Americanisms in UK English

[AlterEgo]

Yes good question, I’m none the wiser either.

Bow - front of ship, or
Bow - in East London

Neither. A Bowie knife is from its inventor, whose surname was Bowie, which in itself came from the Gaelic buidhe “lucky” and is pronounced boo-ee.

 

[htafc]

Neither. A Bowie knife is from its inventor, whose surname was Bowie, which in itself came from the Gaelic buidhe “lucky” and is pronounced boo-ee.

Which brings us back to post #65... !

One that I've noticed recently is British people pronouncing the word "buoy" as "booey" rather than the correct "boy"- which is either an Americanism or a simple error that's become an Americanism.

I was reminded of this earlier, hearing someone use the term "buoyed" as a synonym for "boosted" but they pronounced it "boo-ied".

 

[AlterEgo]

Which brings us back to post #65... !

Indeed, “boo-ee” is a UK-centric pronunciation.

The OED gives a 1603 citation where the word buoy is spelled "bowie", which seems to indicate that this pronunciation existed in England then.

As with many supposed Americanisms in the thread, this is actually a perfectly acceptable indigenous English word which existed before the modern American state, which travelled to America with the pilgrims, and was then frozen in amber as a correct form while British English has mutated.

 

[Busaholic]

Yes good question, I’m none the wiser either.

Bow - front of ship, or
Bow - in East Londona

The latter. Even on the radio, from his first hit 'Space Oddity' until he switched record labels to RCA Victor and became huge it was always pronounced that way, notably following the lead of John Peel. I suspect the former pronunciation might have been adopted by anti-Peel Radio One colleagues, of whom Tony Blackburn and Jimmy Savile were prominent, to annoy him!

 

[urbophile]

But these things change over time. Twenty years ago if you asked somebody in the UK "how are you?" you tended to get the response "not too bad". in the US you invariably got "great!" or "good!". Now the UK response (especially amongst people under 40ish) is the same as the US one.

Are we becoming more extrovert then? I thought American enthusiasm was because they are mostly extroverts, and British understatement because we are introverts.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 6 Nov 2022 ==

It always irritates me when Americans use an unnecessary definite article. Americans used to say, "I flew over on the Concorde", as if there was only one of them. They also refer to somebody being in "the hospital".

Scousers go to 'de ozzie' when they're not well, and otherwise shop in 'the Asda'. But strangely, just Tesco or Aldi.

 

[WizCastro197]

I am not quite sure if anyone has said it before but one that has casually slipped in to many children's speech maybe even adults, is 'Like'. As in (Could've used it there) to fill a space and alleviate awkwardness. It has mostly arrived from the amount of American television children and I guess adults in addition watch, where the word is casually thrown around.


Using the word:

Like I am not sure if anyone has said it before but like one that has casually slipped in to many children's speech and maybe even adults is 'Like'. Like to fill a space and like alleviate awkwardness. It has mostly arrived from the amount of American television children and like Adults watch where the word is like casually thrown around.


I guess this revised paragraph would only ever be used in speech where the person is making it off the top of their head.

 

[takno]

I am not quite sure if anyone has said it before but one that has casually slipped in to many children's speech maybe even adults, is 'Like'. As in (Could've used it there) to fill a space and alleviate awkwardness. It has mostly arrived from the amount of American television children and I guess adults in addition watch, where the word is casually thrown around.


Using the word:

Like I am not sure if anyone has said it before but like one that has casually slipped in to many children's speech and maybe even adults is 'Like'. Like to fill a space and like alleviate awkwardness. It has mostly arrived from the amount of American television children and like Adults watch where the word is like casually thrown around.


I guess this revised paragraph would only ever be used in speech where the person is making it off the top of their head.

Wherever that's slipped in from it did it more than 40 years ago like, and also happens in a number of non-English languages. I'm finding the sheer range of things Americans are being credited with in this thread pretty astonishing

 

[Lemmy99uk]

am not quite sure if anyone has said it before but one that has casually slipped in to many children's speech maybe even adults, is 'Like'. As in (Could've used it there) to fill a space and alleviate awkwardness. It has mostly arrived from the amount of American television children and I guess adults in addition watch, where the word is casually thrown around.

“Like” has been around here in Cumbria for many, many years. Most particularly in some of the Wild West towns between Carlisle and Workington.
In fact, its use is a good way of identifying where someone went to school.

 

[contrex]

But that is how Bowie himself pronounced it?

