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?

I’m the same but when I was a child we got “school dinner”. So it can be confusing.

What makes me angry is when people say “a bunch of” about something that doesn’t make sense to be thought of as a bunch.

Eg. “I had a bunch of replies”
“I’ve got a bunch of work to do”
“they took a bunch of kids”

urgh!! My sister started saying it a few years ago and I pull her up on it every time.

Typical Uk usage: pissed = drunk; pissed off = annoyed. American usage: pissed= annoyed.

ETA example: "DH was really pissed when I got home late last night" has two possible meanings.

I’ve always said ‘my pay’ or ‘thank goodness it’s payday’ I think.

My father always used to say ‘wages’ so maybe it’s just a term that’s fallen out of fashion or evolved into something else. His wages did literally come in a little brown envelope, though!

One of my favourite series of books of all time is the “Anne of Green Gables” series. But reading them as a wee girl, I had no idea what “bangs” were and had to ask my similarly addicted Aunty who explained it was a fringe. 🤣

My lunch is lunch and my dinner is dinner? 😆 I actually like the phrase “eating tea” because it still sounds very odd to me but in a nice way. I don’t think I’ve ever met an American who dislikes British-isms or English-isms. Many Americans, oddly, think you’re all superior.

I say hoover. “Whose turn is it to hoover?” My answer is always “yours”.

Yeah I have to admit fringe does make more sense! I just looked it up…

Bangs are called "bangs" because they are cut straight across, or "bang-off," which is a 19th-century term derived from grooming horse tails, known as a "bang-tail". This hair-related term shifted from equestrian use to humans, referring to hair that hangs over the forehead abruptly. The style is commonly called a "fringe" outside of North America.

A bunch of replies 😬

Ummmm no there are a lot of British isms I dont like think certainly don’t find the British superior. But hey I’m Canadian so that might explain it - even though I have lived in the UK for decades.

Yeah she’d posted on local Facebook group looking for an item she lost (after accusing me of stealing it 🙄)

I find I’m turning into Hamlet as the verb “to be” is vanishing.

I know it’s a dialect thing in Scotland to say e.g. something “needs washed” instead of “needs to be washed” but the online marketplace usage of “needs gone” has spread it.

I frequently read posts on here where someone not Scottish does it and have to mentally insert the missing, “to be.”

Oh yes 🤣.

Up here we say “pished” to mean drunk.

In fact we use it to mean many things. “ It was pishing down today”( raining heavily) “ did you watch that documentary - it was a load of pish”, “you’re talking pish” (if you disagree with someone), “I’ve never heard as much pish in my life” (if you really disagree with someone) “that guy talks a load of pish” (when you think someone someone is telling tall tales”)

It’s like a catch all word.

Also, cancel the check.

I’m hilarious.

When I started work there were some people who got the wee envelope and some who just got it sent to their bank account. Think they were transitioning.

We’re all the same really 😊

I still have one!

Jeezo 😬

I think “needs washed” is normal. “My hair needs washed” but “needs gone” 😬

I feel cross at the very existence of the term ‘British English’. I’d love someone to lay out an explanation that could make me stop feeling cross about it but fear this may never happen.

I can't bear it either OP. It's meaningless in Britain. No one is paid by cheque any more and people just don't think about what they're saying or writing. It's payday to payday or living hand to mouth.

Thank you!

Oh yes. Living in England and not being native British, I can cope with most vernacular speech but I really struggle with “I was sat there”. No, no, no, you were SITTING there.
In fact, I was in the US recently; my husband had a few words over a table in a restaurant. He said, albeit politely, that we were sat at that table. The American said, soto voce “sat there or sitting there?”

I couldn’t argue.

Its hand to mouth where im from.

Yes. I was checking my niece’s social media in a Slavic language and it sounded all so odd how she was using literal translation of English slang words - ‘ate’, ‘slay’, etc.
It’s annoying because of loss of authentic culture and heritage.