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.

Why is it bad that there are different forms of English used throughout the world? The process of decolonisation surely should put an end to the notion that there is only one correct form of English?

I use 'outwith' and and no idea it was viewed with such curiosity 'til now. Also a Scot.

See also redd @StoneofDestiny. I had no idea that was considered a made up word until recently (it’s not a made up word for those who haven’t come across it before).

Comtesse De Spair, I don't know about an African American Vernacular but I know in a UK supermarket I saw 'corn beef' yesterday, and I've seen ice tea in bottles in the UK, and I don't care what colour the person is who is saying it, and it never entered my head that I was writing about anything except LAZINESS, and if the tea has been iced it's iced tea and if the beef's been corned (whatever that means) then it's corned beef.

@Theremoresefulday

Why is it bad that there are different forms of English used throughout the world? The process of decolonisation surely should put an end to the notion that there is only one correct form of English?

It isn't bad. It just grates on the snobbish who infect society. Gives them a little sense of superiority to sneer. Cultural ignorance and breathtakingly insensitive all wrapped up into one uptight little package.

If you don’t know anything about AAVE then perhaps you’d do better to spend some time reading up on it before making racist and incorrect statements about elements of its lexicon and grammar.

..and I have goose pimples, not goose bumps. Is there something unacceptable nowadays about the word 'pimples'?

You don't have to use them. I don't. But living inside multicultural society means a language shift. It's not something to get worked up about!

@GoodPrincessWenceslas

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

Even when there's no bath in it?

Yes

@GoodPrincessWenceslas

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".

Why the need to insult people because they use different words to you?

I bet there are other terms that are different in my part of the UK to yours.

@Vickstory79

Adverbs are missing too.

She was driving so slow.....it's slowly!

A local pub used to have 'Please park pretty' written on it's car park. I never took a pot of paint to it, but I was sorely tempted.

That seasonal reminder always gets my goat, "Wrap up warm" grrrrrrr...

ice tea,..............no, iced tea, too lazy to say ed

Ahem:

'While iced tea is more than six times as common as ice tea in the Lexis-Nexis database of US news sources, it is only about two times more common in the Lexis-Nexis database of UK news sources'.

www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/ice-tea-vs-iced-tea

Pot, kettle, etc.

'There's' is being used all the time instead of 'there are'.

Have you ever heard a Geordie speak? There's there's-es all over the place. It's not come from the US, its been here in the UK the entire time.

That seasonal reminder always gets my goat, "Wrap up warm" grrrrrrr...

When I was a child 40 years ago my nana used to tell me on cold days to "wrap up warm", this is also not a new thing and not an Americanism.

I didn't say it was new, nor did I say it was an Americanism. Sorry I should have made it clear that I was replying to the PP who had mentioned adverbs.

@Hospedia

'There's' is being used all the time instead of 'there are'.

Have you ever heard a Geordie speak? There's there's-es all over the place. It's not come from the US, its been here in the UK the entire time.

That seasonal reminder always gets my goat, "Wrap up warm" grrrrrrr...

When I was a child 40 years ago my nana used to tell me on cold days to "wrap up warm", this is also not a new thing and not an Americanism.

Can someone British explain why so many Brits on this thread think certain British/Irish phrasings are American?

I mean, as an East Coast American, I don't personally speak Deep South English, but at least I recognise it as Deep South and don't go around accusing Canadians of polluting our language or something

@Theremoresefulday

Why is it bad that there are different forms of English used throughout the world? The process of decolonisation surely should put an end to the notion that there is only one correct form of English?

That's not bad at all. What is bad is startimg to use words from other countries (America in this case) just to be "cool", especially when there already are British English words for it. E.g. why have people started calling films "movies"? Please could someone explain!

Some British people, and I'm not naming specific regions here, seem to believe that their particular regional accent/phrases/idioms, etc are the only ones which are quintessentially British/English. They don't appear to realise that other accents, regions and countries exist within the UK. They also believe that any variation on how they say or do things - for example Santa vs Father Christmas - is an example of Americanisms invading our culture via TV and YouTube.

Do you have anything to support this other than random prejudice?

Prejudiced? I'm not prejudiced.

We are all prejudiced, in all manner of ways.

What should teachers teach to juniors? Should they teach them that you say, "There is one cake on the table" but the word 'cakes' is plural so you say, "There are nine cakes on the table", except when you can't be bothered to say 'there are' and then it changes to there's, just the same as 'there is' or 'there has'?

I accept that 'there's' for 'there are' is not new, but I think I hear it much more on UK TV and radio than I did, say 15 to 20 years ago. Maybe I am wrong and it would be interesting for someone to examine that, but I haven't time nor the access to every programme that's gone out in the last 40 years. It is ungrammatical and I expect better from MPs and BBC reporters. I have heard an American reporter make the same mistake but I cannot pinpoint the example for you.

I am strongly in favour of accents, as long as the diction is good. There's a difference, and I can think of a BBC reporter who fits both bills perfectly. I do understand that grammatical incorrectnesses are part of local speech. I am not a Geordie but in the area where I live there are some dialect words and expressions which I love and one glaring piece of ungrammar which drives me mad, but it isn't the same one as the Geordie one.

Santa is not only American. Kids in Scotland have always called him that, never Fathef Christmas.

Santa is not only American. Kids in Scotland have always called him that, never Fathef Christmas.

The same for my particular corner of England where he has always been Santa/Santy (with or without the Claus).

What should teachers teach to juniors? Should they teach them that you say, "There is one cake on the table" but the word 'cakes' is plural so you say, "There are nine cakes on the table", except when you can't be bothered to say 'there are' and then it changes to there's, just the same as 'there is' or 'there has'?

Teachers will likely do what they have always done, on both sides of the pond: teach "standard English" recognizing that often there will be departures from this. Do teachers in the UK teach that "I was sat" is correct, even though that is a very common construction used by speakers of British English?

English is essentially a descriptive language, rather than a prescriptive one, so usage does change what is acceptable. Teaching sometimes lags behind those changes, but teachers of English have always had to deal with this. For example, I was taught the distinction between "who" and "whom" and "can" and "may." Both of these distinctions are fast dying out and will likely be gone completely in the not too distant future.

Can someone British explain why so many Brits on this thread think certain British/Irish phrasings are American?

Because they like to bump their gums, even if they are totally unaware of the etymology?

In a similar vein, the folk who insist trick or treating is American and steadfastly ignore everyone who patiently explains it is a Scottish tradition (guising) which went across to the US and was renamed.

Some British people, and I'm not naming specific regions here, seem to believe that their particular regional accent/phrases/idioms, etc are the only ones which are quintessentially British/English. They don't appear to realise that other accents, regions and countries exist within the UK. They also believe that any variation on how they say or do things - for example Santa vs Father Christmas - is an example of Americanisms invading our culture via TV and YouTube.

Let’s not forget the ridiculous debates over Mum/Mam/Mom and other British people having to constantly point out that “Mom” is not an American invasion.

I love the fluidity of language, it has always changed, what is happening now is just a natural flow speeded up due to the internet. I am British educated until end of secondary and then US High School and University. I speak with a combination, sometimes people look at me weird when I use typically US speech with a British accent, lol,, but both sound right to me.