

Hating Americans and their Americanisms - sabmayahai
http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=3283

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ehutch79
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

if that ruins your day, welcome to #firstworldproblems.

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portmanteaufu
A fair number of these aren't even "American," they're just "incorrect."
Claiming that mistakes like "I could care less" are American is like saying
that the United States invented the failure to distinguish between "your" and
"you're."

I don't think I've ever heard the phrase "That'll learn you" said in any
seriousness outside of a Western movie.

~~~
roel_v
Sound like something a Dutchman speaking English would say.

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mynameishere
I have never, in my life, seen a more trivial and annoying list than this one:

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

 _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._

Seriously? And are these Americans:

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z9hbf-IRig>

The whole list is like that.

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JonnieCache
That those things are trivial is kind of the point.

Becoming disproportionately angry about arbitrary linguistic differences is a
treasured national pastime in the UK. It's due to our very particularly
neurotic class consciousness, and it's quite difficult to explain. UK english
is a minefield of shibboleths which we use to pigeonhole each other with
startling efficiency.

It's explained better than I ever could by comedian David Mitchell in this
short video:

[http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/video/2010/jun/10/la...](http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/video/2010/jun/10/language-
wordsandlanguage)

And this one, which is more specifically about americanisms:

[http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/video/2010/may/20/la...](http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/video/2010/may/20/language-
usa)

~~~
Lewisham
I think it's easier to explain than you think (and, for once, not at all due
to the class system at all).

Britain has been under relentless cultural assault from the US for decades. It
is no secret, and no surprise, that it was Friends that introduced "can I get
a" to the UK. This trend has accelerated with the Internet, where all English
speakers tend to move towards the ubiquitous American English.

Even something like programming acts as a vehicle for this. Try _colouring_
something _grey_ , for example.

Language is a very tangible, day-to-day way of asserting cultural
independence. See how France used to sing Eurovision in French every year.
Sadly, even they now sing songs in English.

This taps into a deep-seated concern in some of the British population that it
will become a cultural 51st state. Certainly we identify more with the US than
any of continental Europe. This is not necessarily unwarranted, but I think it
unlikely. Even something as uniquely American as hip-hop was taken, adopted by
young disadvantaged Londoners and transformed into grime instead. Britain's
identity is formed by more than the media it consumes and it creates, but by
the people who inhabit it.

FWIW, I really do hate "could care less" as it's literally the opposite of
what meaning is trying to be conveyed. I've personally picked up "bathroom"
over "toilet". I think it's a great euphemism, which is, in itself, a
traditionally British thing to do.

~~~
JonnieCache
_> Even something as uniquely American as hip-hop was taken, adopted by young
disadvantaged Londoners and transformed into grime instead._

Actually, for years in the 80s the underground UK rap scene was dominated by
british MCs rapping in fake west coast american accents. See:
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8h3Jd_PCrwQ>

Throughout the 80s and the early 90s there was an ever growing minority of MCs
who rapped in english accents and mocked the imitators. A lot of this involved
incorporating jamaican accents, which is a characteristic of the modern london
accent generally. See: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ahFJmFcY98>

Eventually this became normal and most people have forgotten this earlier
americanised stage.

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zwieback
That's what I like about America - not only do we not have this type of
discussion, it doesn't even make sense here. (If you're tempted to reply "the
US isn't America" you're proving my point!)

One area, though, where we have a similar rift is between "African American
Vernacular English" and standard usage. There's unfortunately a large
percentage, maybe a majority, that think there's something fundamentally wrong
with AAVE.

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codeup
Someone has to say it: This Language Log post is taking the BBC article and
itself way too seriously.

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tdfx
I like the person who had the problem with the use of the word "biweekly".
"Thou shall receiveth thy cheque fortnightly!" rolls off the tongue so much
easier. I be diggin' that.

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geebee
Interesting observation about the French depiction of Americans in film. I've
spent a lot of time in France and the UK, and I'm amazed (and depressed) with
how pervasive the notion of French anti-americanism has become in the US.
While there is certainly plenty of political tension, the personal hostility
to Americans attributed to the French has been (just my experience) wildly
overblown.

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protomyth
If those phrases truly bother a person, then I would caution that person not
to travel or go into a profession with its own lingo. People have different
phrases and even words in different places. Yes, looking under the bonnet has
a totally different meaning here.

I grew up on a reservation in the US and some of the phrases that stuck with
me have their origin in the local language.

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cellis
Actually, I _do_ say "for cheap", as well as "for free".

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raldi
Wait, British people don't say "train station"?

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JonnieCache
We do. All the time. It's written on the signs and everything.

It is a well-worn running joke in the UK that the people who write in to the
BBC are all eye-rollingly insane. I wouldn't take the list too seriously.

~~~
raldi
Whew. I was afraid the proper term was something like "locomotive concordry"
and I'd been out of the loop all this time.

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forgotAgain
It's a bitch being a former world power. Cheers!

~~~
mdda
Please look forward to discovering what it feels like : These things come and
go in phases. China & India will most likely have their time in the sun within
the next 500 years.

~~~
foobarbazetc
500? China in 10-20 years.

~~~
mdda
Could be. But I wanted to have a period of time in which it was entirely
plausible that the US may no longer have the largest empire. After all,
England's empire came and went within the last 500 years.

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pfarrell
two words: your guy's

as in, "see you at your guy's house".

Or is that just an Indiana thing?

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joshuaheard
Most of the items were slang or examples of common bad grammar usage, hardly
limited to Americans.

