Americanised Speech

[bhowells]

I know I sound a bit like Victor Meldrew here but is anyone fed up with Americanisms popping up regularly in British speach.

Every time mywife and I visit a chain restaurant we are always greeted with ,"Hi Guys."

Other pet hates are when people say,"Don't Even Go there.", "Excuse me" instead of pardon. "Welcom to my, world.

Whatever happened to "I am alrgiht thank you." if someone asks how are you, now its,"I.m good.

[GRAEME]

Can I get a cup of coffee?

No, mate this is MY cafe and I get the cups of coffee!

[davidb]

go figure ........ go f f f f finish your sentences properly ! how much of a hurry do you have to be in not to add " it out " at the end ? it gets on my nerves .......period !

[Steve Crook]

Originally Posted by davidb go f f f f finish your sentences properly !

Dear Pot,
The contents of your request have been noted.

Signed Kettle



Steve

[davidb]

by calling yourself kettle youve implied your as bad as you percieve me ! so i think ive earned one of these that your so fond of at the end of the sentence , whoops wrong one lets have another try , there ! ps, never has a mod not wanted to see a target so much

[wadsy]

I get mildly annoyed in restaurants if the waiter serves the meal

& then says "Enjoy"! Makes me cringe!

[bhowells]

I hate it when waiters say anything else at all I think to myself my name is not atall, perhaps they are confusing me with Athol Guy who played bass in The Seekers.

[Moggy]

Originally Posted by bhowells I know I sound a bit like Victor Meldrew here but is anyone fed up with Americanisms popping up regularly in British speach. Every time mywife and I visit a chain restaurant we are always greeted with ,"Hi Guys." Other pet hates are when people say,"Don't Even Go there.", "Excuse me" instead of pardon. "Welcom to my, world. Whatever happened to "I am alrgiht thank you." if someone asks how are you, now its,"I.m good.

I agree - Americanisms are becoming the norm. And we are the poorer for it. It is not only American isms, such as turning nouns into verbs, when there are perfectly good verbs to do the job, but also the short hand expressions, such as twenty-four seven, when all they mean is "all the time" or "constantly" or "around the clock" Then there is the faux politness, "Hwzyadaybeen?" I want to say: none of your bloody business..." But, I remind myself that such folk are only doing their job.
Then there are the young people, who have seen so much American television that they actually have American accents.
I hope the regionalisms of English, so wonderfully shown in Melvyn Bragg's series, can continue in the face of the American cultural tsunami.
It would be a great pity if we lots the idiomatic expressions.

[davidb]

the world is becoming a smaller place and lots of the young identify so much with american culture ,the worst is when you meet a pasty faced english teenager who talks like the " homeboys " from the bronx or some other ghetto ,i nearly burst out laughing when it first happened to me

[ShirlGirl]

Originally Posted by bhowells I know I sound a bit like Victor Meldrew here but is anyone fed up with Americanisms popping up regularly in British speech. Every time my wife and I visit a chain restaurant we are always greeted with "Hi Guys.".

We get "Hi guys" in Australian restaurants, too, and I was bemoaning the fact to my husband only the other day when it happened, yet again. I wanted to say "In case you haven't noticed, I'm not a guy!" - but the waitress was sweet and friendly so I refrained. Sigh. Whatever happened to "sir" and "madam". When I'm on my own I get called "ma'am". Now that's something that really gets up my nose. I'm neither American nor royalty. Perhaps I wouldn't mind being called "ma'am" if I was treated like royalty!

I don't think this is an Americanism, but here in Oz, instead of "May I help you?" or "Are you being served?" or "May I take your order?" it's.... "You right?" Shudder. I never let that pass. I have a variety of answers, depending on my mood:
"I'm well, thank-you, how are you?" (smarty-pants mood).
"I haven't been served yet, if that's what you mean" (snooty-bitchy#1).
"Not yet, but if you're going to take my order it will help" (snooty-bitchy#2 - when she knows very well my order hasn't been taken and I'm ready and waiting).
"NO!" (irritable).
My husband merely says, "No I'm left." But he's just cheeky.

Then on being served, I say "thank-you" and the response always is "not a problem".
Why the heck would it be?
So I either give up and let it pass, or smile and say cheerfully, "I hope not!"

[donna]

know what you mean , even my grandkids laugh at some of my older scottish slang words as none of them speak like me, everything has American slang or proper English, I think its nice to keep old words. as soon they will all disappear.

[john audley]

Notice how a phrase creeps into a film script and then they are all at it? Mostly American but no-doubt here to.
Picture the following;
The chap falls from three floors and lands on the pavement
The chap is shot twice and is laying on the pavement
There has been a huge fight that wrecks the house and one is covered in blood and when found someone will say,
The chap walks out on his girl/wife and she is inconsolable etc

The line is always 'are you OK'?
and the reply is always 'sure - I am fine'

[earlb]

When I go to the States I always have great delight in saying "For a non English speaking Nation you seem to have done very well for yourself"

[john audley]

Originally Posted by earlb When I go to the States I always have great delight in saying "For a non English speaking Nation you seem to have done very well for yourself"

You're braver than I am Earl

[donna]

one thing about in the States is the manners in shops and restaurants compared with here. we got treated like Royalty even in cheaper restaurants, we should take a leaf out of their books.