Americanisms...is it just me that finds them irritating?

tea_lover

peachyprice wrote: »

It's the American spelling of replacing an 's' with a 'z' in words that get me.

Yes!! I have no idea why this annoys me as much as it does!

picklekin

peachyprice wrote: »

It's the American spelling of replacing an 's' with a 'z' in words that get me.

Although I am guilty of calling a 'z' a zee not a zed Always have, always will.

Some words with Z in are indeed incorrect, however a LOT of American words that use Z are actually based on old Elizabethan dialect and more "correctly" English than our own S words. They just used an older dictionary when they "crossed over".

Orlando_Virgin

When people call their mates "dude or "bro"

The overusage of awesome and "no way"

adouglasmhor

Tiddlywinks wrote: »

Dislike it too.. Along with American spellings of words such as 'color' instead of 'colour'.

Also, in the UK it's 'mum' not 'mom' except for very small regional variations.

... Finally, the 'gangsta' use and mis-use is cringeworthy - 'Feds' instead of 'police' as an example.

I remember in Glasgow in the late 70s when "Feds" or "Federales" started to be used instead of "Cossacks" to refer to the police. I think it was influenced by an advert for Bandit biscuits.

lostinrates

I always think a parent should be proud when their child is successful, not envious

There are so many instances of people complaining when actually the historical president in European, or indeed British that I usually smile and nod. After all, even things as 'American as apple pie' have routes through Europe.....just as much we consider 'ours'. I'd hate live in an England without apples and roses I'd miss free living non native fauna like rabbits. I cannot imagine what the British would drink without tea,

By all means celebrate our culture, I'm terribly in favour of that. But we've never stood alone without influence for cultural, practical and political development. Thank goodness.

Georgiegirl256

LondonDiva wrote: »

The one I loathe more than anything is MOM - when I see it in posts, I can feel the twitch!

My cousin calls my Aunty Mom, and I've got to admit, that's one Americanism that bugs me....we're from the North....it's Mam up here! :rotfl:

My OH says dude a lot....

heartbreak_star

I don't like "ph" being replaced with "f" either - like in sulphur.

And "aluminum" instead of "aluminium" makes me want to go gnaw chunks out of something.

HBS x

peachyprice

Orlando_Virgin wrote: »

When people call their mates "dude or "bro"

The overusage of awesome and "no way"

Yes, my teenage sons visibly cringe when I greet them with 'yo bro'

Voyager2002

On the whole I agree...

The point is that we need precise language in order to think clearly, and most Americanisms are a lot vaguer than the English terms they replace. So we are losing some of the power of our language, and that makes us increasingly vulnerable to dishonest politicians, advertisers and so on.

Whenever someone uses one of these terms to me I always fail to understand, and perhaps look them in the eye and ask "Did you mean to say...?" and use the correct English term. Quite often there will be two or three slightly different ways of saying it in English, illustrating very clearly the loss in precision that comes with the adoption of Americanisms.

Goldiegirl

Tiddlywinks wrote: »

Dislike it too.. Along with American spellings of words such as 'color' instead of 'colour'.

Also, in the UK it's 'mum' not 'mom' except for very small regional variations.

... Finally, the 'gangsta' use and mis-use is cringeworthy - 'Feds' instead of 'police' as an example.

That whole 'gangsta' thing drives me crackers.

When they interview young 'urban' youths on TV who talk in a strange trans Atlantic gangsta slang, rather than their own regional accent, I want to but a brick though the screen!