People using "Americanisms"

[Taunton Blue Genie]

Re: People using "Americanisms"

For years so called language experts refused to accept they way Londoners speak as an accent or dialect but it is. People tend to forget too the fact that the port of London and London docks were massive for centuries with all the differing nationals and accents that brings. A couple of hundred years ago there were so many ships trying to unload in the pool that it was said you could walk from one side of the pool of London to the other from ship to ship without getting your feet wet.

What language experts are you referring to? They sound pretty dopey to me and not very 'expert' - as a dialect is particular form of a language which is peculiar to a specific region or social group. Not David Crystal, I'm sure!

[xsnaggle]

Re: People using "Americanisms"

What language experts are you referring to? They sound pretty dopey to me and not very 'expert' - as a dialect is particular form of a language which is peculiar to a specific region or social group. Not David Crystal, I'm sure!

I listened to a discussion on the subject many years ago, with these people saying the cornish or the geordie speech was dialectic but london wasn't. I never agreed with it. I have known londoners all over the world in my time and their manner of speaking is equally as identifiable as any other english.

[Taunton Blue Genie]

Re: People using "Americanisms"

I listened to a discussion on the subject many years ago, with these people saying the cornish or the geordie speech was dialectic but london wasn't. I never agreed with it. I have known londoners all over the world in my time and their manner of speaking is equally as identifiable as any other english.

Many linguistic terms (e.g. language, dialect, accent) can't easily be defined 100% as they are part of a linguistic spectrum and/or continuum. Dogmatism and language don't always mix well.

[Tuerto]

Re: People using "Americanisms"

Many linguistic terms (e.g. language, dialect, accent) can't easily be defined 100% as they are part of a linguistic spectrum and/or continuum. Dogmatism and language don't always mix well.

Here's one for you. Why do Scandinavians seem to have the ability to speak English very well and even pick up the local accent?

[blue lewj]

Re: People using "Americanisms"

Pi$$ed being used for fed up rather than drunk is wrong.

[Taunton Blue Genie]

Re: People using "Americanisms"

Here's one for you. Why do Scandinavians seem to have the ability to speak English very well and even pick up the local accent?

Swedish, Norwegian and Danish are Germanic languages, as is English.
All those countries speak 'minor languages' and it is recognised by the educational system that they need to learn a 'world language' to get by - and English fits that bill in current times.
They all watch English language TV series and films in English but with sub-titles (unlike Germans whose programmes/films are usually dubbed)
English is considered 'cool'.

However, I will take my cue from anyone on here who knows more about the subject than I do and/or who has lived in Scandinavia. (I have only lived on the German/Dutch border).

[B. Oddie]

Re: People using "Americanisms"

Language is a moving feast and changes constantly. Grammar, nouns, verbs, phrases and meanings are all subject to change. Misspellings can become the standard version (and as to what spellings became the standard version in the first place is another story altogether). Some Americanisms (such as 'gotten') may grate with us are old English words we have since dispensed with. Grammatical rules we learned at school were often the results of academics trying to shoe-horn Latinisms on our Germanic language (which is heavily laced with vocabulary inherited from our Norman conquerors, of course). Plurals used to be expressed in different ways in different parts of the country, depending on linguistic influences in the regions concerned.
Change is the norm regarding language. Best roll with it and see it as part of the same continuum that spawned the English Language in the first place.

Consider where each of the words you just used came from: mostly German and partly French.

Interesting point, but I'm referring mainly to the phrases associated with American-English being used more frequently in British English rather than the origin of words or languages that have been encouraged by academics or even forcibly through colonialism.

Ultimately, my view on the use of the phrases that have crept in over recent years e.g. "Can I get a..." is that there is an air of pretence given by the user in a similar way that the 'yuppies' had.

I've also noticed that there's a often an inexplicable change in the user's diction to a pseudo-American accent when these phrases are being used, e.g. "you know what I mean, right!?"

