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?

And holibobs, familam....🤢

"Train station"

What I really would like to see introduced is Australianisms

Ahem. "Good on you" is used all the time in America. Australian television shows are fairly popular here. And yes, the swearing is so .... creative? descriptive?

What was a "playdate" called in good old standard British English, then?

Having a friend come to tea, maybe? (And chances are it would include tea).

It was 'play date' 20 years ago, when my dd was at that age.🤷‍♀️

@Iloveyoubut what would you say instead of meds? Is it the abbreviation of medication that irritates you or something else?

Just interested as we say meds a lot in our house as our DD has a lot of medication and it's just become easier to ask her if she has taken her meds rather than asking if she has taken her medication. I've never thought it was an Americanism. When referring to collecting her medication from the pharmacy we say that we are ordering or picking up her prescription.

She doesn't like us using the word drugs as she thinks it sounds bad so we started saying medication instead.

Importing ideas, language and other aspects of culture from other countries is British culture. We’ve done it for pretty much our whole history.

Let’s throw out pajamas while we’re at it. Much of the British Museum. And bras and democracy. Not to mention Christianity.

Or nasturtiums.

And don't get me started on "how ya going" 😂

Right, because 'ey oop' sounds so much better.

No it is correct but the intention isn’t right. NA’ers say it to mean more I could care less but I really couldn’t care less than I do already.

I like americanisms. I am sure so use a fair few.

Never heard this said in North America so not sure it’s an Americanism (how ya going). I think it’s actually Australian 😂

How”s it going, yes.

Prom, or prom night, when I was young this was an American thing not here.

Lever-age instead of leeveridge (sorry, don't know how to do the phonetic description!)
Meet with instead of meet. I meet a friend. If I meet with a friend it implies the two of us are going to meet a third party!

Gotten is just bad English not an Americanism.

Candy instead of sweets. Chocolate is still chocolate 😂.

My DD used the term "thrift store" once and it took me a moment to work out that she was taking about a charity shop. I don't even know if that's the correct translation but she was definitely taking about having bought something from the charity shop. Is a thrift store a charity shop or just a shop that sells cheap or discounted stuff?

But the people who make them and predominately where they are from call them movies…..

Love a "good on you mate", impossible to not sound sarcastic in an English accent though. I try to go for "good for you" to convey the sentiment. I also love the devastatingly ambiguous "right-o" .

This isn't a particular expression, but the Americanism that most annoys me is how people start talking about democrats and republicans in a conversation about left / right wing politics. And even when not explicitly mentioned, the "right" is often framed in terms of US right.

Deplane and beverize

Also yes to momentarily.

I had a day long misunderstanding with a US flatmate once, i wondered why she was drunk mid morning after being annoyed that her lecturer did something about a paper or exam. I was quite taken aback that instead of getting go work she went to the pub somewhere!! She couldn't understand why I asked her later if she was feeling ok and if she needed a lie down.

And when British people say they "feel shit," I wonder why you're putting your hands in shit. 🤷‍♀️

Totally agree. Never heard okaydate until I came here. Maybe sometimes people hate a phrase and want to assume it’s from somewhere else?

Oh that IS one I hate - pajamas instead of pyjamas.

It's old English, fell out of use in the U K in the 1600s. I suppose it's persisted in the US, like 'fall' for autumn.

Cheap and discounted = discount store.

Donated previously loved items = thrift, aka opportunity store (in Australia). Called a charity shop in the UK.