To ask if do (or will) miss British English?

[daimbarsatemydogsbone]

License plate - Number plate
Driver's license - Driving licence
Windshield - Windscreen
Envision - Envisage
Bring (instead of take)

So much British English is being replaced with the US versions.

UK courtroom dramas now feature lawyers shouting "objection!" and judges saying "sustained" - something that never actually happens in UK courts but the writers have all grown up watching US dramas and films.

I know it's inevitable but I celebrated the little differences - they seem to become fewer and fewer each year.

I notice this in films when people are in pubs/bars. They never say please when asking for a drink.

So what? To an extent, this is generally true in some parts of the US. It's not considered rude to order in a restaurant or bar and not say "please." It's a cultural difference. It can actually sometimes be considered patronizing to use "please" when asking someone to do their job. Same thing with "thank-you." It's nuanced, but definitely a thing.

When I'm in the UK, I say both words often because I know it's a cultural difference and expected.

[quote Anonymous48]@EmmaWoodhousestreehouse

Americans don’t seem to like saying please or thank you. It’s very rude.

I don't know where you get that impression. If anything, in my experience Americans tend to be more polite.

I happen to think you are very rude.[/quote]
I didn’t say they’d been directly rude to me. I’m talking about hearing them order things/ask for things in cafes/shops. I’ve done nearly a dozen trips to various parts of America and I’ve rarely heard people say thank you or please when they are ordering things, ie, can I get a flat white. I always want to say ‘what do you say’?

I don’t think it’s rude of me to state my opinion. That’s what we’re all here for. We can do that without calling each other rude 🤷🏻‍♀️

But "please" and "thank-you" are not necessary to avoid being rude. It's a cultural convention, and I have often heard the words used very perfunctorily in the UK.

Where I live, it's the entirety of the interaction that determines whether people are treated with respect: body language, smiling or not, engaging with the server (which I know some people on MN hate, but that is somewhat expected in the US). I may not have said please to my server when I ordered my grilled salmon, but I will probably know where her children go to school and where her parents live by the end of the meal.

@Mummyford

I hate the ‘can I get’ with no please or thank you, when ordering things in cafes/coffee shop. Americans don’t seem to like saying please or thank you. It’s very rude.

@EmmaWoodhousestreehouse

That's an interesting observation, because when we moved to the UK, I was gobsmacked by the shocking rudeness of Londoners. We've lived in several cities in several countries and I'd never experienced or seen anything quite like it. I do apologise if your experience of Americans is anything like that.

You’re absolutely right, there’s plenty of rudeness in London. It’s annoying. Don’t apologise, there’s nothing that would put me off America.

The English language is constantly changing and adapting. I learned somewhere that the reason English is so widespread is its constant adaptation.

As a Canadian I love exploring the differences between our usage, American usage, and British. I tend to adopt the usage of the place I am in oddly enough.

As an example, Americans say restroom, Canadians say washroom and the British say loo. There are also all the standard British ones like pavement for sidewalk, boot, rubber for eraser etc.

Recently I have been reading a lot about the United Empire Loyalists who basically fled the US during their war of independence. The Loyalist were considered traitors as the maintained loyalty to the Crown.

Many were descended from the original settlers in America. Many ended up in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Many of my ancestors fled to New Brunswick. Many had Scottish ancestry as they formed a big group of America's early settlors. They were mostly "Episcopalians" and some of their beliefs led them to the Loyalist view.

I expect that Canadians retain many English terms and spellings because of our history. My ancestors sacrificed a great deal, even their lives, to remain loyal to the Crown.

If you are interested, goggle Fyler Diblee, a distant great grandfather of mine. There are some interesting but very sad stories about him and his experiences. It all provides some insight into how Canadians speak.

Haven't spotted it in the thread...

"Mother Tongue" by Bill Bryson is a fantastic book on this subject, can't recommend it highly enough if you're into this kind of thing.

No such thing as "UK courts". You probably mean "courts of England & Wales"

😂😂😂 are you serious?

So much British English is being replaced with the US versions.

That's karma for the UK colonising so much of the world, those counties lost a lot of their native language to 'British English'

😂😂😂

To those questioning the use of British English it's probably not what you think.

IIRC it's a term used by those that study language to define a set of habits, phonemes, pronunciation models etc.

There is also:

RP = Received Pronunciation
SSE = Scottish Standard English
BE = British English
AE = American English
Gaelic
Irish Gaelic
Welsh

I think. That knowledge is from an English language course I did in 1996 and 1997!!!

*I hate all these Americanisms in the English language.

