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Anyone else get tempted to "correct" United Statesisms?

12K views 160 replies 36 participants last post by  eggplant 
#1 ·
Otherwise known as 'Americanisms' which isn't really fair on South America, Canada (though they do have some similarities with U.S. spellings), or New Mexico.

Eg. popsicle, color, hood (of a car), trunks (when actually referring to swimming shorts, not trunks), 'an herb' instead of 'a herb', etc
 
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#133 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bof View Post

I am British by birth and that description fits me perfectly.
...and modest too.


Oh, the zed thing cracks me up when working with children. So, you're singing the ABC song and you say "tee, you, vee...doubleyou, eks, why and zed?" I mean, really, it doesn't even rhyme!
 
#134 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by IamJen View Post

Ah. Sometimes you can buy them frozen, such as in 7/11 or other convenience store. It's not so very common though. I've not seen them here in the UK yet. They were my favorite as a kid, because you were often left with "juice" (sugar water) in the bottom of the plastic sleeve that you could suck out.

Lol, it's a wonder I have any teeth left at all.
There's usually plenty in paper shops (newsagents) (frozen, last time I checked I think they were like 6p for a small one and 10p for a big one). Dunno about the veggie/vegan status of em though
 
#135 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bekah View Post

I'm Canadian, and American spellings such as "favorite" and "color" drive me crazy!

I'm afraid that when it comes to things like "color" instead of "colour" and "realize" instead of "realise" the Americans are in fact the ones with the original spellings


It was the UK that lost these spellings sometime in the late 19th century. The Americans kept the older way, while for a time the UK used both ways at the same time before the older way dropped out of usage.

It's a common mistake people make to think of the American way as being "foreign" when in fact, it was our (UK) spelling that was rather curiously changed.
 
#136 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by thalestral View Post

It's a common mistake people make to think of the American way as being "foreign" when in fact, it was our (UK) spelling that was rather curiously changed.
Or, to put it another way, the UK's language progressed / evolved whilst the US's didn't.

'America - the only country to go from barbarism to decadence without an intervening period of civilisation.' - Oscar Wilde


NB This post is frivolous in nature and in no way represents the true views of the author.

It is not intended to offend any person or persons, living or dead.

 
#137 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bof View Post

Or, to put it another way, the UK's language progressed / evolved whilst the US's didn't.
And yet the UKers are perfectly happy to harp on USAers' evolution of the language in other ways. Yeah, that makes perfect sense. Just like the rules on which royal people would become king/queen/prince/lady/whatever if certain other people died.
 
#139 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Skylark View Post

And yet the UKers are perfectly happy to harp on USAers' evolution of the language in other ways. Yeah, that makes perfect sense. Just like the rules on which royal people would become king/queen/prince/lady/whatever if certain other people died.
'Quit following me around the boards to disagree with me and nit-pick at my posts. Putting me on ignore would work nicely for that.'


NB This post is frivolous in nature and in no way represents the true views of the author.

It is not intended to offend any person or persons, living or dead.

 
#140 ·
Americanisms do annoy me. I have an English friend who uses "mom" on MSN and it really gets on my nerves.

I also hate having to teach Microsoft Word how to spell.

The other thing is "ass". When English people try and say it the American way, it's hilarious.

The worst thing is when computer programs have an "American English" option but not an "English English" or just bloody "English" option. Drives me mad!
 
#143 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by WorzelGummidge View Post

Haha no, that doesn't bother me because it's mostly American people posting there. It's when English people who say "mum" spell it "mom". Just a pet peeve I guess.
you should try buying a mothers day card while living in canada. nightmare job.

do i get a horribly formal one that says 'mother', or deface a 'mom' one by tippexing out the top half of the 'o', or buy one that says 'mom' and risk my mum phoning me up and takin' the p?

not to mention that mothers day is on the wrong day over here. urgh.

i daren't have a child now that i'm in this country. i swear if i hear them calling 'mommy! mommy! i gotta go potty and i can't get my panties down!' to me i'll explode and shout 'its MUMMY! and WEE! and KNICKERS! damnit!!!'. which wouldn't be very nice of me.
 
#144 ·
Hahaha! One of my close friends who lives over here is Canadian, sometimes we have small misunderstandings over language. We generally find it funny though.

The trouble I have with mother's day is finding one that says nan instead of grandma or nanny. I don't know anybody that calls their nan grandma, all my friends say nan. But finding a card with that on is hell. All the nanny ones are meant for little kids to send so they have teddy bears or cute little animals on them, which is not appropriate for a 77 year old.

Before anyone asks why I get my nan a Mother's day card - I don't know. It's just something our family do and she'd be hurt if I didn't get her one.
 
#145 ·
Lol. I was just recalling this little boy I met (age 3) telling me he was feeling "poorly", with quite the posh accent.

"Feeling Paulie? What the hell does that mean?" I thought for a bit.
 
#146 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by IamJen View Post

Lol. I was just recalling this little boy I met (age 3) telling me he was feeling "poorly", with quite the posh accent.

"Feeling Paulie? What the hell does that mean?" I thought for a bit.
awwwwww.... poor little mite!

i remember my cousin from birmingham telling me she'd bought some new 'pumps' when i was 7. i was very confused and thought she was talking about bicycles (how many bike pumps does a girl need?), but couldn't work out why she kept pointing at her feet. around the same time, on holiday in scotland, the girl in the caravan next to me told me she was 'away for a bap' and i just didn't have a clue. turned out she was going to get a sandwich.

i spose that if i don't understand people from relatively local places where i have relatives, i shouldn't be too hard on people from other continents.
 
#147 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by hoodedclawjen View Post

you should try buying a mothers day card while living in canada. nightmare job.

do i get a horribly formal one that says 'mother', or deface a 'mom' one by tippexing out the top half of the 'o', or buy one that says 'mom' and risk my mum phoning me up and takin' the p?

not to mention that mothers day is on the wrong day over here. urgh.

i daren't have a child now that i'm in this country. i swear if i hear them calling 'mommy! mommy! i gotta go potty and i can't get my panties down!' to me i'll explode and shout 'its MUMMY! and WEE! and KNICKERS! damnit!!!'. which wouldn't be very nice of me.
Ha ha yes i can relate! When growing up it was hard to find cards for my Nan! Try finding a 'Nan' card in Canada
I might add, my Mum's made it even worse for my nephews in Canada, as she goes by Mam-gu (South Wales Welsh for granny!). I doubt it would be easy to get a Mam-gu card even here in London!

Now I'm back in the UK, I'm not very good about getting cards at all, so I just ring my Mum when it's UK Mother's Day. She is used to the Canadian one now and is a bit confused but pleased and I never remember the Canadian one now ...
 
#150 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by eggplant View Post

Here's another one! I'm sure that you're referring to what we Americans would call a camper or trailer, whereas the word caravan is rarely used in the U.S., and if used usually refers to something you'd see at a carnival, like this.
see... its very technical. if you told someone in england you were sleeping an a trailer, they'd visualise this kind of thing: trailer .

we do have these trailer tent thingies that fold out of a trailer, to make like a caravan with a tent on the top though.
 
#151 ·
Caravan = way cooler sounding to my American brain than "camper". You know, making your way across the desert on camels, that sort of thing.
 
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