Americanisation (the) of our language

freedomfromthepast, not all gransnetters are agin those in the USA, nor the way they speak.

By the way I am a Scottish gran and proud of my Scottish accent, along with the dialect I lapse into, when I get het up!
Nothing wrong with the way you speak, spell, nor the vocabulary you use.

Language evolves all the time, of course it will change as word travel has become easier. I find the way spelling of the same word changes, fascinating.
Some of my pupils used to use the word jamp, instead of jump, which was common in the next village, only two miles away.
Ignore the vocabulary police, no-one is right nor wrong. I actually detect a hint of snobbery on here.

Dinnae fash yersel, as we say here.

World travel, but word travel is quite appropriate, given the context of the thread!

I love the way Americans say Bernard and so did my Dad

NfkDumpling

We all know about the different words used either side of the Atlantic like pants-trousers and sidewalk -pavement, but a lot of words and expressions like get-go are really just 'in' words used by people trying to impress and which the British just blame the Americans for. Racism?

Xenophobia

Not racism

Namsnanny

I've already expressed my impression of the Americans I've met on my travels there Fftpast In the main we were greeted with genuine warm.

I'm not making fun, just enjoying the exchange. Vive la difference.

One couple from the US I met in a Gloucestershire country garden asked me the name of a tree that was in flower. If I said it once I said it a dozen times. They just couldn't understand me or presumably, my accent.
In the end I was so embarrassed that I called an assistant over who was working there to explain.
The tree was a Laburnum Vossii, not difficult to say, but it obviously got lost in my translation.

More likely that it doesn’t grow locally to them so they’d never heard of it

Summerlove

NfkDumpling

We all know about the different words used either side of the Atlantic like pants-trousers and sidewalk -pavement, but a lot of words and expressions like get-go are really just 'in' words used by people trying to impress and which the British just blame the Americans for. Racism?

Xenophobia

Not racism

Neither are acceptable. ?

Nannan2

Its like they are so lazy they
cannot extend the whole phrase!?

Rude

Neither are acceptable. ?

No they aren’t. However the xenophobia on this thread is shocking. Even worse is how proud people are of it

What about Americans placing an order in a café saying,” I’ll get a coffee.” English people use that construction now.

Namsnanny, I agree that discussing the differences in our languages is fun. But that, overall, isn't what has happened here on this thread. Our languages are different, one is not better than the other.

I can understand your embarrassment on the accent. I was in Italy a few years back and tried to learn some of the language. Unfortunately, my American tongue is not made to roll my r's well, so I struggled. I did try and am so glad that the Italians were kind to me about it.

I couldn’t agree more with this post. Americanisms really annoy me too. ‘Gotten’ - arghhhh! ‘On the weekend’ - what happened to ‘At the weekend’? ‘Catch a movie’ - I make the point of ‘watching a film’. ‘I’m good’ instead of ‘I’m well’. Even ‘cookie’ instead of ‘biscuit’.
I go out of my way to reject these words and phrases even ‘encouraging’ my young grandchildren to use ‘fire engine’ rather than ‘fire truck’ and ‘shop’ instead of ‘store’.

Do posters not realise how rude they are being on this thread?

jen53

I couldn’t agree more with this post. Americanisms really annoy me too. ‘Gotten’ - arghhhh! ‘On the weekend’ - what happened to ‘At the weekend’? ‘Catch a movie’ - I make the point of ‘watching a film’. ‘I’m good’ instead of ‘I’m well’. Even ‘cookie’ instead of ‘biscuit’.
I go out of my way to reject these words and phrases even ‘encouraging’ my young grandchildren to use ‘fire engine’ rather than ‘fire truck’ and ‘shop’ instead of ‘store’.

Have you read any other comments ?

Marydoll

Do posters not realise how rude they are being on this thread?

Thank you Marydoll I was beginning to feel like a lone voice crying in the wilderness.
Also thank you Summerlove.

