Americanisms

[axletramp]

Happy Eater as well! Do they still exist?

 

[TheCracker]

Wimpy was kind of a diner but I'm not sure if they still exist in the UK any more.

Still exists, but although it started off in the UK, there aren't that many left. They actually exist in far greater numbers in other countries all over the world.

 

[W3H5]

Maybe because it franchises it's brand and it isn't the best option for an investor?

 

[BobK]

A big one I noticed today;

Fanny.

In either language it's rather rude but in English I'd say even more so.

Actually in my school days "fanny" was an acceptable euphemism for the three-letter word.

 

[DrKronin]

I didn't manage to read this whole thread, so apologies if this was already pointed out.

As an American who works on a British team, I have but one real gripe with UK English: The letter 'r'. British people seem never to pronounce it. To clear a whiteboard, you folks use an "erasuh." The person piloting a vehicle is the "drivuh," and so on. I could just chalk this up to a difference in dialect, concluding that this is just how you folks pronounce 'r,' but then the correct pronunciation (at least from an American perspective) suddenly appears in the oddest of places: at the end of words in situations where the word ends in a vowel sound and the following word begins with one. Thus, "America and Britain" becomes "Americur and Britain." It proves that you CAN correctly pronounce 'r,' but choose only to do so in that weird situation.

I assume that practice arose to keep words from seeming to run together. I can see how that makes a bit of sense, but here's the rub: Since you folks don't pronounce the 'r' at the end of words spelled with it, those words effectively have a vowel sound at the end. Thus, to contrive another example, "I used the eraser at the front of the room" is "I used the erasuh at..." To my American ear, that constitutes 2 consecutive vowel sounds. Shouldn't British speakers then change "erasuh" to "eraser" to avoid that?

Apologies if these ramblings make no sense. While you Brits have been up all day, I just woke up

 

[DrKronin]

anyone from Oregon that says organ

Heh, just saw this. I've lived in Oregon almost my whole life, and I can tell you, there's only one right way to pronounce it. People living on the East Coast of the US usually call it "Ore-gone", with the "gone" part pronounced like, well, "gone." We usually ask them, "where has it gone?" The correct pronunciation (as seen on thousands of bumper stickers all over the state) is "Ory-gun." The 'y' is pronounced varyingly as either a short 'i' sound or with a very slight long 'e'.

East Coasters also prefer to accent the last syllable, while Oregonians (yes, that's what we call ourselves. Don't ask) accent the first syllable.

 

[thesrdic]

Peugeot or Perrgeot

Per-goet ? Not poo-joet anyway

 

[TheCracker]

Shouldn't British speakers then change "erasuh" to "eraser" to avoid that?

The only time i've ever heard a British person use the word 'eraser' is when talking about one of Arnie's less successful films.

 

[Famine]

Also it's "ee-race-err", not "ee-rays-err".

 

[thesrdic]

As I see it, you either speak Queen's English or you're speaking a foreign language. I despise the term English (US).

Also, in motorsport (not motorracing) you have corners and straights. There's no such thing as a 'straightaway'.

Metre not meter

Colour

Aluminium

Etc

 

[Pyle_PMG]

The only time i've ever heard a British person use the word 'eraser' is when talking about one of Arnie's less successful films.

Don't they call it a rubber?

 

[TheCracker]

Don't they call it a rubber?

Pretty much so.

 

[mattythedog]

Don't they call it a rubber?

We do. And I've learnt that in the US a rubber is a condom. Apparently quite awkward when a mate asked for a rubber in a supermarket and was surprised what he was lead to.

 

[Pyle_PMG]

We do. And I've learnt that in the US a rubber is a condom. Apparently quite awkward when a mate asked for a rubber in a supermarket and was surprised what he was lead to.

! That must have been quite the experience.

 

[Famine]

Metre not meter

That must make measuring other things a bit difficult. Especially if you call your scales a "kilo metre".

 

[PeterJB]

As an American who works on a British team, I have but one real gripe with UK English: The letter 'r'. British people seem never to pronounce it. To clear a whiteboard, you folks use an "erasuh." The person piloting a vehicle is the "drivuh," and so on. I could just chalk this up to a difference in dialect, concluding that this is just how you folks pronounce 'r,' but then the correct pronunciation (at least from an American perspective) suddenly appears in the oddest of places: at the end of words in situations where the word ends in a vowel sound and the following word begins with one. Thus, "America and Britain" becomes "Americur and Britain." It proves that you CAN correctly pronounce 'r,' but choose only to do so in that weird situation.

I assume that practice arose to keep words from seeming to run together. I can see how that makes a bit of sense, but here's the rub: Since you folks don't pronounce the 'r' at the end of words spelled with it, those words effectively have a vowel sound at the end. Thus, to contrive another example, "I used the eraser at the front of the room" is "I used the erasuh at..." To my American ear, that constitutes 2 consecutive vowel sounds. Shouldn't British speakers then change "erasuh" to "eraser" to avoid that?

