..to hate it when a British person says..

[Primadonnagirl]

..the word " movie"
...." Can I get?!"
... " dude"
... Y'all"
... "Back in the day"

V grumpy today

[Mrsjayy]

Yes my scottish dd goes to high school I had to change it to secondary because I got a row for saying it on a thread

[SmashleyHop]

I had no idea how much I've been pissing irritating all you lovely Brits off with my Yankee speak.

I remember using the term "bloody" and "wanker" in the US. Probably heard it in a movie film. Language is fun to play around with.

[SconeRhymesWithGone]

Education in the US in the early years was significantly influenced by Scottish practice due in part to the presence of Scottish schoolmasters in colonial times. Significant similarities continue to the present day in addition to the term high school: the emphasis on breadth, the ability to study more than one course in the first year or so of university, four-year university, etc.

[SconeRhymesWithGone]

Oh, I forgot about Santa. So high school, Santa, Halloween, calling the little finger the pinkie, and in the South, calling a sack a poke.

[funnyossity]

Santa was imported by Scots from the States where the Dutch had had Sint Niklaas (forgive spelling!) turn into Santa Claus. Father Christmas having bit the dust during Calvinist banning of Christmas revels.

[Pipbin]

Are people saying that Halloween is American? I consider Halloween to by American but hallowe'en to be British.
The whole trick or treat business is American but the idea of hallowe'en isn't.

[squoosh]

I consider a lot of Halloween traditions to be Irish. The immigrants certainly brought a lot of the traditions over with them, jack o lanterns etc.

[squoosh]

And my mother used to 'trick or treat' (wasn't called that obv) in Ireland in the 1940's. So that's not actually American in origin either.

[SconeRhymesWithGone]

Trick or treating is also related to guising.

[SconeRhymesWithGone]

Yes, it's true that Halloween traditions in the US came from both Scottish and Irish immigrants.

[gamescompendium]

In Scotland (and in the NE of England) people traditionally had neepie (swede) lanterns to scare away the evil spirits on Hallowe'en. Far scarier than pumpkins which are rather jolly IMHO.

[Mrsjayy]

Oh the turnilp laterns stank for days

[gamescompendium]

Very about people complaining about Scots not 'speaking English'. There's a famous quote that says 'the difference between a dialect and a language is an army and a navy'.

[NoglenTilLykke]

We used to have to perform !tin whistle or a joke or a magic trick. All for an apple or a satsuma!( dublin circa 1980)

[NoglenTilLykke]

Traditions confused in ireland tho too, kids often try to build bomfires on 31/10 , which leaks over from uk's 5/11.

[shockinglybadteacher]

Who else sang "the jeely piece sang" at school? I would say "a sandwich" (my mum's English) but I know "a piece" "a butty" and "a bap" :D

[LonnyVonnyWilsonFrickett]

I say a piece on which is apparently odd - a piece on jam, a piece on crisps (excellent for a hangover with a cold bottle of ginger).

[Spiritedwolf]

I find it petty, odd and downright rude to look down on other people because they weren't taught exactly the same sounds as you. It's reasonable to prefer to use one form of words over another yourself but I think its unreasonable to assume that everyone born in a certain geographical area is saying it 'wrong' just because they have picked up some of the culture of another geographical area (or in the case of some of the examples here, they have a more local culture that you are unaware of).

Language evolves. People also use language differently in different contexts. If I didn't mind sounding more posh/formal I could've said "one" rather than "you" in the above paragraph.

I'm from Scotland, have lived in Devon and I am currently living in Scotland again. I use the words pictures, cinema, movies, film (and possibly filum!) - sometimes interchangeably, sometimes I use different ones in different contexts. Film denotes in my mind a more serious, quality picture than a movie, which I think of more as a fun, popcorn worthy blockbuster, possibly American. I don't think there is anything wrong with having both words.

One phrase I found unusual in Devon was "Where's [something] to?" rather than simply "Where's [something]?" but after living there for a couple of years, I find I sometimes use it myself.

My son is at the stage of learning to talk and amongst a few words of English he does a lot of babble in the rhythm and tone of language. It is very cute and a great reminder that language is just a matter of finding sounds that have common meaning with the people you are trying to communicate with. English (with the odd Scots word or phrase thrown in) is one pool of sounds he's learning to decode - BSL is another, the associated noises is another. Important words like train ( ) he knows the word Train, the BSL sign for train and the chuff chuff noise. With other words he might just know the sound (e.g. an animal noise), the sign or the word. I'm sure as he grows up he'll learn his generation's own slang amongst my Scottish English and DH's West Country English and that's just as it should be. Of course he'll be taught the difference between formal English for essays/job applications/work stuff versus informal English for use on internet forum boards, dialogue in creative writing or speaking to family and friends.

But then, I've taught my son how to high five so what do I know . It's fun and I also find that it and blowing kisses is a good none physical way for him to show friendliness to people he doesn't want to kiss or hug. I'll add hand shaking to the toddler curriculum if that makes people feel he's learning something 'British'. As for not high five-ing adults, I think I might have occasionally, but we do all sorts of things with babies and toddlers that we'd never go up to another adult and do, tickling, blowing raspberries on them etc.

I like America. I think it's a snobbish to treat Americanisms as if they are inferior when they are perfectly good words, particularly for describing things that are American in origin, like the latest Hollywood blockbuster.

Feel free to pick at my grammar if you don't have anything better to do.

[CoreyTrevorLahey]

Great post, spirited

What's interested me the most on this thread is that fact that many words and phrases in American English are older than a lot of British English. I'm definitely going to pull that one out next time I hear some snobby idiot acting like Americans are just inferior Brits who should really remember to bow down to the colonising masters.

[losingmybelt]

I hate it when Lorraine Kelly says "wee"" on the telly, every other sentence. What's with that? we GET that you're Scotish, without making every other word a Wee. It sounds so twee.
(surprised she doesn't shout freedom as well lol.
And when people who have never set foot in Australia in their lives (or haven't lived there for years) say ""No Worries." Wtf.

[Mrsjayy]

Lk is unbearably cheery but I quite like her weeing its nice to hear it on tv

[Greyhound]

Hi hate it when people say "What's not to like?". Makes me want to thump them very hard in the mouth.

[Pipbin]

I say wee and I've never set foot in Scotland. It's useful for describing something really small. Like 'tiny wee little kitten' makes you think of a smaller bundle of fluff than 'tiny kitten'.

I'm from the west country and had no idea that 'where's it to' was odd until I was in my 20s. Here in Suffolk we have the word 'shew', which is the past tense of show. A friend of mine was promoted to a national managerial level and had no idea why people were laughing at him saying shew.

[Alisvolatpropiis]

Is no worries an Australian thing? Never knew that. Do say it though

[DreamingofSummer]

"Meet with"

It's just "meet" ffs