Clearly everyone else thinks it’s fine…..

Summerlove

Namsnanny

I've already expressed my impression of the Americans I've met on my travels there Fftpast In the main we were greeted with genuine warm.

I'm not making fun, just enjoying the exchange. Vive la difference.

One couple from the US I met in a Gloucestershire country garden asked me the name of a tree that was in flower. If I said it once I said it a dozen times. They just couldn't understand me or presumably, my accent.
In the end I was so embarrassed that I called an assistant over who was working there to explain.
The tree was a Laburnum Vossii, not difficult to say, but it obviously got lost in my translation.

More likely that it doesn’t grow locally to them so they’d never heard of it

Yes no doubt.
I've just always felt a bit disconcerted that I couldn't speak clearly enough in a way they could understand.

I was constantly ribbed (not pleasantly either) by my husbands boss about my accent, and consequently felt awkward speaking to new people.

I really dont think it was their fault, because the more I tried to say it in a manner they (American couple) would understand, the more I stuttered, and the redder I became.
In the end I was much more flustered and embarrassed than they seemed to be!

Ah well, no doubt it gave them a story to tell when they got back home.

Jaxie, are you more horrified that we drink coffee and not tea, or that our grammar is not the Queen's English when we ask for one?

We stopped drinking much tea, and using the Queen's English after a little party we through a few years back.

When I first joined Gransnet, there were a few members, who were anti Scottish, one was banned for her awful comments.
That is why I can empathise with our posters in the USA.

Thankfully, it doesn't happen much now. Probably because we are quite scary!

Totally off piste: As a pedant, it irritates me that that some cannot differentiate between a thread and a post. Nothing to do with race nor nationality! Is that really rude of me?

Lucca

Marydoll

Do posters not realise how rude they are being on this thread?

Thank you Marydoll I was beginning to feel like a lone voice crying in the wilderness.
Also thank you Summerlove.

Clearly everyone else thinks it’s fine…..

Some just don't bother reading all the posts, others don't care and do not think they are being xenophobic.

Could you imagine a thread where Americans were making fun of the British?

I hate the use of the word 'guy' for man and 'guys' when addressing a group of women.

Marydoll

When I first joined Gransnet, there were a few members, who were anti Scottish, one was banned for her awful comments.
That is why I can empathise with our posters in the USA.

Thankfully, it doesn't happen much now. Probably because we are quite scary!

Totally off piste: As a pedant, it irritates me that that some cannot differentiate between a thread and a post. Nothing to do with race nor nationality! Is that really rude of me?

My ancestors were Scottish Mary. I can't wait to visit and learn more about the country and my history.

I agree about a thread and a post. They are two different things. I try to keep an open mind though because the internet, and forums are fairly new in the scheme of things and it could be confusing to some people.

People don't care if they're rude.
That's the short and long of it.
A few weeks ago it was someone labouring the point that people shouldn't say "passed away" instead of died.
It was explained that some people find it hard to say that, but still people carried on, full of their own importance, totally disregarding that there are bereaved people on here, telling me I'm trying to emotionally blackmail them because I don't always say "dead", about my girl, and their mum always did, blah blah blah....
What the hell difference does it make to anyone else?
Who cares if it makes someone "feel like screaming"?

It wears very thin, being criticised for the "wrong" accent (lazy. Lazy parents. Thickos) and using the "wrong" words, as judged by someone of no great importance to anyone but themself.

freedomfromthepast, hopefully one day! ?

Americans are most welcome to have threads making fun of the British way of life and language. This is because they, like us, have freedom of expression.

It's just sanctimonious

What people have to say has value, not how they communicate

Summerlove

*Neither are acceptable. ?*

No they aren’t. However the xenophobia on this thread is shocking. Even worse is how proud people are of it

Quite so. Although I stand by my point about muffins. But that's down to UK shops' insistence on describing them wrongly.

(And sorry Summerlove - xenophobia. I forgot the word. I do that a lot nowadays!)