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firecatTwo articles about "Americanisms".
This one is written by a journalist and it's about language that originated in America that has made its way into British English.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/14130942
I had no idea that words like "talented" and "reliable" were once (or are still) considered objectionable.
Readers were invited to contribute their own Americanisms:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14201796
The list from readers is a mishmash of corporate jargon (e.g., "deplane"), abbreviations ("24/7"), phrases that mean something naughtier in British English than in American English ("fanny pack"), terminology that's different in different areas ("shopping cart" vs. "shopping trolley," "bi-weekly" vs. "fortnightly," "math" vs. "maths"), grammatical constructions ("can I get a"), words that have been turned into verbs ("alphabetize," "burglarize"), pop-culture memes that turn into more or less universal slang ("my bad"), words/phrases that I think are regionalisms rather than Americanisms ("that'll learn you," "where's it at?"), and phrases that I associate with a particular class or age cohort rather than a region ("I have an issue," "Let's touch base.")
It's fascinating which phrases/words bug me too ("normalcy," "deliverable"), which ones don't bug me but I can see why they bug someone ("I could care less"), and which ones seem completely normal to me and it never even occurred to me that non-Americans don't use them ("alphabetize," "expiration date").
Also it's fascinating what reasons people give for disliking words/phrases. "Transportation. What's wrong with transport?" "'Reach out to' when the correct word is 'ask'."
There are also 1295 comments. I haven't read them all. :-)
This one is written by a journalist and it's about language that originated in America that has made its way into British English.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/14130942
I had no idea that words like "talented" and "reliable" were once (or are still) considered objectionable.
Readers were invited to contribute their own Americanisms:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14201796
The list from readers is a mishmash of corporate jargon (e.g., "deplane"), abbreviations ("24/7"), phrases that mean something naughtier in British English than in American English ("fanny pack"), terminology that's different in different areas ("shopping cart" vs. "shopping trolley," "bi-weekly" vs. "fortnightly," "math" vs. "maths"), grammatical constructions ("can I get a"), words that have been turned into verbs ("alphabetize," "burglarize"), pop-culture memes that turn into more or less universal slang ("my bad"), words/phrases that I think are regionalisms rather than Americanisms ("that'll learn you," "where's it at?"), and phrases that I associate with a particular class or age cohort rather than a region ("I have an issue," "Let's touch base.")
It's fascinating which phrases/words bug me too ("normalcy," "deliverable"), which ones don't bug me but I can see why they bug someone ("I could care less"), and which ones seem completely normal to me and it never even occurred to me that non-Americans don't use them ("alphabetize," "expiration date").
Also it's fascinating what reasons people give for disliking words/phrases. "Transportation. What's wrong with transport?" "'Reach out to' when the correct word is 'ask'."
There are also 1295 comments. I haven't read them all. :-)
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no subject
Date: 21 Jul 2011 07:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 21 Jul 2011 10:24 pm (UTC)I've been known to say, e.g., "That'll larn you" even though I know the more formal way to say it is "That'll teach you."
I used to dislike "share" but someone I love uses it a lot and that made me fond of it.
One that drives me crazy is "gift" used as a verb.
no subject
Date: 22 Jul 2011 03:24 am (UTC)"Transportation." What's wrong with transport?
I'll tell you what's wrong with it -- it's a VERB, not a bloody noun! Transport is what you do to stuff. Transportation is the means you use to do it.
What kind of a word is "gotten"?
One WE still use that YOU have forgotten about! We got it from you, you etymologically-ignorant twit.
[/rant]