Americanisms

[Differentforgirls]

Is “pay check (not cheque for some reason) to pay check” a thing in the UK now. I keep seeing this on here. Surely it’s “payslip to payslip” or “wage to wage”.

Context is being skint. So you live wage to wage.

AIBU to think we’re losing our language to Americanisms?

People have been fretting about Americanisms since Columbus set sail.

we will prevail.

Maybe those posters are American?

🤣

No, that’s the thing, they aren’t.

I just don’t think it matters whether it is an Americanism or not. Language is dynamic, so constantly taking on new influences. I can just imagine people tutting a few years after 1066 about the Normanisms in the language “why are young people all saying pork now! Just say pig, ffs!”

It's pay day to pay day where I am. Pay slip to pay slip would make sense to older people, but pay check, makes sense to my younger children (30 + 29) because they've only had digital pay checks. So YABU.

They have digital pay SLIPs. Like me.

Not sure I've ever heard wage to wage as an alternative, I'm more familiar with 'Living fist to mouth'.

Well, I am American, so I might say that. I wouldn’t say payslip to payslip, because the payslip is just the thing I get emailed to me after being paid. It’s not the money. Monthly deposit to monthly deposit? Beyond that, my perfectly British phone doesn’t like cheque or tyre or similar and frequently autocorrects them to the American spelling. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Agree with this.

Also, think it’s a bit weird to complain about Americanisms when a good amount of it are words that were originally used in the UK before they fell out of fashion here.

Not really losing it if it was yours to begin with.

Never heard any of those expressions particularly on here. Living hand to mouth is one I hear to describe what you're talking about.

Language evolves anyway. We're not losing anything. We dont speak now the way we did in medieval times do we?

Also, think it’s a bit weird to complain about Americanisms when a good amount of it are words that were originally used in the UK before they fell out of fashion here

Spot on, @phoenixrosehere

Gotten
Fall, as in autumn
Diaper
Trash
Faucet
Draft, as in enlistment
Loan, as a verb "I'll loan you ..."
Mad, meaning angry

All English words originally, and why do we call them autumn and house anyway, when the originals were French/German and spelled automne and haus?

Many Americanisms are archaic British English, which prevailed in the New World whilst falling out of use in the UK. Arguably in those instances it’s a case of lost language being reintroduced.

American English is the most used form of English that is used worldwide. As Mumsnet users, we aren’t all native British English speakers, or native English speakers at all.

Never heard anyone say wage to wage or payslip to payslip tho

I'm not sure why but it really makes me cringe when I hear british people talk like this!

I've never heard any Brit use 'living wage to wage', and am struggling to find any source for that being the British way to say it.

I have heard those 'struggling month to month' and yes, 'living paycheck to paycheck' as well as paycheck & payslip being used synonymously in the UK for many years. The British institution MoneySavingExpert seems quite happy to use both.

So no, the various versions of English used in the UK are not being lost to Americanisms, and it is unreasonable to suggest so with an expression that Brits wouldn't naturally use.

Also cheque is the more modern version of check, which has been used in Britain for centuries. That the US only uses that version doesn't make it an Ameicanism. It's just the version with the longer history, longer than the US has been around to annoy some Brits with supposed Americanisms.

Language evolves. It's fine.

Dont people say ‘payday to payday’ …cf ‘payday loans’.

My DD tries to say "I'll go get..." No you won't young lady! You will go AND get.

I hate it when people use American expressions which are ambiguous, when British English is clear.

Eg I was sick. Vomiting? No, ill. Just say ill FFS.

Also my parents had a fight. Was anyone badly hurt? No they just had an argument.

Ridiculous change to the language.

In the UK it would surely be pay cheque to pay cheque?
It's the spelling rather than the terminology for me. Thank you (not) to
Mr Webster in 1828 and his simplification of spellings ain American English.

You don’t know that.

At least Americans know the difference between “sat” and “sitting”. 😳

I might write paycheck to paycheck, because I hear it as an American saying, so would use their spelling. I have never heard anyone in real life in the UK use the term paycheck/cheque.