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Pedants' corner

Americanisms creeping in

(156 Posts)
Vintagegal13 Mon 29-Jul-19 07:14:12

There seem to be an overflow of Americanisms creeping in, which I cannot abide - my pet hate is 'can I grab' as in 'can I grab a coffee' - I feel like saying, I'm sure you can. Why do we find it necessary to copy such phrases? Is tv the big influence? and what phrase is your pet hate?

grandtanteJE65 Mon 29-Jul-19 13:42:26

"Can I have etc." I hear my father's stock response; "I imagine you are physically capable of it, but if you are soliciting my permission, you mean, May I?"

knspol Mon 29-Jul-19 13:40:37

All of the above plus '' it is what it is".

wicklowwinnie Mon 29-Jul-19 13:30:49

I still say "the Pictures".
It brings back memories of the back row of the 1/9s and a mis spent ( I wish ) youth. smile

Lorelei Mon 29-Jul-19 13:19:35

People that start sentences with 'So, ...'

People (especially sports men & women during interviews, and some of the commentators) that put 'like' & 'you know' into every sentence - sometimes several times in each sentence...makes me want to slap them with a dictionary. For some reason it infuriates me even more when the person is well-spoken and presumably well-educated. I'm thankful for the mute button!

The misuse and overuse of 'basically' & 'obviously' randomly littering sentences

'High five' / 'give me five'

Any of the new, lazy, abbreviated or mish-mashed words - the first ones that spring to mind are 'delish', & 'merch'

I'm sure there are loads more but I have to get ready to go out.

SirChenjin Mon 29-Jul-19 13:15:59

The 'can I get' is widely used here in Scotland, it's not American.

I dislike line (queue), birthed (gave birth to), literally (when it's not actually literal), reached out (that one literally sets my teeth on edge) and excited to.

DC3 who is 12 has started calling courgette 'zucchini'. I suspect he's doing it to wind me up (at least, I hope that's all it is) so I'm trying hard to ignore it.

wicklowwinnie Mon 29-Jul-19 13:15:48

Hi ! instead of Hello.

Ginger79 Mon 29-Jul-19 13:08:22

No worries

quizqueen Mon 29-Jul-19 13:03:28

cc.. I'm from the West Midlands and have always used 'mom', as did my mother, so that goes back over 100 years.

I hate 'gonna' instead of 'going to'.

Mauriherb Mon 29-Jul-19 12:54:53

Literally. I heard a couple of young girls chatting and one of them had "Literally died" of embarrassment!
I also dislike it when people talk about 110% or similar
Starting a sentence with "so"
And lastly when people say they got something "for free". It's either free, or for nothing .

Lilypops Mon 29-Jul-19 12:53:53

Can I get , Gotten, gifted, suck it up, Like, basically, oh I could go on and on .

cc Mon 29-Jul-19 12:40:01

Mom instead of Mum (apologies to any Americans online!)

cc Mon 29-Jul-19 12:39:01

"Impacted on" instead of "had an impact on". It only seems to have happened over the past couple of years and I really hate it.

mauraB Mon 29-Jul-19 12:36:58

I dislike 'Are you alright?' as a greeting. Can sound quite aggressive. The short version is 'Orl right?' I have spent some time wondering how to respond. I thought of a few choice responses but it is always best to be kind.
I decided that it was just a modern version of 'How do you do' to which the response is 'How do you do'
But I can't bring myself to say 'Are you alright' So I just say HELLO.

Bijou Mon 29-Jul-19 12:23:23

“ONLY” on every price ticket in the supermarkets and shops.

Maggieanne Mon 29-Jul-19 12:18:43

I heard a young girl on the radio last week saying that she broke a vaise . VAISE?, it's a vase for goodness sake, it sounded awful.

dogsmother Mon 29-Jul-19 12:12:30

Nom nom is my current verbal peeve!
Whatever happened to yum yum ?

Paba24 Mon 29-Jul-19 12:04:06

Drives me mad Americanisms all the time. We have always had influences from all different countries in our language but due to social media and the likes of Netflix the British language seems to be disappearing. Why do people keep saying movies, we have always said films. This has crept into the BBC and ITV etc. I actually heard Fiona Bruce saying the shooter instead of the gunman, winds me up no end.

Urmstongran Mon 29-Jul-19 12:02:46

I must have a very high tolerance level.
?

nanamac77 Mon 29-Jul-19 12:02:37

Don;t know whether it originated in America or here but I cannot stand " bored of" .
It should be bored WITH!!!

b1zzle Mon 29-Jul-19 12:02:01

Yep, basically amazing! Urgh!

Millie22 Mon 29-Jul-19 12:01:44

Like I say .... say what?

wicklowwinnie Mon 29-Jul-19 11:58:05

'BASICALLY' Though that does seem to have been dropped lately.

jaylucy Mon 29-Jul-19 11:55:03

I also find "like" really irritating. A few years ago in my area every sentence ended with "innit"
The expression "They're/it's the dog's bo*****" has always made me wonder what is so good about a part of a dog's anatomy besides annoying me!
I seen
Gutted

Better stop now as finding more and more!!!

phoenix Mon 29-Jul-19 11:54:46

When asked "Can I get....." the landlord of our local would reply " No you cant, that's my job"! grin

Whingingmom Mon 29-Jul-19 11:41:48

Call out
Eg “ I called her out for being incorrect”
It drives me mad as it makes no sense.