Phrases/words that set your teeth on edge.

[Serial_Apologist]

1983! ... excuse me for being so impertinent to a formidable forum lady but what age are you, jean?

Even the BBC ... currently riddled with staff using Americanisms ... seems to have noticed!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14201796

Thanks - I've sent those Americanisms over the waves to my friend in Toronto, to see what she makes of them!

[P. G. Tipps]

Thanks - I've sent those Americanisms over the waves to my friend in Toronto, to see what she makes of them!

For goodness sake don't thank me, S_A ...

Thank that wretched imperialistic and capitalist organisation called the BBC!

[P. G. Tipps]

Joke though it may be and as such you might have intended it, but I would really have thought that you of all people might be the kind of person who would refrain from asking a lady her age, especially 9on a public forum!


What, pray, is your definition of "Americanisms" and on what grounds do you perceive all of them somehow to be flawed, or inferior (to something or other) or whatever else? - and what makes you think (if indeed you do) that Amercian English is in some sense more stable and inflexible than British English in its usage?

Your cyber robustivity is quite awesome, ahinton ...

I confess I'll have to wake up, smell the coffee, and do the math on that one, and then hopefully come back to you with a triple whammy.

At least that's my dedicated shock and awe end game ...

[LeMartinPecheur]

[T]hat wretched imperialistic and capitalist organisation called the BBC!

The one that's too left-wing (if not rabid communist) imperialist and capitalist for some of our ruling party??

[ahinton]

1983! ... excuse me for being so impertinent to a formidable forum lady but what age are you, jean?

Even the BBC ... currently riddled with staff using Americanisms ... seems to have noticed!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14201796

OK, let's pick this apart (even if you think that this is in itself an "Americanism" and therefore to be deprecated):
1. When people ask for something, I often hear: "Can I get a..." It infuriates me. It's not New York. It's not the 90s. You're not in Central Perk with the rest of the Friends. Really." Steve, Rossendale, Lancashire
The only thing here is in the use of the word "can", suggesting "am I capable of...". I once fell foul of this one with a butcher when asking him if he could prepare a pheasant and was corrected with the wrods "you mean will I". Otherwise, OK.

2. The next time someone tells you something is the "least worst option", tell them that their most best option is learning grammar. Mike Ayres, Bodmin, Cornwall
Fair enough, this one.

3. The phrase I've watched seep into the language (especially with broadcasters) is "two-time" and "three-time". Have the words double, triple etc, been totally lost? Grammatically it makes no sense, and is even worse when spoken. My pulse rises every time I hear or see it. Which is not healthy as it's almost every day now. Argh! D Rochelle, Bath
OK - "two-timing" might imply disloyalty and pitting one against another which is inot the intended meaning.

4. Using 24/7 rather than "24 hours, 7 days a week" or even just plain "all day, every day". Simon Ball, Worcester
What's wrong with that if it's understood for uts intended meaning? "Seven days a week" is sillier, for most of us already know how many days there are in a week! "All day, every day"'s as good but no better.

5. The one I can't stand is "deplane", meaning to disembark an aircraft, used in the phrase "you will be able to deplane momentarily". TykeIntheHague, Den Haag, Holland[/quote]
But what's actually wrong with it? "De" and "dis" and such negatives suggest stopping doing something that one had just done, so why is "depaning" so much worse than "disembarking"?

6. To "wait on" instead of "wait for" when you're not a waiter - once read a friend's comment about being in a station waiting on a train. For him, the train had yet to arrive - I would have thought rather that it had got stuck at the station with the friend on board. T Balinski, Raglan, New Zealand
This suggests shorthand for "waiting on the arrival of" and, provided that shorthand speech is acceptable and one is understood, I see little problem with this.

A US reader writes...

JP Spore believes there is nothing wrong with English evolving

Languages are, by their very nature, shifting, malleable things that morph according to the needs and desires of those who speak them.

Mr Engel suggests that British English should be preserved, but it seems to me this both lacks a historical perspective of the language, as well as an ignorance of why it is happening.

English itself is a rather complicated, interesting blend of Germanic, French and Latin (among other things). It has arrived at this point through the long and torturous process of assimilation and modification. The story of the English language is the story of an unstoppable train of consecutive changes - and for someone to put their hand up and say "wait - the train stops here and should go no further" is not only futile, but ludicrously arbitrary.