[tomcat]

Re: People using "Americanisms"

Interesting point, but I'm referring mainly to the phrases associated with American-English being used more frequently in British English rather than the origin of words or languages that have been encouraged by academics or even forcibly through colonialism.

Ultimately, my view on the use of the phrases that have crept in over recent years e.g. "Can I get a..." is that there is an air of pretence given by the user in a similar way that the 'yuppies' had.

I've also noticed that there's a often an inexplicable change in the user's diction to a pseudo-American accent when these phrases are being used, e.g. "you know what I mean, right!?"

and "from the get go".......

[tomcat]

Re: People using "Americanisms"

I reckon so may young people have been brought up watching dross US TV programmes that their language has been affected as a result

[B. Oddie]

Re: People using "Americanisms"

Apologies, I didn't mean to make anyone feel small. Language fascinates me and I got carried away

I didn't feel "small" at all, so I've no idea what Delmbox is talking about. Not everything is about getting one over someone else....

I'm considering doing my Masters next year. If I don't do it soon, I'll never do it and will regret it, I think.

[Taunton Blue Genie]

Re: People using "Americanisms"

Interesting point, but I'm referring mainly to the phrases associated with American-English being used more frequently in British English rather than the origin of words or languages that have been encouraged by academics or even forcibly through colonialism.

Ultimately, my view on the use of the phrases that have crept in over recent years e.g. "Can I get a..." is that there is an air of pretence given by the user in a similar way that the 'yuppies' had.

I've also noticed that there's a often an inexplicable change in the user's diction to a pseudo-American accent when these phrases are being used, e.g. "you know what I mean, right!?"

But what you are talking about is all part of the same continuum. Linguistic influences arrive via a myriad of conduits and particular via modern media such as TV, radio and the Internet - phrases, inflections, mannerisms, pronunciations included. As a young man, I remember the word 'harass' being pronounced differently and I think that the change was probably due to the influence of American English. 'Ongoing' was a word that sounded awful to the British ear but I, like many others, have succumbed to using it. On the other hand, the American phrase 'talking with' as opposed to 'speaking to' seems wonderfully democratic.
We may wish to try and circle the linguistic wagons ourselves but our language (and it's no longer 'ours') will move on whether we like it or not. Similarly, Spanish-speakers in Spain are outnumbered by their counterparts in South America, as are the Portuguese-speakers in Portugal.

[Taunton Blue Genie]

Re: People using "Americanisms"

I didn't feel "small" at all, so I've no idea what Delmbox is talking about. Not everything is about getting one over someone else....

I'm considering doing my Masters next year. If I don't do it soon, I'll never do it and will regret it, I think.

Delmbox was ribbing me and I was apologising for coming over as a total lunatic

[Taunton Blue Genie]

Re: People using "Americanisms"

and "from the get go".......

Comes from 'black' slang in the 1960's apparently. A bit like 'rock and roll' (which meant sex).

[tomcat]

Re: People using "Americanisms"

Comes from 'black' slang in the 1960's apparently. A bit like 'rock and roll' (which meant sex).

Interesting

[StraightOuttaCanton]

Re: People using "Americanisms"

But what you are talking about is all part of the same continuum. Linguistic influences arrive via a myriad of conduits and particular via modern media such as TV, radio and the Internet - phrases, inflections, mannerisms, pronunciations included. As a young man, I remember the word 'harass' being pronounced differently and I think that the change was probably due to the influence of American English. 'Ongoing' was a word that sounded awful to the British ear but I, like many others, have succumbed to using it. On the other hand, the American phrase 'talking with' as opposed to 'speaking to' seems wonderfully democratic.
We may wish to try and circle the linguistic wagons ourselves but our language (and it's no longer 'ours') will move on whether we like it or not. Similarly, Spanish-speakers in Spain are outnumbered by their counterparts in South America, as are the Portuguese-speakers in Portugal.

Where did the use of ‘sick’ as being used to describe something as being great come from? Did it hail from some Germanic/French word? My American and Canadian colleagues use it every day... and now my kids do too ... Bloody Germans!!!