Americanisms in UK English

[C69]

Al lum in um

Aks ffs

[zt1903]

I miss the ly that used to be on the end of adverbs.

[C69]

"Math"

[iarmhiman]

This thread is a load of garbage.

[Tim.]

A lot of the spelling differences were down to Noah Webster when he made his Webster's Dictionary in the early 1800s which became what everything else was based on. His goal in a lot of instances was to make the spelling more intuitive and simplify it. I know it's from French/Latin, but how the English spell "maneuver" makes me

Surely oeuvre is a thing. Why would a compound word be anymore difficult?

[CrazyIslander]

Cant nobody = nobody can

[Donger]

Generally speaking American English is closer to the form of English spoken in Britain during the 15th-17th centuries than modern British English is. The reason their version of the language sounds different to ours is that it has mutated less, not more. The classic example is aluminum/aluminium. When discovered it was named aluminum by its discoverer, but was then altered to be aluminium later because it fit better with the rest of the elements in its column of the periodic table. Aluminum is the older version, aluminium newer

useful example...except aluminium was renamed in the 19th C.

[J Man]

The worst of all is Yanks saying "I could care less". That needs to be a lynching offence.

David Mitchell explains it better than I can:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om7O0MFkmpw

[Tony Blair's Therapist]

the got/gotten is definitely the iconic one. I said 'gotten' up until very recently when an english teacher friend stopped me and told me.
The shit thing is now every time I'll say for e.g. "the last time I'd got.." I find myself having to justify it's the correct way.

"I gotten up" isn't and Americanism. It's just wrong. Simple past in American and English English is "got".

[Tony Blair's Therapist]

Talking American is where it's at, English is dying a dying language.

it actually confirms that english is very much a living language?

But get, got and gotten are remnants of saxon, aren't they? Hardly american innovation .. and also strangely beloved by the celts.

The past tense formations like "ring, rang, rung"; "sing, sang, sung" are Anglo-Saxon in origin and used to be the regular formation of the past tense.

Adding "-ed" to the end was inherited from Indo-European and was originally considered the irregular form.

Over time we stopped using many of the anglo saxon forms and they became archaic or obsolete. At the same time we began using more "-ed" versions and this therefore became the regular form.

When we invent a new verb now (say "to text") we naturally give it an "irregular" Indo-European "texted" past tense.


Gotten has a long history in English (ill-gotten gains for example) but has largely fallen out of favour. Americans preserved but didn't invest the word - as you suggest, its origin goes back into the depths of Old Norse.

(For anyone who likes this sort of stuff, I can heartily recommend "Word of mouth" - Tuesday at 4pm on Radio 4 and on the iplayer - that is my source for much of the above)

I think the "ed" suffix is more about the gradual regularisation of most germanic strong verbs into weak verbs in English. Strong verbs and weak verbs coexisted in Old English. Old English is itself indo-European.

[Gwenno]

It's funny that in my OP I stressed that my comments were an observation not a complaint and I acknowledged that languages evolve, and yet for some replies the tone implies 'FFS stop complaining, languages evolve!' Anyway, has anybody else noticed that an increasing number in the U.K. are replying to the question 'Have you got x?' With 'Yes I do/no I don't' whereas when I was growing up the standard reply was 'Yes I have/no I haven't'?

[waguser]

It's funny that in my OP I stressed that my comments were an observation not a complaint and I acknowledged that languages evolve, and yet for some replies the tone implies 'FFS stop complaining, languages evolve!' Anyway, has anybody else noticed that an increasing number in the U.K. are replying to the question 'Have you got x?' With 'Yes I do/no I don't' whereas when I was growing up the standard reply was 'Yes I have/no I haven't'?

FFS stop complaining, languages evolve

[Bogbunny]

It's funny that in my OP I stressed that my comments were an observation not a complaint and I acknowledged that languages evolve, and yet for some replies the tone implies 'FFS stop complaining, languages evolve!' Anyway, has anybody else noticed that an increasing number in the U.K. are replying to the question 'Have you got x?' With 'Yes I do/no I don't' whereas when I was growing up the standard reply was 'Yes I have/no I haven't'?

