Americanisms
- Thread starter Jimlaad43
- 916 comments
- 53,956 views
- 9,262
- Corsham
- lipming
I feel I may have consumed too much american media in my time. My peers hate it if I say "Zeebra" instead of "Zebra" and Gas Station instead of Petrol Station, for example.
Why is Uni called College over there? Over here College is an institute that Chav's with rubbish GCSE's go to to get a BTEC in Makeup or Hairdressing or whatever.
Why is Uni called College over there? Over here College is an institute that Chav's with rubbish GCSE's go to to get a BTEC in Makeup or Hairdressing or whatever.
- 415
- GTP_infamousDee
- 38,977
- Application hell
- MP-Omnis
Yep. My uncle lives in Arkansas and was thinking about buying a truck. He was pumping gas and this guy pulls up next to him to fill up his pickup. My uncle asks how his truck is and whether he likes it. The response was, "Yeap, runs like a SCAWRWRLWLDID DAWWRWRWRG."
He had to ask his friend from LSU what the heck he said. It was "scalded dog".
- 7,551
- London
- MattyTheDog
wfoosheeA university is a collection of colleges. College is anything past high school.
And I don't know the difference between Zeebra and Zebra. They sound the same. Can you elaborate?
In England its 'Zeb-ra', but in the US it's 'zee-bra'.
- 7,551
- London
- MattyTheDog
wfooshee
Yeah short 'e', which is CORRECT!
- 4,209
- Wasilla, AK
This thread cracks me up.
Last edited:
- 736
- Negrumir
So Zeb as in Zebulon Pike rather than Zeb as in Zebra. You really say Zebra with a short e? Eww! That's as wrong as saying "bear" for "beer."
But if you remember the movie "The Big Lebowski."
The older guy (the narrator who shows up in the movie itself) is quoted as saying. "Sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes the bear eats you."
But he pronounces "Bear" as "Bar." And yes, I've actually heard plenty of people say it similarly.
As for my preferences between British and American, I'd go with neither/both.
I tend to say my words as properly as possible. If I ever throw an accent in their, it'll be a fairly heavy country/southern accent. That's just what I grew up around.
Kilometer:
Kill-oh-meter
or
"Kilomiter" (the "om" as in "bomb" and the "eter" as in "jitter" Also, said all at once as though it's only one syllable.)
I say it the first way, which I'd guess would be the British way.
Kilo + meter = Kilometer.
Related: it's kinda odd that Top Gear (the UK version) uses Miles Per Hour as their standard measurement of speed. Any idea why?
Lastly, and somewhat unrelated.
Cargo goes in a ship.
Shipment goes in a car.
- 7,551
- London
- MattyTheDog
^ The top gear question.
It's because the UK used MPH, miles, feet etc., and it would cost too much to change every sign and speedo and it would also be very confusing. So we just stick to old measurements in some cases.
It's because the UK used MPH, miles, feet etc., and it would cost too much to change every sign and speedo and it would also be very confusing. So we just stick to old measurements in some cases.
noisiaturismo
(Banned)
- 2,093
- Netherland
- help me im banned
I like American better.
- 87,821
- Rule 12
- GTP_Famine
Indeed not - and I hear newsreaders referring to the "home sekkutry" twenty times a day. It's still not right.
Correct pronounciation of "Wednesday" is so mind-bogglingly rare even here in the UK that my wife was the first person I met in 10 years to say it properly...
Uh... okay.
Wednesday. Nope, after the "D" is an "N", not an "S". To contract "Wednesday" to "Weds" you need an apostrophe to denote the long chain of missing letters between the "D" and the "S".
Mathematics. Nope, after the "H" is an "E", not an "S". To contract "Mathematics" to "Maths" you need an apostrophe to denote the long chain of missing letters between the "H" and the "S".
- 2,547
- Vancouver, BC
Well you guys say " restrooms " which we call bathrooms or washrooms and you getbthe dumbest looks if you go across the line and don't call it a restroom lol.
Knit caps is another favorite. They are toques up here and a knit cap is what your grandma knit you for Christmas and even then still called a toque.
Knit caps is another favorite. They are toques up here and a knit cap is what your grandma knit you for Christmas and even then still called a toque.
- 2,894
- WA, USA
- Roush_fan_99
- GTP Roush fan99
Ignore post
- 87,821
- Rule 12
- GTP_Famine
That doesn't surprise me. I bet "secretary" (four syllables, newsreaders) and "drawing" (there's ONE "R" in drawing, NOT TWO) would be quite high up too.
To learn to pronounce "Wednesday" properly, just remember where it came from. The English language days of the week and their roots are:
Sunday (Sunna's Day [Sun Day])
Monday (Mani's Day [Moon Day])
Tuesday (Teiws's Day)
Wednesday (Woden's Day)
Thursday (Thor's Day)
Friday (Freya's Day)
Saturday (Saturn's Day)
They're largely Norse or Germanic myth figures, with Saturday being the only one to retain the earlier Roman name (countries which retain Roman day names have Sun Day, Moon Day, Mars Day, Mercury Day, Jupiter Day, Venus Day and Saturn Day). For Wednesday, just the "o" of "Woden" has changed to an "e". The second "e" is effectively unpronounced ("Woden" is pronounced "Woe-dun" not "Woe-den", which mutates into "Woe-dn"). Woden's Day becomes Wedn's Day...
- 7,551
- London
- MattyTheDog
NealImpressive and comprehensive post Famine...especially on sod all sleep
Some say........ He doesn't need sleep, and that he spends his spare hours reading encyclopaedias.
- 27,222
- United Kingdom
If you're Mike Brewer it's Mitsubishi.
Mit-ser-bushy.
On Americanisms (or should it be Americanizms?
) in general: I have to pretty much get used to them, writing for a U.S-based media group. There's every chance that when reading a post of mine on GTP you'll find a mix of US and UK spellings and terminologies because I use them on a daily basis.The only one I have to really concentrate on is aluminium/aluminum, because it's an unnatural word to type and I usually need to double-check to make sure I've used the U.S. spelling.
You'll never get me pronouncing it the American way though unless I'm required to do a video for the site at some point...
- 87,821
- Rule 12
- GTP_Famine
Also, aluminium is right. The downside is that we have to give them "sulfur" in exchange, but then the "ph" version always was a Britishism.
Many don't realise that -ise is a Britishism too - they think -ize is an Americanism. In fact We used -ize and the pilgrims took it with them, so we changed to -ise to distinguish ourselves from the upstart colonials.
Many don't realise that -ise is a Britishism too - they think -ize is an Americanism. In fact We used -ize and the pilgrims took it with them, so we changed to -ise to distinguish ourselves from the upstart colonials.
- 27,222
- United Kingdom
It irritates me slightly because it's inconsistently applied whether you're in the UK or US. Both countries have a mix of "ise" and "ize" words where one or the other would do perfectly well because they sound basically identical in all but a few words. I'd prefer if one country stuck to "ise" and the other to "ize" for a bit of consistency...
Also, while I'd like to side with the U.S. on "tire" vs. "tyre" because it's written as it sounds, they're two different words. You can tire of tyres, but tiring of tires is stupid.
RTSolvalou
(Banned)
- 1,188
You drive a knee-san? Never heard of it.
- 38,977
- Application hell
- MP-Omnis
Except Nissan is pronounced just like that. Only the English would find a way to pronounce it so that it rhymes with piss.
Similar threads