Why here? Why not stop it 20 years ago? Or 20 years hence? If we're going to just set an arbitrary limit on language change, why not choose the year 1066 AD? The Saxons had some cool words, right?

Mr Engel - and all language Luddites on both sides of the Atlantic, including more than a few here in the States - really need to get over it when their countrymen find more value in non-native words than in their native lexicon.

I understand the argument about loss of cultural identity, but if so many people are so willing to give up traditional forms and phrases maybe we should consider that they didn't have as much value as we previously imagined.
Good sense here; as I said, language evolves and has always done so, but today it does so much more quickly that was once the case, because everyting else does the same - and that's why!

7. "It is what it is". Pity us. Michael Knapp, Chicago, US
Don't quite get that one but at the same time see no problem therewith.

8. Dare I even mention the fanny pack? Lisa, Red Deer, Canada
Never heard of this!

9. "Touch base" - it makes me cringe no end. Chris, UK
Why? It's no more offensive than any other metaphoric expression, is it!

10. Is "physicality" a real word? Curtis, US
Yes.

11. Transportation. What's wrong with transport? Greg Porter, Hercules, CA, US
Nothing, but then what's wroing with "transportation"?

12. The word I hate to hear is "leverage". Pronounced lev-er-ig rather than lee-ver -ig. It seems to pop up in all aspects of work. And its meaning seems to have changed to "value added". Gareth Wilkins, Leicester
So should a different word be used to convey the same meaning and, if so, what?

13. Does nobody celebrate a birthday anymore, must we all "turn" 12 or 21 or 40? Even the Duke of Edinburgh was universally described as "turning" 90 last month. When did this begin? I quite like the phrase in itself, but it seems to have obliterated all other ways of speaking about birthdays. Michael McAndrew, Swindon
Turning whatever year it might be's a fact and neither indicates nor denies a celebration of such turning taking place, so wha's wrong with this? There's no law in most civilised democracies that enforces the celebration of a birthday, espcecially of one of someone whom one does not know personally.

14. I caught myself saying "shopping cart" instead of shopping trolley today and was thoroughly disgusted with myself. I've never lived nor been to the US either. Graham Nicholson, Glasgow
So why's "trolley" more "English" than "cart" in this context? Cart's a word used in British English over centuries, whereas trolley's been used in a shopping context only since the advent of supermarkets.

15. What kind of word is "gotten"? It makes me shudder. Julie Marrs, Warrington
A past participle, perhaps?

16. "I'm good" for "I'm well". That'll do for a start. Mike, Bridgend, Wales
A viable case might be made out against each of these as an indicator of good health, since neither is specific to an expression of healthiness.

17. "Bangs" for a fringe of the hair. Philip Hall, Nottingham
Never heard of that one!

18. Take-out rather than takeaway! Simon Ball, Worcester
Why not? Out means out of the premises and away means the same, so what's the problem?

19. I enjoy Americanisms. I suspect even some Americans use them in a tongue-in-cheek manner? "That statement was the height of ridiculosity". Bob, Edinburgh
Clumsy, to be sure, but hardly objectionable.

20. "A half hour" instead of "half an hour". EJB, Devon
What's wrong with that?

21. A "heads up". For example, as in a business meeting. Lets do a "heads up" on this issue. I have never been sure of the meaning. R Haworth, Marlborough
Someone usually heads up - or heads - a business meeting and so unless the objector also has a rooted objection to "slowing up" as distinct from "slowing down", I see no problem here.

22. Train station. My teeth are on edge every time I hear it. Who started it? Have they been punished? Chris Capewell, Queens Park, London
I suspect that it would have been started by people who built stations at which trains either stop or travel through without stopping; the implication here is, I think, that "railway station" is somehow superior or at least preferable, but why? One does not travel in a railway but in a train.

23. To put a list into alphabetical order is to "alphabetize it" - horrid! Chris Fackrell, York
That's just another noun-to-verb objection, no greater or lesser than any other.

24. People that say "my bad" after a mistake. I don't know how anything could be as annoying or lazy as that. Simon Williamson, Lymington, Hampshire
I'd not say it myself, but I still don't see what's wrong with it.

