Americanisation (the) of our language

Mom or Mommy has always been used in the West Midlands. My mother is a Midlander and even though I grew up in Norfolk, I called her Mommy until I went to school and changed to Mummy like the other children. Even now I occasionally say Mom.

Normalcy instead of normality and the tendency to leave the letter U out of words - labor instead of labour etc.

Its not a tendency.

Its how they spell them.

Its not like its a bad habit we need to correct them for. ( For which we need to correct them ?)

Alegrias, you are flogging a dead horse here! .

Pretty much anything since the Mayflower landed in 1620 has been 'American'. What is the logic that states that all the things that have been invented since then should take UK English terms, or that developments in the language on the part of UK speakers should have to be followed by the Americans?

US English is not the same as UK English, and there is no valid reason why it should be. It's not the case that UK English = right, and US English = wrong.

That should say 'pretty much any language development in the US since the Mayflower landed . . .'

Pammie1

Normalcy instead of normality and the tendency to leave the letter U out of words - labor instead of labour etc.

Shakespeare’s comedy was first published as Love’s Labor’s Lost. In England, obviously, not America.

Lucca

HillyN

Candy.

What about it ?

It's dandy.

But liquor is quicker.

Sago

“Gotten” is creeping in.
Journalists love it.

I've used that since I was a little kid. It is an English word.

Burglarised gets me. They actually do lengthen some words. Lol.
It's burgled, plain and simple, just burgled!!!

Ali08

Burglarised gets me. They actually do lengthen some words. Lol.
It's burgled, plain and simple, just burgled!!!

Well, lengthen, mmm

As an American friend once said to me "You call a semi an articulated lorry? Are there enough sylalbles in that?"

Boogaloo - when I was young, we did have Halloween celebrations, and we also went round for Guy Fawkes, asking for 'a faggot' - wood for the bonfire, which had pretty much evolved into being given money. We said 'if you don't give us one, we'll take two, better for us, worse for you!'
I always assumed that evolved into trick-or-treating. Although I have to say we were always told that it was just a rhyme, we weren't to 'take' anything!

Also 'gramps' isn't American - it is found in parts of the UK, alongside my favourite 'grampy'. I have heard many stories beginning 'when the old gramp/s/y......

Well, Trick Or Treating originated with the Celts and then had a moment in medieval England. It was not until 1951, post WW2, that us Americans really embraced Trick or Treating.

I am rejecting the false claim that us Americans are to "blame" for Trick or Treating on Halloween.

www.history.com/news/halloween-trick-or-treating-origins

By the ninth century, Christianity had spread into Celtic lands, where it gradually blended with and supplanted older pagan rites. In 1000 A.D. the church designated November 2 as All Souls’ Day, a time for honoring the dead. Celebrations in England resembled Celtic commemorations of Samhain, complete with bonfires and masquerades.

Poor people would visit the houses of wealthier families and receive pastries called soul cakes in exchange for a promise to pray for the souls of the homeowners’ dead relatives. Known as "souling," the practice was later taken up by children, who would go from door to door asking for gifts such as food, money and ale.

In Scotland and Ireland, young people took part in a tradition called guising, dressing up in costume and accepting offerings from various households. Rather than pledging to pray for the dead, they would sing a song, recite a poem, tell a joke or perform another sort of “trick” before collecting their treat, which typically consisted of fruit, nuts or coins.

Speaking as a Celt ? guising has nothing to do with "tricks".

Alegrias1

Speaking as a Celt ? guising has nothing to do with "tricks".

This is very unsettling, Alegrias. I find myself agreeing with you yet again! ?

??

Now you two have me wondering...

I actually laughed out loud at myself this evening. Was having dinner with my husband and I started a sentence to him with : yea, no.

Then he wondered if I had gone crazy since I was the only one laughing.

Freedom from the past. I have only now read your post of the 23rd November. I'm sorry but I must point out an error that you've made. I don't know what Celtic people you were referring to when you stated that they welcomed Christianity in the 9th Century. The people of Wales and Ireland and become Christian long before then. St. David, our patron saint, lived in the 6th Century and St. Patrick, who was Welsh by birth, lived in the 5th Century.

Freedom rofl

mumski Culpable homicide is used in Scottish law.

maytime2

Freedom from the past. I have only now read your post of the 23rd November. I'm sorry but I must point out an error that you've made. I don't know what Celtic people you were referring to when you stated that they welcomed Christianity in the 9th Century. The people of Wales and Ireland and become Christian long before then. St. David, our patron saint, lived in the 6th Century and St. Patrick, who was Welsh by birth, lived in the 5th Century.

The sentence says BY the 9th century, which means that it was happening before the 9th century.

If the sentence said IN the 9th century, then it would be incorrect because, as you state, Christianity had spread through Celtic lands as far back as the 5th and 6th century.

Christianity was mentioned only briefly because the main topic of the article was the origins of Trick or Treating. There was no need for the author to delve into the history of Christianity in the area, other than to say that BY the 9th century, Christianity had spread in the area.

Freedom from the past.
Why not say by the 6th Century then. That would have been more correct.

Because that is not what the article is about.

It is about the start of All Souls Day in 1000 BC. The reader does not need to know that Christianity started in the 5th century, just that it was adopted by 1000 BC when the church declared All Souls Day a holiday.

You are welcome to contact the author of the article and report your displeasure, however he is going to tell you the same thing I am. You comprehension of the article is incorrect because you are falsely trying to make the subject of the article Christianity when the subject is, in fact, Halloween.

Nannarose

Boogaloo - when I was young, we did have Halloween celebrations, and we also went round for Guy Fawkes, asking for 'a faggot' - wood for the bonfire, which had pretty much evolved into being given money. We said 'if you don't give us one, we'll take two, better for us, worse for you!'
I always assumed that evolved into trick-or-treating. Although I have to say we were always told that it was just a rhyme, we weren't to 'take' anything!

I grew up in England and I remember the boy's 'Penny for the guy' but that was November the 5th. No trick or treating going on. In the 1980's my American son who's very sociable, was staying at his grandparents in England for a few months and was shocked to discover the English kids didn't Trick or Treat on Halloween.

Another American custom that has taken hold in the UK is Black Friday. It's been going on here since I moved here almost 50 years ago. Yesterday was Thanksgiving Day here and traditionally Americans start their Christmas shopping the day after - today. There are big sales everywhere. I won't be surprised to hear one day soon that the UK has 'always had a Thanksgiving tradition on the forth Thursday in November' and that is why you have Black Friday.

It's not just American words that are being used in the UK but American traditions as well.