R is very unevenly distributed here. Wiltshire and Somerset more than make up for the lack of it everywhere else. Frequency tends to decrease as you descend down the social classes too

 

[TheCracker]

We do. And I've learnt that in the US a rubber is a condom. Apparently quite awkward when a mate asked for a rubber in a supermarket and was surprised what he was lead to.

Wonder what he'd have been lead to if he'd asked for a box of johnnies?

 

[thesrdic]

That must make measuring other things a bit difficult. Especially if you call your scales a "kilo metre".

'Metre as in 1000mm/100cm/10dm that is
I just call 'scales' 'scales'

But the WORST americanism possible is Paleontology. It is PalAeontology.

 

[DrKronin]

The only time i've ever heard a British person use the word 'eraser' is when talking about one of Arnie's less successful films.

Hehe. Just my luck to choose an example you folks would never use yourselves. I guess I should have stuck with "drivuh"

I'm heading to London next week for my first time leaving North America. Looking forward to experiencing all of this firsthand

 

[DrKronin]

But the WORST americanism possible is Paleontology. It is PalAeontology.

Worse than "deplane?" Every time I hear that come over the intercom on an airplane (that's an aircraft or aeroplane to you blokes) I feel a little sick, and I've lived here my whole life.

Of course, I guess we could create a new thread chock full of stupid things they say on planes.

 

[Pupik]

But the WORST americanism possible is Paleontology. It is PalAeontology.

American English barely recognizes the "ae" sound (so don't bother telling me it's actually supposed to be a ligature), and usually substitutes a hard "e", and drops the "a".

Thus, we write:
encyclopedia, not "encyclopaedia"
orthopedic, not "orthopaedic"

Although we sometimes get around spelling Michael by just saying "Mike".

Of course, I guess we could create a new thread chock full of stupid things they say on planes.

Can't help but think of this guy every time deplane is mentioned.

On the other hand, telling everyone to "get off" doesn't quite sound right (to say the least), and it's a little impolite to say "get out" (unless there's been an accident). Nobody says the word "disembark" here, because you're probably about to embark on a connecting flight, or get a rental car.

It takes too much time to say "we will now begin the disembarking process", which honestly sounds like a rare procedure veterinarians perform on noisy canines.

 

[Keef]

LET US ANALYZE.

lae = lay

pae = pay

If you insist on the presence of an A but want it to sound like pee, spell it like pea, because there exists a vegetable that is already called that.

Like treason. If anything, your encyclopaedia should be spelled encyclopeadia, because at least that spelling is congruous with other spellings.

Or you could just spell everything like the Germans do because it makes sense every single time.

 

[Famine]

It's a different sound. Learn some diction, uncouth colonial.

 

[thesrdic]

^

Worse than "deplane?"

Just. Deplane is up there though 👍, with the likes of 'straightaway', 'chips' and 'jelly'

 

[Danoff]

Metre not meter

Do you pronounce it that way? With "re" instead of "er". Because if you pronounce it meat-er, you should spell it meter.

I'm in favor of things that make sense. I think language should make as much sense as possible. I don't like silent letters, and I hate rearranged letters. British pronunciation does this, but so does some American pronunciation.

In Texas they like to refer to the Pedernales river as "Pur-duh-now-lez". How the r got in front of the d I'll never know.

Another bastardization of the written word (but fun to listen to):

"Commander Data and I" becomes "Cammanda Dater and I". How did the "r" jump from the end of one word to the end of the next?

Pronounce it like it's spelled and spell it like it's pronounced and we'll have no problems. I don't care if you call it spelt or spelled as long as you spell it the way you say it.

 

[axletramp]

All this US vs UK English is making my head spin. I'm off for a fag...




Any excuse for a rubbish gag!

 

[thesrdic]

Do you pronounce it that way? With "re" instead of "er". Because if you pronounce it meat-er, you should spell it meter.

Pronounce it like it's spelled and spell it like it's pronounced and we'll have no problems. I don't care if you call it spelt or spelled as long as you spell it the way you say it.

Still pronounced the same, Metre is just the original and correct spelling

Pronounce Peugoet as it's spelled (or try spelling it as it's pronounced!
Purzhyot?
We don't have enough consonants
Also, try pronouncing Opisthocoelicaudia as it's spelled

 

[Danoff]

Still pronounced the same, Metre is just the original and correct spelling

If you want to spell it that way, you need to say "Me Tree" or "Me Treh".

Pronounce Peugoet as it's spelled (or try spelling it as it's pronounced!
Purzhyot?
We don't have enough consonants
Also, try pronouncing Opisthocoelicaudia as it's spelled

The French are the worst. Everything is pronounced "au". The word could be "houxoughex" and it's pronounced "au". Horrible language.

 

[Mike Rotch]

Pronounce it like it's spelled and spell it like it's pronounced and we'll have no problems. I don't care if you call it spelt or spelled as long as you spell it the way you say it.

You mean like Arkansas and Tuscan? .

Horrible language.

*Not sure if being sarcastic*

 

[Pupik]

You mean like Arkansas...? .

Which was explored by the French in the 17th Century.