Americanisms

  • Thread starter Jimlaad43
  • 907 comments
  • 48,836 views

Do you like Americanisms?

  • Yes, they are better than British spelling

    Votes: 53 16.1%
  • No, proper English should be used

    Votes: 117 35.5%
  • I don't care at all

    Votes: 95 28.8%
  • I prefer a mixture

    Votes: 65 19.7%

  • Total voters
    330
spoken "verse" never fails to irritate me.
Me, too. If somebody says "I'm going to verse you in basketball" (or the like), as them to make sure the rhyming scheme is ABABCC. Because to use "verse" as a verb like that could be taken to mean "commit to poetic verse".
 
I don't know if it's strictly an Americanism because I hear it from a lot of nationalities but 'versus' as in competition, spoken "verse" never fails to irritate me. How can so many people mispronounce a word when it's written pretty plainly how it should be spoken. I don't think there's any ambiguity about it. Stop it, people, it's retarded.
Frequently it isn't spelled out, and I'm sure many people have never seen the full word.
 
The United States Postal Service delivers mail.
Royal Mail delivers post.

I don't get that.

Apparently in 19th century parlance mail was for letters being sent abroad (or across water as the mail coach ran from London to Holyhead towards Dublin and later also the mail train) and post was for things being sent domestically.

And for what it's worth;

Mail - Comes from the Old English for a type of travel napsack or bag.
Post - Comes from the Latin for "to place or lay down" in the sense of delivering.
 
Re: Middle eastern country names. [...] and Kwatarr instead of Cutter.

I have a co-worker from the UAE and he said "kuh-tar" (similar to guitar, but a K instead of a G) for Qatar. I asked him which pronunciation was correct, and he said that you actually hear both versions outside America, as well.

The United States Postal Service delivers mail.
Royal Mail delivers post.

I don't get that.

We also drive on parkways, park on driveways, and put tolls on freeways.
 
I just found out this morning that in the US dialect the term ‘practice’ is both verb and noun and there is little to no use of the word ‘practise’.
 
One I've picked up from the Brits I play GTS with is contracting 'I have not' to 'I've not' instead of 'I haven't.'
 
I voted no proper English should be used as I think for the younger generation they go online and find a lot of words they have spelt in the past IE: COLOUR or RECOGNISE and they see it change or underlined as the software they are using is US and obviously spelt different in the states.
I think it would be easier if all used the same spellings, never going to happen but it would be easier for the education of the future generation, we know the differences but only because when I was going through schools internet and computers with US software were not available or maybe didn't exist. So we learnt the way we were taught in schools and through the books which were 99% british spellings.
On the other hand I think a lot of US spellings make more sense than the English versions again Colour is Color in the US simpler and easier.
On things like in the US the Bonnet of a car is called a hood makes no difference they both refer to the item covering the engine or motor again a different version of the same thing, It is just like regional differences in the same country over here where I live in the centre of the UK we call small individual round bread baps but if you travel only 60 70 miles north and ask for a bap you will get looked at like you have 3 heads and they won't have a clue what you mean, They refer to them as barm cakes! There is nothing cake about a piece of bread regardless if it is round square or rectangular.
I can say the only two things which makes me smile and think behave dopey is when Americans pronounce the word Jaguar when referring to the car brand,
It is often said as Jagwarr when the manufacturers named it Jaguar JAG-YOU-AR is the correct pronunciation.
The other is Aluminium and aluminum as I already said regional differences etc but it just makes me smile and think that's wrong when I here the US version.
:cheers:
 