FFS stop complaining, languages evolve

Evolutionise shirley?

[globus]

It's funny that in my OP I stressed that my comments were an observation not a complaint and I acknowledged that languages evolve, and yet for some replies the tone implies 'FFS stop complaining, languages evolve!' Anyway, has anybody else noticed that an increasing number in the U.K. are replying to the question 'Have you got x?' With 'Yes I do/no I don't' whereas when I was growing up the standard reply was 'Yes I have/no I haven't'?

FFS stop complaining, languages evolve

He's not complaining and has said that languages evolve (and have been doing so for millennia).

I relate the way people use syntax and grammar to the way they were brought up and educated.

I despair at the laziness of some. "Spellcheck" is not terribly useful sometimes.

I also find the use of "like" terribly irksome. "He said, like, it was great, like".

I walked behind four girls who were in Oundle School uniform. That word was used about 20 times.

Education standards has dropped enormously in English. I'm glad I do not have to mark essays "like" my former wife had to do.

[Tim.]

It's funny that in my OP I stressed that my comments were an observation not a complaint and I acknowledged that languages evolve, and yet for some replies the tone implies 'FFS stop complaining, languages evolve!' Anyway, has anybody else noticed that an increasing number in the U.K. are replying to the question 'Have you got x?' With 'Yes I do/no I don't' whereas when I was growing up the standard reply was 'Yes I have/no I haven't'?

FFS stop complaining, languages evolve

He's not complaining and has said that languages evolve (and have been doing so for millennia).

I relate the way people use syntax and grammar to the way they were brought up and educated.

I despair at the laziness of some. "Spellcheck" is not terribly useful sometimes.

I also find the use of "like" terribly irksome. "He said, like, it was great, like".

I walked behind four girls who were in Oundle School uniform. That word was used about 20 times.

Education standards has dropped enormously in English. I'm glad I do not have to mark essays "like" my former wife had to do.

I bet you none of those girls write essays like they speak like. 99% of people can easily switch (up ) between the formal and informal.

[globus]

It's funny that in my OP I stressed that my comments were an observation not a complaint and I acknowledged that languages evolve, and yet for some replies the tone implies 'FFS stop complaining, languages evolve!' Anyway, has anybody else noticed that an increasing number in the U.K. are replying to the question 'Have you got x?' With 'Yes I do/no I don't' whereas when I was growing up the standard reply was 'Yes I have/no I haven't'?

FFS stop complaining, languages evolve

He's not complaining and has said that languages evolve (and have been doing so for millennia).

I relate the way people use syntax and grammar to the way they were brought up and educated.

I despair at the laziness of some. "Spellcheck" is not terribly useful sometimes.

I also find the use of "like" terribly irksome. "He said, like, it was great, like".

I walked behind four girls who were in Oundle School uniform. That word was used about 20 times.

Education standards has dropped enormously in English. I'm glad I do not have to mark essays "like" my former wife had to do.

I bet you none of those girls write essays like they speak like. 99% of people can easily switch (up ) between the formal and informal.

It's still an appalling way to converse, like.

[Leinster in London]

oh-regg-an-no ....

no, no, no it isn't you mongs, it's oregano

Is that an erb ?

[globus]

Nobody has picked up on my grammatical error!

[Tim.]

It's still an appalling way to converse, like.

Maybe so. Equally though, I'm sure you don't speak the same way you write — I wouldn't use contractions at work. (It*) Would seem odd not to on PR. I find, for example, one would almost certainly write something like:

The RFU is a shambles — in a business context
The RFU are taking the piss — on here

Same language, same organisation, same situation; different context.


*I left this 'it' out initially without thought. It's more conversational.

[AND-y]

It's funny that in my OP I stressed that my comments were an observation not a complaint and I acknowledged that languages evolve, and yet for some replies the tone implies 'FFS stop complaining, languages evolve!' Anyway, has anybody else noticed that an increasing number in the U.K. are replying to the question 'Have you got x?' With 'Yes I do/no I don't' whereas when I was growing up the standard reply was 'Yes I have/no I haven't'?

