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 can't see how color makes much more sense than colour, for a word which we pronounce culler.

As for train/railway stations - when nearly all towns had them they were just 'the station' with no need to qualify what sort. Only later did we have bus stations which needed a qualification.

I will just add to the others: "parking up" is not an Americanism. We just park; we don't park up. That sounds more British, as in "washing up."

Just to create more athletic shoe debate.

In Canada, we call them "running shoes" or the short version "runners."

Pretty much never are they called sneakers, although we know what that means. Trainers, no. The first time I heard trainers I confess it caused me to pause for a second or two.

But athletic shoes are not an old-fangled invention. Yet the US, Canada, and England all call them something different.

I agree, OP, and as for the “outwith” debate, that word is entirely replaceable by “outside”…
Mind you, a recent obsession with “Homes under the Hammer” has introduced me to the apparently Scottish phrase “needs done”, which makes my teeth itch! I would either say “needs doing” informally, or “ needs to be done” formally. So it seems that my irritation is caused by speech patterns closer to home!

I'm a runner and ran competitively in high school and uni. There are two types of running shoes, trainers and racing shoes. Trainers are heavier but provide lots of cushioning and stability. Racing shoes are much lighter and provide less cushioning and stability, but let you run a bit faster. You'll notice in this article that weight in grams is a key measure.

The best running shoes to wear on race day

So the running shoes people typically wear are in fact trainers.

I work with a lot of people from Scotland, so the ‘needs done’ thing chimes with me but, having said that, I’m used to it now. The thing that grinds my gears is people in Costa/Starbucks saying ‘Can I get a…’. Aaargh - I want to shout ‘nooo - it’s ‘may I have a…..’ (preferably with ‘please!’): my kids regularly roll their eyes at me for this sort of thing, but it irritates the hell out of me for some reason.

I am not Scottish but I love “needs done” - no idea why it offends (some) people so much.

I suppose my point was I am just a little wistful that so much of our language is dominated by the USA - even if they are just sending us back our old versions at times.

Of course some US usage and spelling is more logical and easier - and some is not.

Of course it’s inevitable due to the economic might of the USA, and I think in particular, the fact that almost all of the social media and tech companies are US based - but that doesn’t mean I can’t shed a small tear for what we are slowly losing.

I find it hilarious that threads of this kind are always littered with sniping at English people and all the wrongs of the British Empire etc. We seem to attract a lot of hate and obviously some of it is justified due to ignorance and history but as individuals we mostly haven’t control over the bad things done in our name.

Thank you so much really annoys me, its very much!!
I have no idea where this originates but I imagine it might be a west coast America thing, big emphasis on the sooo.
A girl in my team always says thanks so much, which is bloody worse!!

@EmmaWoodhousestreehouse
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 🤷🏻‍♀️

Wait. You just called an entire nation of Americans, 350M people, "rude" because they order coffee differently to you.

But one person on a thread saying they think you're being rude by making such an absurd and ignorant judgement is not ok?

Take a look at yourself. The xenophobia is appalling.

*I find it hilarious that threads of this kind are always littered with sniping at English people and all the wrongs of the British Empire etc. We seem to attract a lot of hate and obviously some of it is justified due to ignorance and history but as individuals we mostly haven’t control over the bad things done in our name.

Neither do many Americans and the different ways and dialects we speak that you want to be annoyed over. It’s always pointed out where it stems from along with other British people pointing out that many so-called Americanism are directly from here but it’s seemingly always ignored or turns into those ridiculous Americans enforcing their language on us which of course is going to lead to pointing out British history where they did the same thing to other countries with English.

@GoodPrincessWenceslas

I hate the mealy-mouthed aspects of US English. Why say "bathroom" for lavatory? Why say "reach out" instead of "talk to"?

I may be biased because I'm currently doing French on Duolingo but am getting fed up with the number of times I have to second guess what sort of appalling English they prefer, as otherwise they may not accept my answer.

