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?

Someone told me the word university or uni, even, was considered pretentious in the USA, they say 'college', or even 'school'.

I refer to it as 'uni', sorry!

But I think - as has been mentioned multiple times already - "can I GET..." has to be the very worst Americanism we now seem to be lumbered with.

I give up!!!🤯
(Hopefully you are joking??)

We say college in Ireland too (south of the border, it's uni in NI).

But I think - as has been mentioned multiple times already - "can I GET..." has to be the very worst Americanism we now seem to be lumbered with.

But, as has been pointed out before it's not American. It's the normal way to ask for things in Scotland (and I believe Ireland).

"Please may I have...." you'd be laughed out of the shop where I live

I'm not American and everyone where I am says "can I get". Everyone.

Are “I can’t speak to that” or “with that being said” phrases that originated in the US? I’m sure I’ve heard them more said by Americans but I could be wrong. Anyway they irritate me.

It depends. People do generally say "going to college" for anything from the local junior college to Harvard. But the need to use the word "university" arises often. For one thing, there are colleges that are not universities, and the distinction sometimes needs to be explained. And, of course, most universities have the word in their name. The word "university" is often used in the US, and no one shortens it to "uni."

The worst Americanism we are lumbered with is Trump. Which, interestingly, means something different in the UK 😀.

Someone told me the word university or uni, even, was considered pretentious in the USA, they say 'college', or even 'school'.
I refer to it as 'uni', sorry!

But "uni" isn't a word: it's a prefix. I recognise it's now so widespread that it's listed in dictionaries as an informal usage, but people saying "uni" instead of university irks me far more than most of the examples in this thread. If you really can't cope with five syllables, I think college would be preferable to "uni".

Declaration of interest: I am a member of academic staff of a university.

I'm not American and everyone where I am says "can I get". Everyone.

Agreed. It's very widespread, and I really can't see much wrong with it. On a web site where 75% of people don't know the difference between "bear" and "bare", between "ball" and "bawl", etc., and where anyone who corrects someone's grammar/spelling is attacked vigorously, it's suprising to see so much vitriol about a common and trivial variation from "standard" English.

Kidos ....why just why

'Can I get?'
It's only a matter of time before I explode in the Starbucks queue and scream 'It's 'Can. I. HAVE!!!!'

It's. Can. I GET. In. Much.Of. Britain.

How many times?

Oh dear. That’s a bit extreme. I think you’ll find that many on here also have an issue with the ‘can’ part of it. As in it should be ‘MAY I have …?’ I don’t mind though because we’re can-I-getting all over the place here in NI. The Americans probably got it from us😅

@Funnywonder same here in Scotland. Maybe it's a case of people thinking the UK just consists of England.

People being English people😅 I strongly suspect you are right.

I think I love you.

People do tend to fall over themselves to claim Americanisms 'don't make sense', without making any allowance for some words' range of meaning (even in Britsh English).

Uni in this context isn't a prefix though, it's an abbreviation. Presumably you do use some abbreviations? Who decides which ones are acceptable? College wouldn't be preferable in the UK. It would be confusing, because it's already the name of a different kind of educational establishment.

'Pissed' instead of 'pissed off' really irritates me. We used 'pissed' to mean something else entirely.

Anyway - I don't mind Americanisms coming from Americans, but I do loathe the insidious creeping uptake of these things into 'British' English. We invented the language, goddammit.

Did 'we' invent the language?

Or did people many, many years ago, from whom we and the people that took English to America, Australia etc are descended?

Surely both 'we' and 'they' have as much right to the language that all of us inherited from our forefathers?

Actually, we didn't. Anglo Saxon was a Germanic language.

When I was a student in the UK (admittedly a long time ago), no one said "uni."
So when did this linguistic abomination usage become current?

Isn't it just that the Americanism is endemic in your area? Just because everyone says it doesn't mean it's correct.

It is not wrong, though. The "permission" use of "can" is now included in many dictionary definitions in addition to the "ability" meaning. As has been pointed out on this thread multiple times, language evolves. This is especially true of English, which is primarily a descriptive, as opposed to prescriptive, language, and the evolving meaning of "can" is an example of that.