Americanisms

Anti-Americanisms
Jul 20th 2011, 16:43 by R.L.G. | NEW YORK
THE BBC, following up on an apparently successful column, asked readers to send in their least favourite Americanisms. Mark Liberman noted that of five "Americanisms" cited in the original column's first paragraph, four were of British origin. But never let facts get in the way of a good rant. Let the peeving begin! The BBC published a top 50. The original peeve is in bold; I have removed the peevers' names and added my comments.
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The next time someone tells you something is the "least worst option", tell them that their most best option is learning grammar. Besides the fact that the double comparative had a long life in English ("the most straitest sect of our religion", Acts 26:5, KJV, for example), this is obviously playful, not ignorant.
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. Yes, to "wait on" also means to be a waiter, but writers from Chaucer to Milton to George Eliot used "to wait on" in various senses including "to observe", "to lie in wait for", "to await" and more.
Is "physicality" a real word? Yes, first noted in a book published in London in 1827.
Transportation. What's wrong with transport? Nothing. What's wrong with transportation? Brits prefer "to orientate oneself", Americans prefer "to orient oneself". Not worse, just different.
What kind of word is "gotten"? It makes me shudder. It is the original past participle, from old Norse getenn, now obsolete in English English, but surviving in America. Participial "got" is the newcomer.
"I'm good" for "I'm well". That'll do for a start. That'll do what? Linking verbs including "am" take adjectives, not adverbs. "I'm healthy," not "I'm healthily." There's nothing wrong with "I'm well", since "well" is also an adjective, but nothing wrong with "I'm good" either.
"Oftentimes" just makes me shiver with annoyance. Fortunately I've not noticed it over here yet. The OED cites six hundred years of British usage of "oftentimes", including the King James Version and Wordsworth.
"Hike" a price. Does that mean people who do that are hikers? No, hikers are ramblers! And words sometimes have multiple meanings!
Going forward? If I do I shall collide with my keyboard. If you cannot understand metaphorical language, colliding with your keyboard is the least of your worries. A visit to the neurologist may be in order.
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. By that logic, could "one and a half million" not be 1 + 500,000, or 500,001?
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That's enough peeving on peeving. Many of these are truly Americanisms, and many are (to my eye) annoying, too. But so many share one or more of these features:
1) selective hyper-literalism: refusal to understand idioms as such
2) amnesia, or else the "recency illusion": A belief that something quite old is new
3) simple anti-Americanism: the belief that if something is ugly, it must have come from the states
Since Matthew Engel and the Beeb's readers had so little trouble spouting dozens and dozens of "Americanisms" they dislike (the BBC closed comments after 1,295 had arrived), and since such a high proportion seem to be false Americanisms, I propose that this is a common thing, and thus deserves its own count noun. We all know what Americanisms are. From here on, Johnson will refer to false Americanisms used to take a cheap but ill-aimed transatlantic shot as "Anti-Americanisms".

http://www.economist.com/blogs/johnson/2011/07/peeves
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To post or not to post, that is the question...

The "Caaaaaaaaaaaat" thing made me laugh 'cause that's EXACTLY the way me an' me fellow brethren say it. In fact, me an' me mam were chatting about dialect with one of our workers, who comes from the same neck of the woods we do. The rest of the afternoon was spent trying to draw out saying "Jason an' TH'AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAgonauts" for as long as physically possible.


I'll just haul me fat arse out of 'ere then. :lol:
 
Jay said:
People that get bent out of shape of how Americans "butcher" the language more than likely have very specific and exacting masturbation and/or bowel movement rituals.

No really, they do. :|
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What about those who succeed in combining the two? Should they be despised or revered?

:D
 
Sik Pony said:
I was flying my aluminum airplane when i remembered that i needed new tires on my 300 zee. Also, i was in an elevator...
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KaJuN said:
Were you eating potato chips at the time? Or did you leave them in the trunk of your car after you bought them for two bucks at the gas station?
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*laugh/dies*

calvinhobbes said:
This sort of Americanism annoys me:


I know it's not the norm, but still there's Fox "News" and its tea party trying to make you believe that it is. :(
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It annoys me too.

Actually the thing that really bugs me is when people obviously can't take an extra few seconds to look over their spelling, and check for basic grammar before hitting the "Post reply" button. A few misspelled words now and then I can live with. It's the ones who look like they've gone "Text-speak happy" that drive me bonkers.
 