Sorry, I got that all wrong. I thought it was 'bough - ee', as that was what the DJs said.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Americans tend to say "railroads" whilst us Brits never say that, we say "railways"

And yet, the official name of many American railroads include the word "Railway".
One of the biggest, BNSF, is actually named BNSF Railway.
Norfolk Southern is also a Railway, as were its constituents Norfolk & Western and Southern.
The tactic seems to be to alternate the name Railroad/Railway whenever the corporation is reconstructed (often after bankruptcy - eg UPRR/RW).
Both large Canadian railways (CP, CN) are Railways.

Road is used as a term on British railways, meaning the specific track or line of route (eg Up Road, Through Road) rather than relating to the owning company.
Having said that, some of the earliest GB railways were promoted as "Rail Roads".

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Wherever that's slipped in from it did it more than 40 years ago like, and also happens in a number of non-English languages. I'm finding the sheer range of things Americans are being credited with in this thread pretty astonishing

Using "like" as a space filler word certainly isn't just an American thing- it's a regional variation even in the U.S., as heard in the Frank & Moon Unit Zappa song "Valley Girl".

Geordies also use it, as anyone who watched Byker Grove as a kid will know.

 

[prod_pep]

A favourite amongst the ill-informed is that zebra pronounced 'zeebra' is an Americanism when in fact it is the traditionally correct British pronunciation. I remember both David Attenborough and Richard Dawkins being chastised by social media's hoi palloi for their 'American pronunciation' of the word in the past.

Slightly off-topic but 'The Asda' is not something I often hear around these parts despite the Echo's claims; it's just Asda to many of us. However, Tesco is invariably Tesco's, and a definite Liverpudlian trait is continuing to use outdated names for things, such as 'Home & Bargain'.

 

[TheSeeker]

"Regular" when used to mean medium sized or ordinary rather than periodic always annoys me. My American girlfriend is always laughing at my British pronunciation. Her fave is when I say "kybosh".

 

[AlterEgo]

"Regular" when used to mean medium sized or ordinary rather than periodic always annoys me. My American girlfriend is always laughing at my British pronunciation. Her fave is when I say "kybosh".

Another great Gaelic word, from "black cap" (forget the spelling of the Irish word!) a judge would wear when pronouncing a death sentence.

I'd always thought it was a Yiddish word until recently.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Even when the word is the same, pronunciation can be different.
To me an IT Router is a Rooter, but in the US (and elsewhere) it's pronounced Rowter.

Having said that, most new technology terms are American in origin and soon percolate the entire world.
Except in Wales where everything has to have a formal Welsh term (eg e-mail is e-bost*).

* that's "e-post" with the "p" mutated to a "b" - don't ask.

 

[Ediswan]

I'd always thought it was a Yiddish word until recently.

Opinions seem to vary. I found roughly as many claims that Kibosh is of Yiddish origin as of it being Irish.

 

[AlterEgo]

Opinions seem to vary. I found roughly as many claims that Kibosh is of Yiddish origin as of it being Irish.

Definitely *sounds* Yiddish to me, although a couple of years ago a linguist friend who is Irish claimed it was an Irish word. Who knows!

 

[LUYMun]

When pronouncing 1100, I've noticed more people say "eleven hundred" instead of "one thousand one hundred".

 

[Pinza-C55]

Railroad doesn't make sense because rails are not laid along roads unless they are tramways.

 

[hexagon789]

Neither. A Bowie knife is from its inventor, whose surname was Bowie, which in itself came from the Gaelic buidhe “lucky” and is pronounced boo-ee.

In Irish perhaps, in Scottish Gaelic it's roughly poo-yuh or poo-yih

A favourite amongst the ill-informed is that zebra pronounced 'zeebra' is an Americanism when in fact it is the traditionally correct British pronunciation. I remember both David Attenborough and Richard Dawkins being chastised by social media's hoi palloi for their 'American pronunciation' of the word in the past.

I am only 25, but I use the Zee-bruh variant not Zeh-bruh.

At Primary School I became aware of the difference but only appreciated that Zee-bruh variant was also traditional British rather than American a few years ago when, coincidentally, I heard Sir David Attenborough pronounce it that way on one of his programmes.

Railroad doesn't make sense because rails are not laid along roads unless they are tramways.

It's a road made of (iron) rails, rather than rails laid on a road.

 

[AlterEgo]

In Irish perhaps, in Scottish Gaelic it's roughly poo-yuh or poo-yih

I meant that pronunciation is the English one - it’s corrupted from the old Gaelic word.