It seems to be a very difficult concept to grasp but here's the thing, not everywhere in the world is the same as England. People on different countries do stuff in their own way.

@GoodPrincessWenceslas

I hate the mealy-mouthed aspects of US English. Why say "bathroom" for lavatory? Why say "reach out" instead of "talk to"?

I may be biased because I'm currently doing French on Duolingo but am getting fed up with the number of times I have to second guess what sort of appalling English they prefer, as otherwise they may not accept my answer.

As a Scot I never use the word lavatory.

It's loo or bog in everyday parlance or bathroom when being polite.

It seems to be a very difficult concept to grasp but here's the thing, not everywhere in the world is the same as England. People on different countries do stuff in their own way.

Agree.

It seems to be quite outwith the understanding of many.

Even within the UK we do stuff our own way.

I never use the word lavatory either. It's usually toilet or lavvie

In my area of Scotland we never say gotten or needs done. Our new HT put gotten in a school newsletter (sadly these always have to be proofread by staff due to her terrible spelling and grammar) - and we told her it was considered bad grammar here. The same goes for the dreadful yous. We do, however, say Can I get.

[quote 50ShadesOfCatholic]@EmmaWoodhousestreehouse
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 🤷🏻‍♀️

Wait. You just called an entire nation of Americans, 350M people, "rude" because they order coffee differently to you.

But one person on a thread saying they think you're being rude by making such an absurd and ignorant judgement is not ok?

Take a look at yourself. The xenophobia is appalling.[/quote]
Calm down dear and have a cup of tea.

@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.

I have lived in the US for nearly 30 years and have never heard anyone use the phrase "parking up", so clearly you have no idea what you're talking about.

@LoveFall

Just to create more athletic shoe debate.

In Canada, we call them "running shoes" or the short version "runners."

Pretty much never are they called sneakers, although we know what that means. Trainers, no. The first time I heard trainers I confess it caused me to pause for a second or two.

But athletic shoes are not an old-fangled invention. Yet the US, Canada, and England all call them something different.

I many parts of the US they are called "tennis shoes", not sneakers.

[quote 50ShadesOfCatholic]@EmmaWoodhousestreehouse
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 🤷🏻‍♀️

Wait. You just called an entire nation of Americans, 350M people, "rude" because they order coffee differently to you.

But one person on a thread saying they think you're being rude by making such an absurd and ignorant judgement is not ok?

Take a look at yourself. The xenophobia is appalling.[/quote]
Thank you!

Apparently, phrasal verbs (park up etc) are only recently (last 30-40 years or so) starting to be used with any noticeable frequency in US English.

Their origin is middle English/old Norse (which always makes me laugh thinking about a fun thread we had on this in Pedants' Corner with someone what-the-fucking me and thinking I was saying that verbs like "reach out" and "grow up" were IN old Norse. Haven't seen the poster again, but she was wanging on about "Ho! So "drive through" are actually two NORWEGIAN words are they? Huh? I don't think so!!!" )

I just looked the history up with specific reference to US English, and up to 30-40 years ago, the corpus studies carried out didn't observe much frequency, but then something changed and they started to become more popular.

Why say "bathroom" for lavatory?

In the US, "lavatory" is another word for the bathroom sink, although not used much these days. Its etymology denotes a vessel or basin in which to wash. Not too different from "bathroom."

But it is true that Americans go to great lengths to avoid the word "toilet, which only refers to the actual fixture used for elimination. In the South, it's possible to live one's entire life without uttering the word; many people use "commode."

Also in my part of the South (coastal Georgia), sneakers are often called tennis shoes or "tennies."

It seems to be a very difficult concept to grasp but here's the thing, not everywhere in the world is the same as England. People on different countries do stuff in their own way.

No issue with that, but I don't see what's wrong with wondering why they're such delicate flowers about certain terms like "lavatory" and "talk".

It's loo or bog in everyday parlance or bathroom when being polite.

Even when there's no bath in it?