AIBU to find his Americanisms really annoying

[WonderLime]

My DP is British. He's lived in England his whole life. His father is Irish and mother English. They both speak like respectable Brits.

He doesn't have any American friends. He's only visited America once - with me two years ago.

Despite this, he has a really annoying habit of using odd Americanisms in everyday conversations. For example, we were just talking and using letters in our conversation ("If you do A and B, you'll get X"), and he replied with "or you'll get 'Z'", as in 'Zee'.

I asked him what he'd just said, assuming he'd correct himself, but no he just 'Zee'!

It happened a couple of days ago too. We're having our first baby and were looking at nappies. Throughout the whole shopping trip he kept referring to them as 'diapers'.

I don't have any other active examples at he moment, but I know there has been their incidents. I'm sure it's getting worse the older he gets as I don't remember this when our relationship began 10 years ago. I think it's because he watches a LOT of American TV. Anime with American voiceovers, American dramas, American comedies, American Youtube videos, etc (also annoying but a separate issue).

I Just find the constant use of Americanisms really annoying but he thinks it's fine. I don't want him teaching our son this. AIBU?

The thing that gets me when travelling round the US is the over-use of the phrase "At this time" in announcements, on the news or just generally. If you're on a plane, rather than just asking, "Please place all bags in the overhead compartments", it would be something like,

"At this time we would request that all passengers locate and utilise the facility of the overhead luggage compartments and exercise caution to ensure that all bags are securely stored. We thank you for your cooperation at this time".

I notice this kind of thing more than the accent itself.

lizzieoak,

'take her sister a shower' - What does this mean?

"At this time" is less confrontational than 'We ask that passengers do x,y,z, now/immediately'.

The point is that the bags are to be put in the overhead compartment immediately, not that the overhead compartment is where the bags should be put.

"We thank you for your cooperation at this time" means 'Do it now'.

It is funny to me to see people assuming pretentiousness is the reason for people to speak a certain way. This is an opinion that could only be formed in a society dominated by class.

math: my DH insists on pronouncing premise as prem-eyes. That is definitely pretentiousness. He sounds like an utter wanker when he does it.

I am Irish born and bred and I say ZEE, it's not an Americanism either, everyone I know does, we were taught that way in school, back in the days of two channels and definitely no American shows

Where are you from? I have never come across this!

Thanks seoul.
I've heard similar here in UK, cesar, just corporate speak I think.
Definitely agree pretentiousness is speaking in a way that's unnatural to you.

I keep asking where the Irish zee-ers are but they won't tell me. Yet I've never known an Irish person to say zee, or heard an Irish person on tv or radio say zee. Where are they?!

I am Irish, in 40s, and we learned the alphabet to the song 'Twinkle twinkle', and it finished " w, x, y and zee, now I know my a,b,c, won't you come and sing with me"
It rhymes!
From Blackrock in Dublin.
As an aside my son (10yo) has a friend and we were in stitches after his friend came for a visit. He had the most ridiculous American accent, and strange way of talking. He used to have a totally normal voice! It is from all the American you tube folk he watches , I think he watches a lot of you tube. He actually spoke like he was doing one of those you tube vids, hilarious.

Not pretentious to my ear, Milady, just wrong.
What makes a pronunciation pretentious?

Wrt a definition of pretentiousness, if this is how he says it, is that not his natural way of saying it?

I was part of Ireland's zed generations, it seems (born in the mid 60s).

What on earth is wrong with "can I get?" It's a perfectly legitimate way of phrasing a question. Stop being so pedantic.

It's pretentious because he thinks it makes him sound super clever. It's how he says it.

I have told him how it's pronounced but he insists on his pronunciation. He's an academic so he hears people say premise quite often but still he thinks his pronunciation makes him sound more intellectual.

That's why it's pretentious. But you'd have to know him to recognise it as such.

I have just been telling an American colleague about this thread and she said she used ' shall I take (her dog insert name) a bath?' at the weekend, her American husband laughed at her and asked her where she had got that phrase from. We think perhaps that phrase has evolved where we are, I assumed it had come from the annoying YouTubers from the US.

My daughter went to an American school for eight years. She speaks like The Queen when she's with us, but when she's with her friends she sounds like she's from Kansas!

I believe it was Brentwood Paul Simon was homesick for in Homeward Bound. I've never really been able to listen to it in the same way since I found that out.

shall I take (her dog insert name) a bath

I have never heard this, but then again, I don't watch much youtube.

I take a shower, but I give the dog a bath.

At this time we would request that all passengers locate and utilise the facility of the overhead luggage compartments

Americans seem to have a lot of "facilities" - or so it seems to me.

I sometimes wonder why, instead of using "elevator" (4 syllables) for "lift" (1 syllable) they don't call it a "vertical translation facility" (a really impressive 10 syllables).

The one which confused me was somebody talking about "q-eye-nine" rather than "q-in-een".

Apparently that's the American pronunciation (although she comes from Salisbury, so I'm not quite sure why she'd be using it!). Is that true American MNers?

Thanks to endless YouTube videos my kids are picking up americanisms.

I was asked the other day if I had a flashlight. No, but I do have a torch...

...utilise the facility of the overhead luggage compartments

??

Never heard this phrase, and I have flown quite a bit within the US.

MrsK - Kansas has quite a distinctive accent. Unless a teen went to school there, it is unlikely that she would speak like a Kansan.
(Disregard if your DD went to school in Kansas, obv...)

Come from an Irish area. Zee instead of zed is def not just an americanism- many Irish people use it too.

Sorry not rtft but they're creeping in everywhere. My dc asking what trash bin they should put cardboard in drives me bonkers.

I do Americanisms- but in a thick Bristol accent, which makes it ok!!