FFS stop complaining, languages evolve

He's not complaining and has said that languages evolve (and have been doing so for millennia).

I relate the way people use syntax and grammar to the way they were brought up and educated.

I despair at the laziness of some. "Spellcheck" is not terribly useful sometimes.

I also find the use of "like" terribly irksome. "He said, like, it was great, like".

I walked behind four girls who were in Oundle School uniform. That word was used about 20 times.

Education standards has dropped enormously in English. I'm glad I do not have to mark essays "like" my former wife had to do.

I bet you none of those girls write essays like they speak like. 99% of people can easily switch (up ) between the formal and informal.

It's still an appalling way to converse, like.

Absolute snobbery, some arse decided that one way was the "correct" way and decided that any regional ways of speaking were ignorant? fudge that and anyone who believes it. Like, mun, so.

[Tim.]

Absolute snobbery, some arse decided that one way was the "correct" way and decided that any regional ways of speaking were ignorant? f**k that and anyone who believes it. Like, mun, so.

Tidy.

[globus]

Absolute snobbery, some arse decided that one way was the "correct" way and decided that any regional ways of speaking were ignorant? f**k that and anyone who believes it. Like, mun, so.

Tidy.

But bollocks.

[koroke hangareka]

the got/gotten is definitely the iconic one. I said 'gotten' up until very recently when an english teacher friend stopped me and told me.
The shit thing is now every time I'll say for e.g. "the last time I'd got.." I find myself having to justify it's the correct way.

"I gotten up" isn't and Americanism. It's just wrong. Simple past in American and English English is "got".

A useful mnemonic is that got/gotten in American English follows the same pattern as forgot/forgotten in British English.

[Dork Lard]

the got/gotten is definitely the iconic one. I said 'gotten' up until very recently when an english teacher friend stopped me and told me.
The shit thing is now every time I'll say for e.g. "the last time I'd got.." I find myself having to justify it's the correct way.

"I gotten up" isn't and Americanism. It's just wrong. Simple past in American and English English is "got".

It's both wrong conjugation and an Americanism.

And btw there's the weird shit english people say that Americans don't. In the UK people constantly say "the team are", "that university are", which are wrong grammatically and Americans don't make that mistake. "Team", singular: the team is.

[argus]

oh-regg-an-no ....

no, no, no it isn't you mongs, it's oregano

Is that an erb ?

Why is the letter "H" pronounced with a silent H?

[koroke hangareka]

the got/gotten is definitely the iconic one. I said 'gotten' up until very recently when an english teacher friend stopped me and told me.
The shit thing is now every time I'll say for e.g. "the last time I'd got.." I find myself having to justify it's the correct way.

"I gotten up" isn't and Americanism. It's just wrong. Simple past in American and English English is "got".

It's both wrong conjugation and an Americanism.

And btw there's the weird shit english people say that Americans don't. In the UK people constantly say "the team are", "that university are", which are wrong grammatically and Americans don't make that mistake. "Team", singular: the team is.

Not this wrong-headed shit again!

[globus]

the got/gotten is definitely the iconic one. I said 'gotten' up until very recently when an english teacher friend stopped me and told me.
The shit thing is now every time I'll say for e.g. "the last time I'd got.." I find myself having to justify it's the correct way.

"I gotten up" isn't and Americanism. It's just wrong. Simple past in American and English English is "got".

It's both wrong conjugation and an Americanism.

And btw there's the weird shit english people say that Americans don't. In the UK people constantly say "the team are", "that university are", which are wrong grammatically and Americans don't make that mistake. "Team", singular: the team is.

Not this wrong-headed shit again!

Have a cold shower, KH. Because you might become an absolute one.

[dr dre2]

It's funny that in my OP I stressed that my comments were an observation not a complaint and I acknowledged that languages evolve, and yet for some replies the tone implies 'FFS stop complaining, languages evolve!' Anyway, has anybody else noticed that an increasing number in the U.K. are replying to the question 'Have you got x?' With 'Yes I do/no I don't' whereas when I was growing up the standard reply was 'Yes I have/no I haven't'?

FFS stop complaining, languages evolve

He's not complaining and has said that languages evolve (and have been doing so for millennia).