Gotten
Can I get
I have instead of I've got*

I was raised and taught in school “Can I have” growing up in the Midwest and only heard “Can I get” usually from my Southern relatives.

Americans don’t seem to like saying please or thank you. It’s very rude.

I was raised with please and thank you and I heard it a lot growing up. I could also say the same as you. I’ve seen those same behaviours living in England and in different areas on top of rudeness for daring to politely ask to get past a couple or group of people who are taking up the pavement (some blatantly ignoring me or giving me an eyeroll ) or helping someone and not getting an acknowledgment back. I doubt it is an American thing and more of a people thing.

@dreamingbohemian

Mac and cheese... it's macaroni cheese ffs!

Says you

350 million Americans say differently

Maybe just let it go

But we are discussing the creeping of US phrases into Uk English. So no, I won't get over it. But to be equitable, if I ever do go back to America, I will use appropriate lingo

I can't stand the Americanisation of our language. It is truly sad to see, read and hear.

Alooominum. Season instead of series. Candy. And there are so many more. It drives me up the wall!

That's an interesting observation, because when we moved to the UK, I was gobsmacked by the shocking rudeness of Londoners.

I actually found Londoners to be quite friendly and polite and was surprised to hear that they had a reputation of rudeness when I told my DH (then bf) and his family and they were surprised I didn’t have any issues. Even when I was pregnant, I was offered more assistance than I did in the area I actually lived in and help with my pram and luggage when I was traveling with my toddler and baby number #2 in tow. One of the things I missed during lockdown was traveling to London and going to the different markets and independent shops.

@daimbarsatemydogsbone

Which reminds me, the “thee” pronunciation of “the” as in the RAF is gradually going too.

Surely the is only pronounced thee when the next word begins with a vowel sound ( Aar for R in RAF ) or Army

I wouldn’t say “he’s in thee living room”

Any Purple People here ? I generally find Suzie Dents explanations fascinating and revealing.

Train station replacing railway station grieves Mr Toast no end.
Likewise 'parking up' instead of 'parking'
I also mourn the dwindling use of idioms, colloquialisms and the colourfulness of regional dialects.

No one in the US says "parking up".

@Butteredtoast55

Train station replacing railway station grieves Mr Toast no end. Likewise 'parking up' instead of 'parking' I also mourn the dwindling use of idioms, colloquialisms and the colourfulness of regional dialects.

It's always been train station and parking up here so they're not Americanisms just a couple of those regional things you're mourning the dwindling use of

I'm not sure I've ever said railway station. Is that not like mourning 'looking glass' being superseded by 'mirror'? Or mourning the apostrophe that used to precede 'phone?

@phlaps

Haven't spotted it in the thread...

"Mother Tongue" by Bill Bryson is a fantastic book on this subject, can't recommend it highly enough if you're into this kind of thing.

Seconded - read and greatly enjoyed. Bryson is highly underrated imho - he even explained some science that I failed to grasp at school to me.

@DickMabutt73962

😂😂😂 are you serious?

So much British English is being replaced with the US versions.

That's karma for the UK colonising so much of the world, those counties lost a lot of their native language to 'British English'

😂😂😂

Exactly!

I mean really, complaining a few random Americanisms are creeping into British English when the only reason we all speak English is because your ancestors colonised the world

Hundreds of indigenous languages erased or nearly wiped out by British colonisers and you're going to complain about 'mac and cheese'

Everyone including my DH says 'gotten' now, I often hear it on TV too.

I have some news for you about Scotland, Ireland, and parts of NE England (hint: we've all been saying "gotten" for yonks, it's not an Americanism and it's not new).

It's always been train station and parking up here so they're not Americanisms just a couple of those regional things you're mourning the dwindling use of

Train station and parking up here too (Northumberland). On driving lessons many gears ago I'd be given the instruction to "park up on the right hand side" or "find a safe place to park up".

Parking up is NOT an Americanism

Honestly it's kind of weird how so many things on this thread are not actually Americanisms, just regional British or Irish

[quote Thighdentitycrisis]@daimbarsatemydogsbone

Which reminds me, the “thee” pronunciation of “the” as in the RAF is gradually going too.

Surely the is only pronounced thee when the next word begins with a vowel sound ( Aar for R in RAF ) or Army

I wouldn’t say “he’s in thee living room”[/quote]
Yes but this is dropping out of use - that was my (inexpertly expressed) point.

If you read things written in England, in English, in the 1700s then you will various spellings etc that continue to exist in American English but disappeared in England. 'Gotten' is a good example.

Also a thumbs up from me for American spelling. In general, it makes more sense than British spelling, which has a confusing and unnecessary French influence.