Re: People using "Americanisms"
Quote:
Originally Posted by
A Quiet Monkfish
A lot of 'Americanisms' are actually of English origin, having survived export whilst losing influence in the UK. Similarly with words like 'sidewalk' and pavement'. Sidewalk is English in origin, pavement French. As the song goes, you say 'Tomato' with an 'A' as opposed to an 'AH'. When British started colonizing America a lot of English in the provinces would have pronounced it the American way. It was in London and the upper echelons of society where Received Pronunciation was the norm, that the 'AH' sound in tomato spread to the general UK population. There's a really good piece on The Great Vowel Shift here :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOOAb7erAmE
Indeed, and as I stated in my first post in this thread. :thumbup:
One interesting factor is that the larger a population, the quicker the language changes. Hence what were once small colonies thinly spread over large distances retaining vocabulary since dispensed with by the linguistic 'mother' countries.
Conversely, those 'mother' countries are now in the minority regarding population numbers - and let's not forget the influence on American English by immigrants whose mother tongue wasn't English.
Re: People using "Americanisms"
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Taunton Blue Genie
Don't we sometimes use the decorative word 'Well' when starting a sentence when others say 'So'?
By the way, I am not a fan of the "I'm good" retort but it will probably be doing the rounds long after I expire.
The word 'nice' used to mean ignorant so it's a waste of time being too Canute-like regarding language.
Early this week I was reading about metathesis i.e. where consonant change places in a word e.g. bird was formally brid, foliage was previously foilage, wasp was previously węps etc.
Metathesis exists both across and within languages.
Out of the ones I mentioned, back in the day and get go have been around long enough for children to hear them and think that they have always been around, therefore they're perfectly legitimate for them to use and they'd be right - I daresay, answering questions with so falls into the same category as well.
However, the three at the bottom of my message (north of, speaks to and moving forward) fascinate me because they're almost exclusively used by adults in my experience - if I had to guess where they originated, I think it may well be in a kind of media speak, because I barely hear them in face to face conversation,
Re: People using "Americanisms"
Can I get a coffee? Instead Can I have a coffee , that seems to be an Americanism or is it juts bad grammar?
I was on holiday once and an American in a bar asked a friend how long we were on holiday for, to which the English chap replied 'A fortnight'. The American asks 'What the hell is a fortnight' I had to explain to him in was 14 days and a shortening fourteen nights. He said ' Jeez you guys sure do have a strange language'!! Oh the irony.
Re: People using "Americanisms"
Quote:
Originally Posted by
cardiff55
Can I get a coffee? Instead Can I have a coffee , that seems to be an Americanism or is it juts bad grammar?
I was on holiday once and an American in a bar asked a friend how long we were on holiday for, to which the English chap replied 'A fortnight'. The American asks 'What the hell is a fortnight' I had to explain to him in was 14 days and a shortening fourteen nights. He said ' Jeez you guys sure do have a strange language'!! Oh the irony.
I don't see the irony. You understand what "can I get" means. Why would you have to use an archaic term to shorten "fourteen nights" when you can just say "two weeks".
Re: People using "Americanisms"
Skejool is the one that irritates me. I wouldn't mind so much if they changed the spelling from schedule.
Re: People using "Americanisms"
Several "Americanisms" piss me off!
"Reaching out" when talking/contacting someone.
"I'll get a...." as opposed to "please can I have"
Plus spelling.
Z used in place of S, example colonize and colonise
S used in place of C, example offense and offence
Both examples used in this thread by, I assume, people educated in the UK..
Funnily enough though, the omission of the letter U in words like colour doesn't bother me. Hey oh.
Re: People using "Americanisms"
Quote:
Originally Posted by
cardiff55
Can I get a coffee? Instead Can I have a coffee , that seems to be an Americanism or is it juts bad grammar?
I was on holiday once and an American in a bar asked a friend how long we were on holiday for, to which the English chap replied 'A fortnight'. The American asks 'What the hell is a fortnight' I had to explain to him in was 14 days and a shortening fourteen nights. He said ' Jeez you guys sure do have a strange language'!! Oh the irony.
I think having a word for 2 weeks is quite a novel thing, I'm not aware of it in any other languages.
Re: People using "Americanisms"
Staycation is another one which you'll never hear me saying.