25. "Normalcy" instead of "normality" really irritates me. Tom Gabbutt, Huddersfield
Again, I'd not likely use uit but would have no objection to anyone else doing so.
(tbc)

[ahinton]

26. As an expat living in New Orleans, it is a very long list but "burglarize" is currently the word that I most dislike. Simon, New Orleans
It's the old noun-to-verb objection again.
A US reader writes...

Melanie Johnson - MA student in Applied Linguistics, now in the UK

The idea that there once existed a "pure" form of English is simply untrue. The English spoken in the UK today has been influenced by a number of languages, including Dutch, French and German. Speakers from the time of William the Conqueror would not recognise what we speak in Britain as English. This is because language variation shifts are constantly changing.

Five years ago you might have found it odd if someone asked you to "friend" them, but today many of us know this means to add them on Facebook. The increased use of technology, in combination with the rise of a globalised society, means language changes are happening faster than ever, especially in places with highly diverse populations like London. Young people are usually at the vanguard of this, so it's no surprise to find London teenagers increasingly speaking what's been termed "multicultural ethnic English".

Changes in word use are normal and not unique to any language. But English does enjoy a privileged status as the world's lingua franca. That began with the British, but has been maintained by the Americans. It's difficult to predict how English will next evolve, but the one certainty is it will.
Yes, all very true and so much more so becuse English has more words than almost any other language so there will accordingly be more such changes.

27. "Oftentimes" just makes me shiver with annoyance. Fortunately I've not noticed it over here yet. John, London
Don't care for it but again don't find it objectionable.

28. Eaterie. To use a prevalent phrase, oh my gaad! Alastair, Maidstone (now in Athens, Ohio)
Have a moussaka; let's all go down the Strand. The French would not object to "boucherie", "patisserie" or "boulangerie", so where's the issue here?

29. I'm a Brit living in New York. The one that always gets me is the American need to use the word bi-weekly when fortnightly would suffice just fine. Ami Grewal, New York
It means the same; so what? Do Americans tak of feet and inches even though, by and large, they (bizarrely, in my view) continue to use the Imperial system of weights and measures?

30. I hate "alternate" for "alternative". I don't like this as they are two distinct words, both have distinct meanings and it's useful to have both. Using alternate for alternative deprives us of a word. Catherine, London
Yes, that one is just plain wrong and accordingly misleading.

31. "Hike" a price. Does that mean people who do that are hikers? No, hikers are ramblers! M Holloway, Accrington
I'd though that this meaning of "hike" had long since been part of acceptable British English parlance.

32. Going forward? If I do I shall collide with my keyboard. Ric Allen, Matlock
This one is indeed reaher silly and we all know an alternative.

33. I hate the word "deliverable". Used by management consultants for something that they will "deliver" instead of a report. Joseph Wall, Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire
Why? Some things are deliverable and others aren't, be they physical or not.

34. The most annoying Americanism is "a million and a half" when it is clearly one and a half million! A million and a half is 1,000,000.5 where one and a half million is 1,500,000. Gordon Brown, Coventry
Fair enough, since it's insufficiently precise although, in so saying, had the value of the UK family silver sold of by "Gordon Brown" been anything like so small, it could perhaps be forgivable...

35. "Reach out to" when the correct word is "ask". For example: "I will reach out to Kevin and let you know if that timing is convenient". Reach out? Is Kevin stuck in quicksand? Is he teetering on the edge of a cliff? Can't we just ask him? Nerina, London
Fair enough.

36. Surely the most irritating is: "You do the Math." Math? It's MATHS. Michael Zealey, London
Usually, it's not - it's actually arithmetic!

37. I hate the fact I now have to order a "regular Americano". What ever happened to a medium sized coffee? Marcus Edwards, Hurst Green
I don't know, since Costa, Starbucks et al seem to serve almost everything other than espressi by the litre!

38. My worst horror is expiration, as in "expiration date". Whatever happened to expiry? Christina Vakomies, London
It still exists; nothing wrong with either. It's the verb creation thing again, just as with "transportation".

39. My favourite one was where Americans claimed their family were "Scotch-Irish". This of course it totally inaccurate, as even if it were possible, it would be "Scots" not "Scotch", which as I pointed out is a drink. James, Somerset
Been there before, as PGT knows!

