Someone (Winston Churchill?) once said that the British and the Americans are two people separated by a common language. Attached is a link to a BBC article listing Americanisms that have slithered into usage in Mother England. I sympathize with many of the examples submitted, but others are of long-standing usage. Thus, the complaint that we pronounce the 26th letter as "zee" rather than "zed" falls on deaf ears and blind eyes.
Things could be worse. I note that the tsunami of overusage of the word "like" did not make the list, and neither did "wake-up call," or "in the tank for." I'm like, "What's up with that?"
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14201796
Some of my favorites from the list:
ReplyDelete2. The next time someone tells you something is the "least worst option", tell them that their most best option is learning grammar.
Mike Ayres, Bodmin, Cornwall
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
35. "Reach out to" when the correct word is "ask". For example: "I will reach out to Kevin and let you know if that timing is convenient". Reach out? Is Kevin stuck in quicksand? Is he teetering on the edge of a cliff? Can't we just ask him?
Nerina, London
39. My favourite one was where Americans claimed their family were "Scotch-Irish". This of course it totally inaccurate, as even if it were possible, it would be "Scots" not "Scotch", which as I pointed out is a drink.
James, Somerset
The latter two are the best. Whenever I hear someone say "Reach out" in this sense I just think "You are a fool."
And the "Scotch-Irish" business is even worse. Some of my ancestors came from Scotland via Dublin, but that does not make them "Scotch-Irish". On the other hand, the term Scotland is derived from the Roman "land of the Irish". Virtually all Scots are descended from the ancient Irish, but that does not make them "Scotch-Irish" either, simply Scots.
I also liked some of the comments appended to the article. My favorite:
1294.
Pcaldato
20th July 2011 - 13:41
"27. "Oftentimes" just makes me shiver with annoyance. Fortunately I've not noticed it over here yet.
John, London" This is not an Americanism -- Banquo uses it in "MacBeth".
Nice try, Pcaldato, but I can tell you, having seen a few dozen productions of Macbeth, that what Banquo says is actually "Oft'times..."
Noah Webster pointed out in the late 18th century that the upper class Brits had used language to place themselves above the masses. My numerous English friends speak many varieties of "English", some quite difficult for me to understand.
Webster went on to say that Americans had abandoned that upper class BS to create the most pure, understandable and democratic English in the world. It may be that that fact is one of the foundations of the great American success story.
"It is what is" grates on me, along with "narrative," used to mean "theme." My employer, a telephonephile, uses the phrase "pick up the phone" instead of "call", which rankles his phone-hating administrator (the inventors of email, Internet, texting, should be sainted).
ReplyDeleteHah, Americanisms are polluting reptilian language. Winding down after taking in Dash game in dog days heat and watching a History Channel "Modern Marvels" show, I heard GEICO's lizard report that the insurance has customer service reps on duty "24/7."
ReplyDeleteExcept in academic circles, I don't know why we even need the word "narrative". A narrative is simply a story or tale, as in the source of Faulkner's title "The Sound and the Fury".
ReplyDelete"It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."
Macbeth, Act V, Scene V
Perfectly applicable to most of the narrative coming out of Washington these days.