To hate Americanisms...?

[Groof]

I think maybe because it feels like all English-speaking cultures are becoming boring and homogenous.

New ones I've noticed that people in the UK didn't routinely say five years ago but are now EVERYWHERE:

• birth control (instead of 'contraception' or 'the pill')
• wait list (instead of waiting list)
• reach out

Which ones do you hate or AIBU?

This bothers me much more than a few words and phrases from American films and culture, and I see it all the time on here along with could/should of and the like (pedalstall!) It shows that people don’t read, which is a pity.

I work with Americans and we regularly thoroughly enjoy the nuances of our shared language.

That one has me grinding my teeth, it's more local than American.

no you fecking can't!

Lately on CNN discussing" See ree ya" instead of Syria .Drives me bonkers

(a) CNN is an American channel. Of course American English will be spoken there.

(b) In Arabic it's pronounced Sūriyyah, which I think is closer to the American pronunciation (an Arabic speaker might contradict me). It's not an English word, so there's no reason why a particular English-speaking people's pronunciation would take precedence.

All Americanisms annoy me. We have a perfectly good language but it's been eroded by YouTube and American tv. Most things they say don't make sense!

Movie for film
pillow for cushion
wait list
drivers licence
licence plate - this one really pisses me off!
pissed for pissed off.
I’ll think of more m sure.

Yes! I was talking an out this at work - cake sale has now become bake sale. I blame bake off!

l made a lighthearted response up thread, but I think it’s getting too serious now. Yes there are terms l dislike, such as that awful word “panties”. Then, there are variations of words in different parts of the UK.

Language evolves. Look at Shakespeare, look at Chaucer. The important thing is that we can understand each other.

Or as in Ireland, north & south I'm sure, drop the 'arse' & hole has you covered.
'Aye, yer hole' translates as 'yeah right', 'sit your hole down there & I'll stick the kettle on' etc.

Where I come from in Yorkshire, 'put t'wood in t'ole' means close the door.

To the uninitated I dread to think what misinterpretations might abound from that one!

And another one ……
I hate it when they remove words like and.
for example, go get your bag. Rather than go and get your bag.
Similarly - the new film is out January 24th. It should be the new film is out ON January THE 24th.

I don’t like that New Year’s Eve is now just called new years.

Also putting already at the end of a sentence.
“go get your coat already’ or ‘I’m tired of waiting already ‘ instead of I’m already tired of waiting for you.

Yes! I was talking an out this at work - cake sale has now become bake sale.

That's a good change imo as it's inclusive of baked goods other than cakes.

Oh yes! Legos. That grates.

Thought it was pretty obvious in my post.

The written word can certainly be the haven of irony, though only if it is handled masterfully and read with some degree of thoughtfulness... neither of which happens very often on mumsnet.

Yes. Bit weird to be annoyed by bake sale when it is baked goods being sold, not just cakes more often than not.

Half the annoyances some people hate aren’t even used widely in the States and like most ways language is used, is dependent on regions, no different than it is here or in most countries.

Thanks. I had seen it mentioned twice on this thread and couldn’t think what the UK alternative would be.

I’m Canadian, by the way, and have gotten used to most of the UK expressions here, “fell pregnant” being one that amuses me.

I have to use “gotten” as it feels wrong or pretentious to use “got”. But whenever I talk about a tv show from the UK, I use the word “series”. For any other country’s programming, whether it’s Canada, the US, Spain, etc, I use season.

‘I eat healthy.’ instead of ‘I eat healthily.’

‘I could care less.’ Doesn’t make sense.

Talking about people/things having ‘Heart.’ I don’t know why because I agree it’s basically a good thing, it’s just the expression itself.

Deedee248
I agree about ‘obligated’.

And the small roundish painful things on toes. I forgot those!

The annoyance is British people picking up and using Americanisms instead of using English words.
The French get annoyed with Franglais so why shouldn't we dislike Ameriglish?
Another cringe is 'myself' replacing me' or 'I'. I don't think that's an Americanism though.

Write a test, rather than take it!

To an extent, definitely, but there are large areas with a lot of regional pride and commitment to the nuances that separate them from the rest of the country. Colloquialisms tend to be a big part of that.

Oh gawd! Do you mean l shouldn’t have shagged the bloke who said that last night. 🤣

What areas would you describe as having that kind of pride?

Funny thing about the mail/post. We Americans say "mail" but we have the US Postal Service. British folk say "post" but have the Royal Mail.

I’m not British so I may just be finding that out right now 😭😭😭😭😭

We are rather selective over our use of imperial measures though. So it's often feet and inches for a person's height, pints for beer or cider, and always inches for penis length (even though they would sound bigger in cms 😁)