American 'English'

Yes horrible. I also dislike the way they verb nouns ' I gifted him' and as for de-planed for disembarked or even got off!

Looking forward to the comments on this thread

Shouldn't this be in Pedants' Corner? I'm sure we have had threads similar to this there.

Americans fracture other languages, too! I bristle with irritation, but am also amused, at the way they pronounce words like 'filet mignon' as 'ferLAY mernYON' and 'creme anglaise' as 'cream onglay' in their food programmes.

I heard a lovely 'WorceSEStershy-are' sauce being recommended to enhance the flavour in a 'mac'n'cheese the other day.

Power outage makes me fume

Was it Oscar Wilde who said the English and the Americans were divided by a common language

I think so! Its all the horrible jargon they have introduced us to - the management speak rubbish like 'keep me in the loop' when you could just say 'can you keep me informed'? I could go on and bloody on but won't. Well I might.

There's quite an entertaining blog on the subject of this quotation.

everythingyouknowaboutenglishiswrong.com/blog1/category/churchill/

The blogger comes to the conclusion that it was probably Shaw who said something of the sort.

What a rich vein you've tapped on that blog Annobel. I'll visit that site again

According to Americans I live near Loogabarooga or Lowbrow (didn't we just have a thread on that? )

We might want to remember that many of the greatest writers in English of the past century have been Americans: a random selection - Hemingway, Steinbeck, Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, Saul Bellow. I could go on, but I won't. Promise!

As well as the silliness of 'dove', shouldn't it be "I, who dove etc..." anyway?
The whole title is painful.

We don't own the English language. We mother-tongue monoglots are quite happy (I imagine) with being able to swan around the world without ever having to learn any other language and the other aspect of that is that the other nations who use English develop new versions. Makes the language richer! .

Well said, Anno.

When I last visited America (which I do frequently because of family), I spent a delightful evening swapping 'jargon' with an engaging young man. I taught him cockney rhyming slang, and he taught me the various differences we had in normal, everyday things - which we all know really - cookies for biscuits etc. It was fun.

I don't see Americans as ruining our language. It has just evolved into something else and is what it is. It jars sometimes, but on the whole ...............

I could go on, but I won't.

If language didn't evolve we would all still be grunting like cave dwellers!

Well said, lilygran! We don't own the English language. It's stupid to expect a country as diverse as the States not to have modified the language with all the rich input from native American, European, African and Asian cultures that make up its population. (Sorry if I've forgotten any).

English speakers here used to say gotten too, so if there's any 'corruption' it could well be here!

But I don't think it is corruption. Language evolves. All the time.

Besides, I'm getting a bit tired of America-bashing on gransnet.

'Power outage' is a regular term in the nuclear power industry, merlot. (OH used to work in it)

Power outages are certainly annoying. We've had a lot in the last six years. I don't give a toss what they're called so long as I understand what is being talked about.

Round here people tend to say "I've no electric" or "Have youngot your electric back?"

On the whole, purely on superficial and personal aesthetic grounds, I think I prefer the phrase 'power outage' to 'no electric'

Language is for clear communication. If it does that, good. If it does it elegantly as well, very good.

Usually people who haven"t been there , I find them kind , polite and friendly, ILIKE their speech patterns not though not to say we get our lines crossed a bit , which causes amusement on both sides . As I say , it is a pleasant learning curve for all concerned . Long may it continue ! all the way

Think power outage is okay, whats wrong with it

I prefer good old fashioned 'power cut'. It'll do for my humble abode

lilygran and bags re evolving and ownership! No wonder people are confused with pronunciation, when 'Magdalen' is 'Maudlin' and 'Holborn' (perfectly straightforward) is something that sounds like Hoeburn.

'gotten' survives in British English as 'forgotten', 'begotten' and 'misbegotten'. The language divided when the first migrants left for America. Some usage survived there and died out here. It's all historical.

All historical, and all fascinating

Oh dear! Two Greek words in there, as well as a couple derived from Old English (by way of Anglian, aka German).

How shocking!