entirely different meaning got “I seated him and had a word”, which makes me think it must have evolved into correct grammar in some way…

But seat is also a verb, so I’m not sure your logic on the last post follows:

I seat [the couple by the door], you seat, he seats, etc. It just need a direct object (I think it’s a transitive verb), like to lay, or to bring.

Original poster

Differentforgirls · 07/04/2026 15:10

WheretheFishesareFrightening · 07/04/2026 14:15

Genuine question, is it wrong to say “I sat him down and told him”?

I might also say to a waiter, “sit them over there” instead of “seat them over there”. Is that also incorrect?

I’ve always assumed I was sat meant someone sat you there (ie told you to sit there).

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“Sat him down” has an element of violence. 🤣.

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Original poster

Differentforgirls · 07/04/2026 15:07

WheretheFishesareFrightening · 07/04/2026 09:08

Aren’t you sat at a table in a restaurant? So they were both sat there and sitting there? Unless it was a fast food joint where you find our own table…

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No you’re seated. Sat is a doing word. A verb. I sat, you sat, he sat, she sat, they sat.

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randomchap · 07/04/2026 14:16

I could care less

WheretheFishesareFrightening · 07/04/2026 14:15

dailyconniptions · 07/04/2026 14:01

You are seated there. Or last week you simply sat there. Not am/was/were sat.

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Genuine question, is it wrong to say “I sat him down and told him”?

I might also say to a waiter, “sit them over there” instead of “seat them over there”. Is that also incorrect?

I’ve always assumed I was sat meant someone sat you there (ie told you to sit there).

dailyconniptions · 07/04/2026 14:01

WheretheFishesareFrightening · 07/04/2026 09:08

Aren’t you sat at a table in a restaurant? So they were both sat there and sitting there? Unless it was a fast food joint where you find our own table…

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You are seated there. Or last week you simply sat there. Not am/was/were sat.

StandFirm · 07/04/2026 10:32

Differentforgirls · 06/04/2026 18:12

Is “pay check (not cheque for some reason) to pay check” a thing in the UK now. I keep seeing this on here. Surely it’s “payslip to payslip” or “wage to wage”.

Context is being skint. So you live wage to wage.

AIBU to think we’re losing our language to Americanisms?

Goes both ways though funnily enough. I know Americans who are starting to use British slang like 'bonkers' (cracks me up though)

Puzzledandpissedoff · 07/04/2026 10:20

A worldwide language (mentioned by pp above) would be great imo

But only if it was English, @YerMotherWasAHamster

Joke ... JOKE, before the incoming starts (!!), though actually it's so widely spoken already that it could easily become the case

YerMotherWasAHamster · 07/04/2026 10:18

StripyShirt · 07/04/2026 10:16

The main issue is that American English is seen as a 'dumbed-down' (is that an Americanism????!!) version of the language, whereas Australian English is not.

Australian English is also seen as adding colourful slang to the language, which can be endearing. In any case, Australian English hardly has the spread of its American relation.

Yes, i think theres a definite element of snobbery / superiority involved in the sneering about american english.

StripyShirt · 07/04/2026 10:16

The main issue is that American English is seen as a 'dumbed-down' (is that an Americanism????!!) version of the language, whereas Australian English is not.

Australian English is also seen as adding colourful slang to the language, which can be endearing. In any case, Australian English hardly has the spread of its American relation.