Americanisation (the) of our language

Oh dear, I've just remembered that this is an exhumed thread and I have probably made that point up-thread.

My mother (Scottish) always used the term 'bathroom' whether or not there was a bath in it. In a big US store, I was looking for the 'ladies room' but found the 'rest room' where I was rather disappointed not to find comfy chairs and sofas. You really can take euphemism too far!

Lucca

Same here. Not a fan of the word toilet. We said lavatory and I say loo now (possibly a bit twee)

Same here. Toilet was considered vulgar, and simply not said either at home or at school.

Same here. Not a fan of the word toilet. We said lavatory and I say loo now (possibly a bit twee)

GrandtanteJE65 we were absolutely forbidden to use the word 'toilet' when we were young. Lavatory was the only acceptable word and even that was to be avoided if possible. My very posh grandmother would if it was absolutely unavoidable say that she was going to spend a penny but even then she thought that was extremely vulgar! That was in Scotland btw.

Gotten is a word that was taken to America by the Pilgrim Fathers. From England!

These threads always make me laugh. In the 1950s well-brought up children in Scotland "went to the bathroom" to avoid using either "toilet" or "lavatory" - basically both words demonstrated which "class" of society you belong to.

Like most Scottish children I was brought up to believe that "toilet" was acceptable middle-class usage and that only the
ill-mannered would dream of saying "lavatory". Apparently it is the other way around in the south of England.

Canadians are horrified by signs pointing the way to "Public toilets". In my Scottish childhood you spoke of a "public convenience." Indians and Pakistanis visit the "wash-room"

Bathroom as a term for the toilet is not American, but good Scots!

imaround

It is like a xenophobic zombie. Just keeps coming back to life.

Absolutely agree.

It is like a xenophobic zombie. Just keeps coming back to life.

Hear, hear!

Yet another exhumed thread. It's been done to death - give it a rest!

I agree about REsearch instead of reSEARCH. It makes
me cringe.

Likely instead of probably, as in “We’ll likely go to France this year.”

I’ve always been fascinated by regional differences in the Uk but since arriving in Australia I’ve been genuinely misled a couple of times. When I first arrived here I thought I’d found a chain of shops selling bedding called ‘Manchester’. Then asked an assistant in one shop about their other branches, only to be met with a blank stare - Manchester is Australian for bedding and I find it totally weird! If language wasn’t continually evolving, we’d still be calling each other ‘thee’ and ‘thou’ - but I do find some popular expressions irritating, and ‘passing’ is top of my list. I console myself with the thought that I’m probably irritating the life out of someone with some of my verbal tics - but they make life interesting

The one that grates on me most is REsearch, instead of reSEARCH.

And Brits - who ought to know better - saying ‘math’ ?

I sell online mainly to Americans. Parcels are packages. They are always shipped, regardless of whether they go via air or surface.

Americans ask about the "status" of their order if its "past due".

They "work with you" rather than collaborating.

At this time = now or at present.

They dont have an office or warehouse - it s facility.

I spent a year working in the University of Nevada and the expression of "two peoples divided by a common language certainly applied."

I think that's the only difficulty that foreigners face when they're learning English because this language is quite easy in general. When I started to learn Japanese, it was torture, and even though now I just need to watch some movies in Japanese on lingopie not to forget that language, it's still a little hard for me to understand natives.

Um I had to go and look it up. I can see why you were shocked!

I was 16 when I went to San Francisco to stay good friends of my mum and dad AKA 'aunt' and 'uncle'. Their son took me out 1 day, as he opened the car door he said "You get your fanny in there."
I almost knocked myself out on the car roof as i swiftly turned to say "WHAT???"

Of course he meant bottom.

Grandmagrim

It is not the Americans (or Australians) who are to blame for all these words and phrases we dislike it’s is our own media who has popularised them, and ourselves, asa culture/society for copying them.
There are a growing number of internetisms I dislike.

Exactly.

But what bothers me is not really the so-called Americanisation of our language - languages evolve and change anyway - it's the adoption of some of their more commercialised culture. And everyone acts like it's always been part of ours and talks about it in a familiar way, because the media have promoted it.

I don't like Trick-or-Treat (although it has its roots in medieval Europe), nor do I like Black Friday - but too late now, it's become part of our culture!

Elegran, It is simply less words to use, which I think has happened with more of using text to communicate and it has bled over into how we speak. It has made us lazy IMO.

Most of the people I know still use New Year's Eve, New Year's Day and The New Year. But in conversation I have been known to call it New Year's in reference to New Year's Eve.

The differences are interesting and often you wonder why .

Why does the US say "New Years", for instance. Is it because the US are talking about just the celebrations on New Year's Eve, and have dropped the 's in the centuries since we parted company, while the UK still uses New Year's Eve to mean the day before the New Year starts, and The New Year to mean the first few weeks of the following year? as in "I'll do that in the New Year", which doesn't mean on New Year's Eve but at some vague time during January (or later, or even never at all)

Alegrias1; this happens in different regions in the US as well. My husband is from a southern state and the first time I visited there, I could barely understand some of the things they said.

When you add accents into the equation it adds an entirely new level of complexity.

Then there are the pubs in parts of London where the spoken language (reported to be English), but is undecipherable to my ears.

A friend of mine from Scotland was in a coffee shop in the US somewhere. They asked what name to write on the takeaway coffee.

John he said. Excuse me? she replied.

John. Excuse me?

He wrote it down

Oh, Jaahn!

Works both ways

I hate "I'm not gonna lie" at the start of a sentence. I feel like saying "Is that what you normally do then if you're not going to do it this time?"