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Original poster

Americanisms

139 replies

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?

OP posts:
FoolOfShips · 06/04/2026 20:53

I think regional dialect in the UK is slowly dying out, as a result of communication becoming increasingly globalised. I don't think 'Americanisms' are the cause; at most they are a small piece of a much bigger jigsaw. It would be a shame if colloquialisms particular to UK regions were to be lost, but I do think it's likely that at some point in the farther future, we'll have a single homogenised version of 'English' worldwide, and if the planet lasts long enough, eventually a single, worldwide language.

Brollo · 06/04/2026 20:52

Notmyreality · 06/04/2026 20:48

Why does it matter? The only constant about language is that it constantly changes.

Language becoming increasingly homogeneous is actually a relatively new phenomenon.

FishFingerCrumbs · 06/04/2026 20:51

I think the UK has bigger problems than linguistic variety appropriated from fellow Westerners.

Notmyreality · 06/04/2026 20:48

Why does it matter? The only constant about language is that it constantly changes.

Overtheatlantic · 06/04/2026 20:47

Ah well, you still eat your tea!

Brollo · 06/04/2026 20:45

I find it annoying because I think it’s an indicator of people consuming huge amounts of American media. It’s true that language evolves but also true that people are sad when they lose their language. We see this in efforts to preserve dialects and endangered languages like Cornish.

YerMotherWasAHamster · 06/04/2026 20:45

Þæt sprǣc āwixt þǣre tīde.

Bit of fun with an old english translator online. 😁

Overtheatlantic · 06/04/2026 20:44

Newsenmum · 06/04/2026 20:39

I dont get the sick/ill thing. Sick means ill.

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In the U.S. it means ill, but in Britain it’s often a noun. “There was sick on the floor.”

bunnyvsmonkey · 06/04/2026 20:41

Newsenmum · 06/04/2026 20:39

I dont get the sick/ill thing. Sick means ill.

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It doesn't. If you tell me you're sick I assume you've got your head in a bucket. If you're ill I think you might have a bad head cold and perhaps a fever.

Marmite27 · 06/04/2026 20:41

bunnyvsmonkey · 06/04/2026 20:01

My DD tries to say "I'll go get..." No you won't young lady! You will go AND get.

You’re not in Yorkshire then? That’s a standard sentence here Grin

Newsenmum · 06/04/2026 20:39

CompanyOfThieves · 06/04/2026 20:18

I hate it when people use American expressions which are ambiguous, when British English is clear.

Eg I was sick. Vomiting? No, ill. Just say ill FFS.

Also my parents had a fight. Was anyone badly hurt? No they just had an argument.

Ridiculous change to the language.

I dont get the sick/ill thing. Sick means ill.

Newsenmum · 06/04/2026 20:38

I remember years ago people complaining about the use of the word ‘maybe’ over ‘perhaps’. It really doesnt bother me.

Bertiebiscuit · 06/04/2026 20:36

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'.

Living hand to mouth

PinkCatCushion · 06/04/2026 20:36

Wait lists - waiting lists
Reaching out - asking

I wouldn’t mind so much usually but I really can’t bear anything to do with America at the moment

Fart - trump

TheCurious0range · 06/04/2026 20:33

I might write paycheck to paycheck, because I hear it as an American saying, so would use their spelling. I have never heard anyone in real life in the UK use the term paycheck/cheque.

Overtheatlantic · 06/04/2026 20:33

At least Americans know the difference between “sat” and “sitting”. 😳

plims · 06/04/2026 20:28

Differentforgirls · 06/04/2026 18:21

No, that’s the thing, they aren’t.

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You don’t know that.

Sharptonguedwoman · 06/04/2026 20:27

phoenixrosehere · 06/04/2026 18:59

Agree with this.

Also, think it’s a bit weird to complain about Americanisms when a good amount of it are words that were originally used in the UK before they fell out of fashion here.

Not really losing it if it was yours to begin with.

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In the UK it would surely be pay cheque to pay cheque?
It's the spelling rather than the terminology for me. Thank you (not) to
Mr Webster in 1828 and his simplification of spellings ain American English.

CompanyOfThieves · 06/04/2026 20:18

I hate it when people use American expressions which are ambiguous, when British English is clear.

Eg I was sick. Vomiting? No, ill. Just say ill FFS.

Also my parents had a fight. Was anyone badly hurt? No they just had an argument.

Ridiculous change to the language.

bunnyvsmonkey · 06/04/2026 20:01

My DD tries to say "I'll go get..." No you won't young lady! You will go AND get.

ErrolTheDragon · 06/04/2026 19:58

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

YerMotherWasAHamster · 06/04/2026 19:58

Language evolves. It's fine.

TiredShadows · 06/04/2026 19:53

I've never heard any Brit use 'living wage to wage', and am struggling to find any source for that being the British way to say it.

I have heard those 'struggling month to month' and yes, 'living paycheck to paycheck' as well as paycheck & payslip being used synonymously in the UK for many years. The British institution MoneySavingExpert seems quite happy to use both.

So no, the various versions of English used in the UK are not being lost to Americanisms, and it is unreasonable to suggest so with an expression that Brits wouldn't naturally use.

Also cheque is the more modern version of check, which has been used in Britain for centuries. That the US only uses that version doesn't make it an Ameicanism. It's just the version with the longer history, longer than the US has been around to annoy some Brits with supposed Americanisms.

Lomonald · 06/04/2026 19:46

This reply has been withdrawn

This message has been withdrawn at the poster's request

Lou7171 · 06/04/2026 19:44

I'm not sure why but it really makes me cringe when I hear british people talk like this!