http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14201796

This a follow on from a piece that we talked about the other week, essentially 50 Americanisms that annoy us.

Some of the comments are quite entertaining. Examples below

The next time someone tells you something is the "least worst option", tell them that their most best option is learning grammar

What kind of word is "gotten"? It makes me shudder Me too. Hate it.

"I could care less" instead of "I couldn't care less" has to be the worst. Opposite meaning of what they're trying to say grrrrr


I get annoyed by the apparent need to turn nouns into verbs. To golf in place of to play golf, for example. Are people really so short of time that they can't manage one extra word to speak or write nicely?


Two nations divided by a common language

"i'll go with"
"i'll bring with"
"are you coming with"

actually NO i'm not, until you can add the extra words you can "**** right of with"

I find the topic of language and its variations fascinating. Some of these American phrases are irritating but some people really do get their knickers in a twist (US version - panties in a wad!) about them.

I am waiting for someone to point out that some words date back to older forms of English, which is true but we haven't used them for hundreds of years, so why should we now?

Just remembered two others that irritate. I watch a lot of cookery programmes and have no idea why the Americans and Canadians all say 'erbs instead of Herbs or carmelise instead of caramelise. I presume the former is a daft French import, but the latter just seems lazy.

Oh and the British pronounciation of schedule is with a soft SH sound at the beginning. The hard SK is what Americans say, so Brits please say it our way unless you want to incur my wrath. Thanks

I was watching an American programme and somebody used the word "Conversate" As in.."You and I need to conversate about this" ?????

I love the Urban dictionary definition and response to this word.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/defin...erm=conversate

I like this, how about ax, as in "you betta ax somebody." Also a god UB definition....

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=ax

My most hated Americanism is "Inbox me"

wtf?

ohh, i loathe "my bad" and this recent widespread use of "awkward"...

MM, xx

There are 250 million Americans who annoy me. Oh, sorry, Americanisms...

I think "gotten" is the most interesting of those, given "forgotten" is still widespread; "begotten" seems to have fallen out of use too but "misbegotten" is still seen occasionally.

I can't take "I could care less" seriously.

... though it is somewhat bizarre that the other 52 odd* million do not.


* [and some are very odd indeed]

Well said.

Is that really an Americanism, though? I thought it was just retarded 'internet slang' used by semi-literate and barely sentient 'teens' on these interwebs here?

Whenever I hear or read it, the overwhelming urge is to counter with "your bad WHAT? Grammar? Sense? Judgement?"

Err... that's more of a southern English pronunciation...most people up North and across the border say it with a 'hard SK'. Which SHool did you go to?

SKedule just sounds wrong.

It's Shed-ule.

Well I don't think so. Quite a lot of American pronunciations came from the Scots, Irish and "Scotch-Irish" (US for Ulster Scots) influence... e.g., pinkie though often called little finger in the Midlands and south England.

True - and so too a lot of Americans.



The Scotch-Irish have a LOT to answer for....


... I jest, of course.