40.I am increasingly hearing the phrase "that'll learn you" - when the English (and more correct) version was always "that'll teach you". What a ridiculous phrase! Tabitha, London
Agreed.

41. I really hate the phrase: "Where's it at?" This is not more efficient or informative than "where is it?" It just sounds grotesque and is immensely irritating. Adam, London
I agree that it's less good than the alternative provided here.

42. Period instead of full stop. Stuart Oliver, Sunderland
It's American, sure, but what's so wrong with Anmericans having a different word for something for which the Brits would have two?

43. My pet hate is "winningest", used in the context "Michael Schumacher is the winningest driver of all time". I can feel the rage rising even using it here. Gayle, Nottingham
Yes, that's daft, although I've never heard it myself.

44. My brother now uses the term "season" for a TV series. Hideous. D Henderson, Edinburgh
Why? Doesn't some sense of seasonality infect many things, from food production to - er - the one to be jolly?

45. Having an "issue" instead of a "problem". John, Leicester
British English has had "to take issue with" for a very long time, so what's wrong with this?

46. I hear more and more people pronouncing the letter Z as "zee". Not happy about it! Ross, London
Then don't listen! "A Zed and two zeros" would probably irritate this Ross just as much if not more, I suspect!

47. To "medal" instead of to win a medal. Sets my teeth on edge with a vengeance. Helen, Martock, Somerset
It's only the verbing thing again; I'd not use it myself, but what's so wrong with this and so many other examples where American English usage is not always identical to British English or heaven knows how many other English usages?

48. "I got it for free" is a pet hate. You got it "free" not "for free". You don't get something cheap and say you got it "for cheap" do you? Mark Jones, Plymouth
OK, fair comment, although not something up with which I'd anticipate getting especially worked.

49. "Turn that off already". Oh dear. Darren, Munich
Jewish or mock-Jewish phraseology, in this instance probably indicating the wish of those using it that whaever it is had already been turned off, just as I am now getting with this entire exercise...

50. "I could care less" instead of "I couldn't care less" has to be the worst. Opposite meaning of what they're trying to say. Jonathan, Birmingham
True, unless what's meant is that the person concerned cares very little but could care even less still, I suppose - sorry, I guess...

Ultimately, what's all the fuss about?

[ahinton]

Thanks - I've sent those Americanisms over the waves to my friend in Toronto, to see what she makes of them!

Well, we know how the Canadians love the Americans and vice versa, don't we?!

Should we start a sub-thread about Canadianisms and, if so, should that be subdivided into Anglophone and Francophone ones?

[ahinton]

For goodness sake don't thank me, S_A ...

Thank that wretched imperialistic and capitalist organisation called the BBC!

Why? Did it actually invent them all rather than merely list a bunch of alleged ones apparently sent in by its supposed listeners?

[ahinton]

Your cyber robustivity is quite awesome, ahinton ...

I confess I'll have to wake up, smell the coffee, and do the math on that one, and then hopefully come back to you with a triple whammy.

At least that's my dedicated shock and awe end game ...

It's nothing of the kind. Questions have been asked over many centuries. I asked you one. You continue to decline or omit to reply. Cyber robustivity (is that the kind of coffee that you're thinking of waking up and smelling, by chance?) is not a prerequisite for questioning, as I would have thought that you already realised.

No need to "do math" or respond with any kind of "whammy", although waking up before you provide a response might be a good idea and maybe some coffee would further assist you in so doing once you have indeed woken.

[ahinton]

The one that's too left-wing (if not rabid communist) imperialist and capitalist for some of our ruling party??

Which party's that, just out of curiosity?

[oddoneout]

#8 fanny pack = bum bag
#17 bangs aka fringe - been around since at least silent movie era, and WW2 probably increased its usage in Britain.
#40 that'll learn you - in this part of the world it's 'tha'll larn ya' so the quoted version is perhaps english dialect moving out of its native habitat.
I don't find Americanisms especially irritating - funny perhaps, and sometimes confusing - but nowhere near as tiresome as the plain ignorance/carelessness that uses disinterested instead of uninterested, amount instead of number, either instead of each, etc and doesn't appear to care that it can change the meaning of a sentence. I wonder to what extent much of the American language is the result of small groups of people being relatively isolated in a large country and therefore keeping the old-fashioned forms of speech little changed.

[Pabmusic]

I see ...

