50 Americanisms that piss off the Brits

[Bob The Mercenary]

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

Maths? Really? Maths?

Also, I can't think of any force on Earth that could make me say "shopping trolley".

Though half these things aren't really Americanisms at all, just the result of a few really uptight people emailing a news site.

[Shyria Dracnoir]

Originally Posted by Bob Dole

Though half these things aren't really Americanisms at all, just the result of a few really uptight people emailing a news site.

In other words, the only sort of people who would email a news site about these things.

[Lumenskir]

Ever since I heard it on Top Gear, I've always used Maths instead of Math. It really is just fun to say.

All of the other ones though (at least, the ones that aren't normal grammar faffing) are just complaining about differences in slang. I also noticed none of them complained about how little we say cunt compared to them.

[Toastburner B]

I was expecting more complaints about our shunning of the letter "u".

[Loyal]

4. Using 24/7 rather than "24 hours, 7 days a week" or even just plain "all day, every day". Simon Ball, Worcester

Really? Here I was thinking internet Grammar Nazis were petty.

Like, when I read the topic title I was thinking this would just be a list of mostly dialect and colloquialisms (i.e. prefixing sentence clauses with "like"). Instead, half the list is people nitpicking about little syntax details and shorthands.

And this:

22. Train station. My teeth are on edge every time I hear it. Who started it? Have they been punished? Chris Capewell, Queens Park, London

I don't even know what this is supposed to mean. Is your issue with the word "train"? Perhaps with the word "station"? What makes this so very offensive to you?

Also, "maths" is a stupid word and anytime I hear it uttered it sounds like the person is being condescending or ironic. Casualty of culture, maybe, but I stand by it. "Math" or "mathematics," okay. "Maths," no.

[Eltargrim]

Originally Posted by Toastburner B

I was expecting more complaints about our shunning of the letter "u".

I hate you all with an undying passion for that.

[Lumenskir]

Also, "maths" is a stupid word and anytime I hear it uttered it sounds like the person is being condescending or ironic. Casualty of culture, maybe, but I stand by it. "Math" or "mathematics," okay. "Maths," no.

It helps if you pronounce it in all caps, like MATHS*. The 'S' gets its own syllable.

*See Also: SCIENCE.

[Doc ock rokc]

Wow I Never even heard of half of these and would personally punch some people in the mouth if they used some of them. The rest looks like Misinterpretations and just differences in culture. Hike as in to Hike up a price comes from the idea the you mostly HIKE UP A MOUNTAIN. and Season is named mostly due to shows filming in the summer then put out in the winter thus being in tune with the seasons.

[Amake]

Math is short for mathematic. There's no such thing as a mathematic. Do the maths!

Actually that sounded really stupid right now. I think I'll go on saying math.

Here's some interesting stuff about the word hike. Apparently we're dealing with two different words what have turned into one word and still has two different meanings.

Further, I'm happy I've never heard of anyone using the phrase "least worst option". Well, I was happy until I found out our Mr. Ayres has a profound dislike for it. Now I have heard it.

"It is what it is". Pity us. Michael Knapp, Chicago, US

Is there anything wrong here that I don't see or does Mr. Knapp just not approve of a tautology?

Is "physicality" a real word? Curtis, US

There is no such thing as a real word. They're all made up. But if you mean a word that's in the dictionary, yes it fucking is.

Does nobody celebrate a birthday anymore, must we all "turn" 12 or 21 or 40?

If my choice is to say "I turn thirty-one this year" or "I celebrate my thirty-first birthday this year", I'll go with the one that has like 65% less words in it, thanks.

The one that always gets me is the American need to use the word bi-weekly when fortnightly would suffice just fine. Ami Grewal, New York

I honestly thought no one had used the word "fortnight" in the last 130 years at least. But alright, if you can make a compelling case to use this terribly obscure word with no obvious connection to the thing it means I may, no, I still don't see any reason to complain about people preferring to use a word that makes sense to them.

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. Gordon Brown, Coventry

One half is one half million if you're counting in millions. Context is important! Also why are you bitching if it's already clear that the amount they're getting at is 1.5 million and not one million and one half? The answer is bitch bitch bitch.

My brother now uses the term "season" for a TV series. Hideous. D Henderson, Edinburgh

This one I don't get. Is "series" the word in English for a season of a TV series? That's going to get confusing.


They do get to a point there at the end of the list though.

In conclusion I will share two gems of wisdom brought to you by some of Sweden's most respected linguists:
1. Language changes over time. Deal with it.
2. The only rule of grammar that actually matters is "Do people understand what you want to tell them?" If you got that, you're spanking to go!

[Lumenskir]

Math is short for mathematic. There's no such thing as a mathematic. Do the maths!

Actually that sounded really stupid right now. I think I'll go on saying math.

Again, just going from its usage on Top Gear, but it's usually "He's over there doing his maths" or otherwise not using a 'the.' At least, that's how I've been using it to annoy my friends.

I'm actually surprised that no one complained about how we say "I need to go to the hospital" rather than "I need to go to hospital," since that always gets me.