[Help] Those Darned Yanks? Endangered English, part 94

[studio150]

One of my recurring dreams, being questioned by authorities in America, and demanding an American-English translator before responding to any question.

 

[BBassic]

 

[nickbrighton]

The idiots that go up to a cafe / takeaway counter and say "can I get....?".

NO! You can't get anything you moron. The assistant behind the counter will get it.

I correct Mr Nickbrighton on this frequently. Why is it so hard to understand that "can i get " and "can I have" have two very different meanings and should elicit a very different response from the recipient. Just once I would love a server to say to someone "No, you can not get it, but I will get it for you"

 

[FamilyGuy]

I'm super excited - and have been from day one - that this subject is finally out in the open and being run up the flagpole, where we can all finally give it the mainstream attention that it so rightly deserves.

 

[Happy Exile]

My least favourite is "period". I have an acquaintance who'll say things like "Zaha is a worse diver than Grealish. Period." Other language appropriation from the US kind of makes sense in that it's bending the rules of grammar or meaning a bit, even if it's annoying, but we literally never use "period" for full stop so it's just a learned contrivance.

 

[maltaseagull]

The idiots that go up to a cafe / takeaway counter and say "can I get....?".

NO! You can't get anything you moron. The assistant behind the counter will get it.

I was made to promise not to try to correct my Granddaughters from saying that when we visited over Christmas.
Turns out almost everywhere we went people say that.

Even people old enough to have learned to speak in an age before the US started to influence our language.

 

[GT49er]

Do the math

World shortage of 's's?

 

[Icy Gull]

World shortage of 's's?

Exactly, the twats

Eraser (rubber)
Trunk (boot)
Hood (bonnet)
Flashlight
Aluminum

Are just five that annoy me, there are plenty more

Oh and color and rain check grrrrr

Chill factor is an Americanism I like though

 

[Brovion]

When Charles Dickens came back from touring the USA he introduced several Dreadful Americanisms in to the English Language; words such as 'lengthy', 'international', and 'influential'. They're all accepted 'English' words now.

But yes, whilst I acknowledge that the language must evolve (and it's a good thing too), I do sympathise with the OP and I do wince occasionally, especially when I think the speaker is simply saying it for effect. My own pet hates:

Can I get? = Please may I have
Ten after eight = Ten past eight
Upcoming = Forthcoming
Grilled cheese = Toasted cheese
Dropped = Released
"Brighton has a tricky game" = "Brighton have a tricky game" (Sports teams being referred to as singular entities).

And of course sometime the meaning is completely different. If we hear that something has been 'slated' it usually means it's been criticised, but Americans use it to mean 'earmarked'.
(Mind you I do use American spellings a lot! A legacy of having to write code without a self-correcting gui).

 

[GT49er]

"Zaha is a worse diver than Grealish. Period."

So just once a month then?

 

[rippleman]

I have a dear, close friend in Arkansas and I "talk yank" to her because it is easier than speaking English and then trying to explain it to her. I have told her that we are quite happy for them to speak English but to "use it properly or go and get your own language"!!

"I'm fixing to go out / have dinner" etc particularly irk.

 

[Icy Gull]

I have a dear, close friend in Arkansas and I "talk yank" to her because it is easier than speaking English and then trying to explain it to her. I have told her that we are quite happy for them to speak English but to "use it properly or go and get your own language"!!

"I'm fixing to go out / have dinner" etc particularly irk.

Works on this song though

https://youtu.be/eRl6-bHlz-4

 

[1066familyman]

With a heads up we could touch base to see what we can do going forward.

Blimey, I had no idea my manager posted on here.

 

[Mellor 3 Ward 4]

The idiots that go up to a cafe / takeaway counter and say "can I get....?".

NO! You can't get anything you moron. The assistant behind the counter will get it.

This.

Whatever happened to "Please may I have?"

 

[beorhthelm]

My least favourite is "period". I have an acquaintance who'll say things like "Zaha is a worse diver than Grealish. Period." Other language appropriation from the US kind of makes sense in that it's bending the rules of grammar or meaning a bit, even if it's annoying, but we literally never use "period" for full stop so it's just a learned contrivance.

the worst thing about this trait is that in writing we'd use the "!" to convey strong emphasis on the sentance. not only wierd to say the punctuation, its the wrong one.

 

[GT49er]

When Charles Dickens came back from touring the USA he introduced several Dreadful Americanisms in to the English Language; words such as 'lengthy', 'international', and 'influential'. They're all accepted 'English' words now.

But yes, whilst I acknowledge that the language must evolve (and it's a good thing too), I do sympathise with the OP and I do wince occasionally, especially when I think the speaker is simply saying it for effect. My own pet hates:

Can I get? = Please may I have
Ten after eight = Ten past eight
Upcoming = Forthcoming
Grilled cheese = Toasted cheese
Dropped = Released
"Brighton has a tricky game" = "Brighton have a tricky game" (Sports teams being referred to as singular entities)]].

And of course sometime the meaning is completely different. If we hear that something has been 'slated' it usually means it's been criticised, but Americans use it to mean 'earmarked'.
(Mind you I do use American spellings a lot! A legacy of having to write code without a self-correcting gui).

'Team' is singular - so 'Brighton (as in Brighton's team) has a tricky fixture' is correct (although admittedly it doesn't sound quite right).

'Players' on the other hand is a plural word - so if your 'Brighton' is referring to 'Brighton players' then they do correcty have a tricky fixture.

 

[Gilliver's Travels]

Shouldn't the catachreses needed to be rescued include Jonathan Swift book titles?

No rescue needed here! Don't expect everyone to be aware of a certain 19-goal,1970s Yorkshire-born forward named Allan...

 

[Gilliver's Travels]

The idiots that go up to a cafe / takeaway counter and say "can I get....?".

NO! You can't get anything you moron. The assistant behind the counter will get it.

Well played, sir!

Or should that be, er, This?

 

[Bakero]

'Team' is singular - so 'Brighton (as in Brighton's team) has a tricky fixture' is correct (although admittedly it doesn't sound quite right).

It doesn't sound right as in British English we tend to use a plural verb with collective nouns. Using the 3rd person with one is jarringly American. "The staff is nice"

 

[Gilliver's Travels]

My least favourite is "period". I have an acquaintance who'll say things like "Zaha is a worse diver than Grealish. Period." Other language appropriation from the US kind of makes sense in that it's bending the rules of grammar or meaning a bit, even if it's annoying, but we literally never use "period" for full stop so it's just a learned contrivance.

Surely, it crops up about once a month. Period.