So you are saying that you fail to be convinced that, albeit originally English words, 'build' for 'building', 'spend' for 'spending', 'thinking out of the box', 'blue-sky thinking', 'every which way', 'no way' 'awesome', 'robust', 'like' (used by youngsters after every second or third word), 'Black Friday', 'Rock 'n' Roll', 'Blues' etc, etc etc, did not come from those 'guys' from across the 'Pond'?

Did you say you don't actually live here in the UK, Pab ... ?

You share a habit with a previous boarder, one Scottycelt: namely constructing fallacious arguments. In this case it's in turn a straw-man by way of a false dichotomy, and an ad hominem. I counselled against making assumptions about the origins of 'Americanisms' since many have surprisingly British origins. You countered by arguing that (1) because of saying this, it follows that I 'fail to be convinced' that a specific list contains Americanisms; and you imply that (2) the fact that I don't live in the UK is in some way relevant to this discussion - presumably it renders my views less apt. Well done.

[Pabmusic]

Here are some expressions - all of them Americanisms - most of which were once frowned upon in Britain:

Have an ax(e) to grind; keep a stiff upper lip; no two ways about it; fly off the handle; move like greased lightning; sit on the fence; non-commital; bark up the wrong tree; keep one's eyes peeled; have a close shave; rip-roaring; hell-bent; have a chip on one's shoulder; to pull the wool over one's eyes; to get hitched; hold your horses!; to make a beeline for; to stub one's toe; to be a goner; to back down; highfalutin; to face the music; to knock spots off; keep your shirt on!; stag party; neither hide nor hair; to knuckle down; to go haywire; con-man; underdog; to be out on a limb; even-steven; fit as a fiddle; to peter out; to talk through one's hat; OK (of course).

To pass out; to beat up; to check in; to stay put; to collide; to flare up; to start off; to brush off; to get away with. To reform; to graduate; to interview; to highlight; to panic; to audition; to curb; to demean; to corner; to endorse; to engineer; to endorse; to oppose; to demoralize; to placate; to locate; to evoke.

To make up one's mind; no two ways about it; influential; census; presidential; standpoint; talk at cross purposes; scrumptious; immigration; reliable; lengthy; talented.

I could continue. All these were first recorded in the 19th century in the USA. Dickens was criticised for using the Americanisms talented, lengthy, reliable and influential.

There are many expressions I dislike, wherever they come from, but I'd be interested to see what lasts and becomes standard fare.

[P. G. Tipps]

I think I'll now drop this 'anti-Americanism' crusade. I've finally lost the will to respond any further.

I've decided it might be easier to pretend I just lurve Americanisms and am most grateful to Pabmusic, who has now listed scores of examples after appearing to claim Americanisms were really old Britishisms, and, of course, I have huge sympathy with ahinton who continues his well-documented and apparently vain search for proper answers ... maybe because he's too busy asking the questions in multiple duplicate he hasn't actually noticed these were properly answered right from the 'get-go'?.

Enough!

[ahinton]

Here are some expressions - all of them Americanisms - most of which were once frowned upon in Britain:

Have an ax(e) to grind; keep a stiff upper lip; no two ways about it; fly off the handle; move like greased lightning; sit on the fence; non-commital; bark up the wrong tree; keep one's eyes peeled; have a close shave; rip-roaring; hell-bent; have a chip on one's shoulder; to pull the wool over one's eyes; to get hitched; hold your horses!; to make a beeline for; to stub one's toe; to be a goner; to back down; highfalutin; to face the music; to knock spots off; keep your shirt on!; stag party; neither hide nor hair; to knuckle down; to go haywire; con-man; underdog; to be out on a limb; even-steven; fit as a fiddle; to peter out; to talk through one's hat; OK (of course).

To pass out; to beat up; to check in; to stay put; to collide; to flare up; to start off; to brush off; to get away with. To reform; to graduate; to interview; to highlight; to panic; to audition; to curb; to demean; to corner; to endorse; to engineer; to endorse; to oppose; to demoralize; to placate; to locate; to evoke.

To make up one's mind; no two ways about it; influential; census; presidential; standpoint; talk at cross purposes; scrumptious; immigration; reliable; lengthy; talented.

There ARE two ways about it! You repeated that one. But your point is, of course, well made.