 

[DerekC]

Arguing about "railroad" versus "railway" is a bit pointless since they both mean the same thing. The ones that annoy me are where US usage has been imported to the detriment of shades of meaning. For example "dumb" now means "stupid" and has strong negative connotations, leaving us without a neutral word for its original meaning of "unable to speak", equivalent to "deaf".

 

[XAM2175]

For example "dumb" now means "stupid" and has strong negative connotations, leaving us without a neutral word for its original meaning of "unable to speak", equivalent to "deaf".

"Mute" remains mostly-neutral, to the best of my knowledge, except when referring to people who experience it as a result of being deaf.

 

[TheSeeker]

One from the first Gulf war "anti-missile-missile". The American pronunciation always made me smile.

 

[SJL2020]

When pronouncing 1100, I've noticed more people say "eleven hundred" instead of "one thousand one hundred".

What is so American about that?

How would you pronounce Austin 1100? Or 1100AD ?

 

[DerekC]

"Mute" remains mostly-neutral, to the best of my knowledge, except when referring to people who experience it as a result of being deaf.

That's true but "mute" can be used for someone who can talk but chooses not to or is temporarily inhibited from doing so. It's not quite the same as "dumb" which used to definitely imply permanent inability. That's the point, really. American usage is adopted as a result of immersion in US electronic culture and media. It's a random, uncontrolled process - and the result is sometimes loss of useful variations and alternatives.

What is so American about that?

How would you pronounce Austin 1100? Or 1100AD ?

The difference I used to notice is that Americans always say groups of numbers in a connected way - so 1124 is "eleven twenty-four", whereas Brits said "one one two four" or "double one two four". I can't really see a problem with that - you can perfectly well understand either.

The one that makes me cross is having to use the US date format (MM/DD/YY) on electronic forms for UK based companies (often US subsidiaries) and I have noticed that the American way of saying dates - i.e. "Tuesday November eighth" rather than "Tuesday the eighth of November" is spreading in the UK. I hope we are going to resist the date format because it is so open to error and misinterpretation if we have both!

 

[Mcr Warrior]

The one that makes me cross is having to use the US date format (MM/DD/YY) on electronic forms for UK based companies (often US subsidiaries) and I have noticed that the American way of saying dates - i.e. "Tuesday November eighth" rather than "Tuesday the eighth of November" is spreading in the UK. I hope we are going to resist the date format because it is so open to error and misinterpretation if we have both!

Indeed! The sad events of 9/11 happened on the 9th of November, didn't they? (They didn't, but this date format has always confused me!)

 

[Western Lord]

That's true but "mute" can be used for someone who can talk but chooses not to or is temporarily inhibited from doing so. It's not quite the same as "dumb" which used to definitely imply permanent inability. That's the point, really. American usage is adopted as a result of immersion in US electronic culture and media. It's a random, uncontrolled process - and the result is sometimes loss of useful variations and alternatives.

The difference I used to notice is that Americans always say groups of numbers in a connected way - so 1124 is "eleven twenty-four", whereas Brits said "one one two four" or "double one two four". I can't really see a problem with that - you can perfectly well understand either.

The one that makes me cross is having to use the US date format (MM/DD/YY) on electronic forms for UK based companies (often US subsidiaries) and I have noticed that the American way of saying dates - i.e. "Tuesday November eighth" rather than "Tuesday the eighth of November" is spreading in the UK. I hope we are going to resist the date format because it is so open to error and misinterpretation if we have both!

Most Americans refer to Boeing airliners as seven twenty seven, seven thirty seven, seven forty seven etc. whereas we say seven two seven, seven three seven etc. On the other hand we had the BAC One-Eleven.

 

[43096]

Indeed! The sad events of 9/11 happened on the 9th of November, didn't they? (They didn't, but this date format has always confused me!)

The US date format is totally illogical. Either use yy-mm-dd or dd-mm-yy, but not mm-dd-yy as it is in the wrong order.

 

[prod_pep]

The ones that annoy me are where US usage has been imported to the detriment of shades of meaning. For example "dumb" now means "stupid" and has strong negative connotations, leaving us without a neutral word for its original meaning of "unable to speak", equivalent to "deaf".

Similarly, the American usage of mad to mean 'very angry' is spreading here, taking it away from its original meaning of 'insane, mentally deranged'. At least there are plenty of alternative words in this case, but is it me or is cross in this sense becoming dated?

Another annoyance is super used as an adverb to mean 'very, extremely', as in "I'm super excited about tomorrow". This usage is now commonplace amongst younger Brits.