The Americanism I hate the most is the hate for public transportation. God what I would give to be able to hop on a train and be in Austin in a fucking hour. Damn conservatives and their anti-tax sentiment!
 
This is how you butcher the English language.

 
Maeday said:
The Americanism I hate the most is the hate for public transportation. God what I would give to be able to hop on a train and be in Austin in a fucking hour. Damn conservatives and their anti-tax sentiment!
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I suggest you look into the 'Texas T' high speed rail project, then. It's one of the few rail projects that looks like it makes financial sense.

I also suggest you look into the liberal-promoted Rail Runner system next door in New Mexico, which has turned out to be a huge financial disaster and drain on that state. Few riders, high expenses. Thanks, I don't want Texas to be California (and broke).
 
Anything said on the shore of New Jersey.
 
Shirahime said:
To post or not to post, that is the question...

The "Caaaaaaaaaaaat" thing made me laugh 'cause that's EXACTLY the way me an' me fellow brethren say it. In fact, me an' me mam were chatting about dialect with one of our workers, who comes from the same neck of the woods we do. The rest of the afternoon was spent trying to draw out saying "Jason an' TH'AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAgonauts" for as long as physically possible.


I'll just haul me fat arse out of 'ere then. :lol:
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I enjoy that you type your accent.
 
You have already concluded that I am a bullshit-buying, anti-American media whore before you've even asked what might be behind the point I was making. There's obviously no point in discussing this further, derailing the thread, so I shall leave it to comedians:


...and that is a filmed Americanism that I do like. :D
 
The Tea Party does sort of one point. There are things that a Government should do, and there are things that it should not do. They are saying that the US Government is doing too much, where as I personally would probably not agree that is not for me to decide but Americans.

In Ukania we definately do too much and it costs way too much. Even the fixes that they come up with suck, they only have one club in the golf bag, the let private enterprise fix it all club.

This is of course is OK if the task is ameniable to being fixed but some are not imagine if you will a totally private enterprise Police Force and judiciary and prison system. Paid by numbers for arrests, convictions and incarcerated.

Everyone would be in gaol!

Southern Cross went bust so loads of vunerable old people potentially thrown out of their residential homes as the landlords reposses their properties. Well not looking too good for the privatisation of the NHS.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14172783

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-14182415

Chest open, heart out, on a heart lung machine then ...

in come the bailiffs and take possion of the donated heart (Would people donate spare parts under an NHS where money is being made they may sell them instead) until bills are paid! (OK hyperbole but it will be the case that 50% of the treatment could be pulled as a treatment provider goes belly up).

What the above never addresses is should the government be doing x, y or z anyway. We are employing loads of people pushing bits of paper around doing noting productive at all.

Managerial incompetence, we have had it for many years, it is ingrained in the national character. It is my opinion we only joined the EEC because we thought we would catch efficiency from the Germans like some sort of flu - we have not.
 
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Is that really how the general British population thinks?? Aren't they supposed to be well educated and well mannered??

-Robert
 
I don't have any problem with Americanisms when it is Americans who are using them. Likewise when I in America while I don't affect any kind of accent I do moderate my vocabulary eg I get things out of the trunk of the car and I fill it with gas. What I don't do is adopt affected Americanisms in an attempt to blend in (there) or appear cool (here) as seems to be increasingly common in Ukania.

Example Ukanian FGers. Next time you are in Starbucks/Cafe Nerro/Costa or the like listen to the people in front of you. At the very mininum one of the three people in front of you will begin their order with "Can I get....." or "I'll take...." (as opposed to "I'd Like...." or "Please may I have......") even though they are as English as warm beer, shit summers and cricket.

At this point it is perfectly acceptable to stab them in the carotid artery with a ballpoint pen and dance over their still twitching corpse shouting "Serves you fucking well right, you pretentious, Friends-watching, Katy Perry listening, bastard son of Martha fucking Stuart!!!!" then order a cup of tea, retrieve your pen, take your seat at the vacant table in the corner and set about the Times cryptic crossword. In blood.

Which, in this day and age you'll have a good chance of completing before they actually find some spare Police to come and arrest you.

I have a sneaking suspicion I might just have forgotten to take my tablets last night.
 
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