Re: People using "Americanisms"
Quote:
Originally Posted by
cardiff55
Can I get a coffee? Instead Can I have a coffee , that seems to be an Americanism or is it juts bad grammar?
I was on holiday once and an American in a bar asked a friend how long we were on holiday for, to which the English chap replied 'A fortnight'. The American asks 'What the hell is a fortnight' I had to explain to him in was 14 days and a shortening fourteen nights. He said ' Jeez you guys sure do have a strange language'!! Oh the irony.
He would have understood if you said fortnite.
Re: People using "Americanisms"
Quote:
Originally Posted by
the other bob wilson
Staycation is another one which you'll never hear me saying.
For sure.
Re: People using "Americanisms"
Quote:
Originally Posted by
the other bob wilson
Staycation is another one which you'll never hear me saying.
I always thought a staycation was when you took time off work but stayed in your house but it now seems to be a holiday where you don't fly.
People were probably saying they'dl never use google as a verb 20 years ago, or saying they'd always say smiley rather than emoji. Language evolves and we start using them without realising it.
Re: People using "Americanisms"
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Croesy Blue
I think having a word for 2 weeks is quite a novel thing, I'm not aware of it in any other languages.
French maybe? :shrug: :hehe:
Re: People using "Americanisms"
Quote:
Originally Posted by
StraightOuttaCanton
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!!!
Some of the words younger people use that mean the opposite what they appear began I read, because of predictive text. A texter would start to type the word he wanted but the predictor put up something else which was not corrected. There was one word in particular that was commented on. I believe from then on it became the in thing , a bit like 'bad' and 'wicked'.
Re: People using "Americanisms"
Quote:
Originally Posted by
xsnaggle
French maybe? :shrug: :hehe:
French is the one language I'm sure don't have it, they do use lendemain for the day after tomorrow, but we have overmorrow it's just never used.
Re: People using "Americanisms"
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Blue Dwr
Several "Americanisms" piss me off!
"Reaching out" when talking/contacting someone.
"I'll get a...." as opposed to "please can I have"
Plus spelling.
Z used in place of S, example colonize and colonise
S used in place of C, example offense and offence
Both examples used in this thread by, I assume, people educated in the UK..
Funnily enough though, the omission of the letter U in words like colour doesn't bother me. Hey oh.
The USA had a stab at making spelling more regular whereas we are left with anomalies such as:
practice (noun), practise (verb)
licence (noun), license (verb)
Re: People using "Americanisms"
Quote:
Originally Posted by
the other bob wilson
Out of the ones I mentioned, back in the day and get go have been around long enough for children to hear them and think that they have always been around, therefore they're perfectly legitimate for them to use and they'd be right - I daresay, answering questions with so falls into the same category as well.
However, the three at the bottom of my message (north of, speaks to and moving forward) fascinate me because they're almost exclusively used by adults in my experience - if I had to guess where they originated, I think it may well be in a kind of media speak, because I barely hear them in face to face conversation,
'North of' and 'South of' have a certain logic whereby those directions are related to up and down - just as we say 'up in Scotland' or 'down in Cornwall'.
However, wearing my cartographer's hat I would say that we have only considered 'North' as 'up' since maps were presented that way.
Historically, many maps used to have East at the top, hence the terms 'to orient', 'orient(at)ed', 'disorient(at)ed' etc.
In those days we would have perhaps said 'up in Norfolk' and 'down in Wales'.
Re: People using "Americanisms"
Quote:
Originally Posted by
xsnaggle
But so means because, whereas Well indicates an answer to what was asked. As for 'nice' my understanding has always been that nice originally meant fine as in very slim, for example 'a nice distinction' between two points of view. But I believe that the word had several differing meanings.
The word 'nice' came to us via the Latin word 'nascire' and meaning 'not knowing' (or 'no science', as it were).
In due course it came to mean, in turn: ignorant, foolish, timid, fastidious, dainty, careful and, eventually, pleasant.
Re: People using "Americanisms"
I probably have quite a bizarre vernacular nowadays.
A hybrid of words, spellings and pronunciations.
I still have that smooth, melodious Newport twang though...Rewnd the Rewndabewt 😁
Re: People using "Americanisms"
Deplane is the laziest I've heard ,and its lacks a plainness
Re: People using "Americanisms"
One I've noticed creeping in recently, is to say 'two times' instead of 'twice'. As in "I watched City two times last week". Why is that? It's easier to say twice, surely?