I voted no proper English should be used as I think for the younger generation they go online and find a lot of words they have spelt in the past IE: COLOUR or RECOGNISE and they see it change or underlined as the software they are using is US and obviously spelt different in the states.
I think it would be easier if all used the same spellings, never going to happen but it would be easier for the education of the future generation, we know the differences but only because when I was going through schools internet and computers with US software were not available or maybe didn't exist. So we learnt the way we were taught in schools and through the books which were 99% british spellings.
On the other hand I think a lot of US spellings make more sense than the English versions again Colour is Color in the US simpler and easier.
On things like in the US the Bonnet of a car is called a hood makes no difference they both refer to the item covering the engine or motor again a different version of the same thing, It is just like regional differences in the same country over here where I live in the centre of the UK we call small individual round bread baps but if you travel only 60 70 miles north and ask for a bap you will get looked at like you have 3 heads and they won't have a clue what you mean, They refer to them as barm cakes! There is nothing cake about a piece of bread regardless if it is round square or rectangular.
I can say the only two things which makes me smile and think behave dopey is when Americans pronounce the word Jaguar when referring to the car brand,
It is often said as Jagwarr when the manufacturers named it Jaguar JAG-YOU-AR is the correct pronunciation.
The other is Aluminium and aluminum as I already said regional differences etc but it just makes me smile and think that's wrong when I here the US version.
:cheers:

Just so we know, is English your first language?
 
"Ya'll"
What's wrong with saying you all?

I've really only heard that from southerners and they don't really enunciate anything. I mostly hear people say "all of you" here, "you all" sounds just as bad as "ya'll".
 
My English has been Americanised by watching Amercian movies and TV series. But I try to ignore the Americanisation of my knowledge of the English language.
 
"Ya'll"
What's wrong with saying you all?
Too much effort. One syllable is much easier. Y'know what I mean?

"Y'know" is also much easier even though it has the same amount of syllables. The thing is, you can run the two words together without having to make a conscious pause between the two.
 
"Ya'll"
What's wrong with saying you all?
What's wrong with saying "do not" instead of "don't"? Or "I have" instead of "I've"? There are many word contractions out there, why's everyone seem to have a problem with "y'all"? Is it because it sounds silly or because it's not a real word? Hell, "she'd've" is a contraction of "she would have" and that sounds pretty silly too. :lol:

While I don't say "y'all" myself, I don't see what's wrong with saying it. We like shortening words to make it easier to say. You Australians like to shorten words as well, with words like "cuppa", "avro", and come on now you call McDonald's "Maccas". :P
 
In dialectal speech, instead of y'all, I say yous but not as a post-nominal.

So instead of:

Y'all gonna have a tough time.

I'd say:

Yous are going to have a a tough time.

But I wouldn't add it to the end as in "Welcome, y'all!". Also, I see a lot of posts on the internet where Americans act like they 'invented' y'all + ain't = yaint and it's an exclusive word that is only known if you're in the club. Well, you ain't but the you part is unstressed. Yaint is extremely common where I am from in Wales.
 
What's an avro? :P

Oh, that's easy:

AV_Roe_Bulls_Eye.jpg
 
What's wrong with saying "do not" instead of "don't"? Or "I have" instead of "I've"? There are many word contractions out there, why's everyone seem to have a problem with "y'all"? Is it because it sounds silly or because it's not a real word? Hell, "she'd've" is a contraction of "she would have" and that sounds pretty silly too. :lol:

While I don't say "y'all" myself, I don't see what's wrong with saying it. We like shortening words to make it easier to say. You Australians like to shorten words as well, with words like "cuppa", "avro", and come on now you call McDonald's "Maccas". :P
Moot point then:lol: I just don't like the phrase or use it often. I usually say "How are you people doing?" not "how are Y'ALL doing?"

Also, it's arvo not avro. Let me add a few more for you - servo, sanga, barby, snag, grog, piss, doodle, percy, dunny, uni, mate, clacker, dead horse, etc.
 
Just so we know, is English your first language?

Yes it is, My spelling and grammar is far from the best I know this and I don't care. I get by just fine.

Don't uh...don't you mean "spelled" there, bud?

:P

Obviously, "spelt" is different...

speltinfo.jpg

No bud spelt is very common in the UK if it is correct or not I don't know but is used and written quite a bit.
It's something I will stick with cheers.
 
Apostrophes. You guys haven't seen anything yet :lol:

whomst'd've'lu'yaint'nt'ed'ies's'y'es'nt't're'ing'able'tic'ive'al'nt'ne'm'll'ble'al'ny'less'w'ck'k'ly'py'nd'idy'ety'st'ged'ful'ish'ng'mt'ous'r'ya'zo'dig'y'nt'edy'ish'nt'full'orp'ish
 
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