I relate the way people use syntax and grammar to the way they were brought up and educated.

I despair at the laziness of some. "Spellcheck" is not terribly useful sometimes.

I also find the use of "like" terribly irksome. "He said, like, it was great, like".

I walked behind four girls who were in Oundle School uniform. That word was used about 20 times.

Education standards has dropped enormously in English. I'm glad I do not have to mark essays "like" my former wife had to do.

Have dropped, surely?

[Donger]

oh-regg-an-no ....

no, no, no it isn't you mongs, it's oregano

Is that an erb ?

Why is the letter "H" pronounced with a silent H?

feelay....

[Donger]

Al lum in um

Aks ffs

Axe was in the first translation of the Bible into English, and was the word Chaucer wrote.

it hung around in the South.

[globus]

It's funny that in my OP I stressed that my comments were an observation not a complaint and I acknowledged that languages evolve, and yet for some replies the tone implies 'FFS stop complaining, languages evolve!' Anyway, has anybody else noticed that an increasing number in the U.K. are replying to the question 'Have you got x?' With 'Yes I do/no I don't' whereas when I was growing up the standard reply was 'Yes I have/no I haven't'?

FFS stop complaining, languages evolve

He's not complaining and has said that languages evolve (and have been doing so for millennia).

I relate the way people use syntax and grammar to the way they were brought up and educated.

I despair at the laziness of some. "Spellcheck" is not terribly useful sometimes.

I also find the use of "like" terribly irksome. "He said, like, it was great, like".

I walked behind four girls who were in Oundle School uniform. That word was used about 20 times.

Education standards has dropped enormously in English. I'm glad I do not have to mark essays "like" my former wife had to do.

Have dropped, surely?

Ah, à propos my earlier post in which I admitted an error; you are quite right.

I'd better be on my best behaviour now!

[fisgard792]

It's funny that in my OP I stressed that my comments were an observation not a complaint and I acknowledged that languages evolve, and yet for some replies the tone implies 'FFS stop complaining, languages evolve!' Anyway, has anybody else noticed that an increasing number in the U.K. are replying to the question 'Have you got x?' With 'Yes I do/no I don't' whereas when I was growing up the standard reply was 'Yes I have/no I haven't'?

FFS stop complaining, languages evolve

He's not complaining and has said that languages evolve (and have been doing so for millennia).

I relate the way people use syntax and grammar to the way they were brought up and educated.

I despair at the laziness of some. "Spellcheck" is not terribly useful sometimes.

I also find the use of "like" terribly irksome. "He said, like, it was great, like".

I walked behind four girls who were in Oundle School uniform. That word was used about 20 times.

Education standards has dropped enormously in English. I'm glad I do not have to mark essays "like" my former wife had to do.

Have dropped, surely?

Ah, à propos my earlier post in which I admitted an error; you are quite right.

I'd better be on my best behaviour now!

you can be excused globby, having done the number of things you have claimed, it has to be accepted, you wouldn't have time to fit in an education in also

bit concerned why you be so close walking behind those 4 girls in school uniform, to hear their conversation

[globus]

You can be excused globby, having done the number of things you have claimed, it has to be accepted, you wouldn't have time to fit in an education in also

bit concerned why you be so close walking behind those 4 girls in school uniform, to hear their conversation

On my way from the War Memorial to Colemans, the stationers. (He's a great bloke, does quizzes.)

They had probably picked up their lunch from Trendalls (famous for their sanwiches/rolls) and were trundling back to SciTech.

So. Nothing to report really.

They are all getting a bit plump. My stepdaughter, who went to Oundle School is about half of some of their sizes.

[fisgard792]

You can be excused globby, having done the number of things you have claimed, it has to be accepted, you wouldn't have time to fit in an education in also

bit concerned why you be so close walking behind those 4 girls in school uniform, to hear their conversation

..............
They are all getting a bit plump. ...............

when you are in a hole, stop digging

[Mr Mike]

You can be excused globby, having done the number of things you have claimed, it has to be accepted, you wouldn't have time to fit in an education in also

bit concerned why you be so close walking behind those 4 girls in school uniform, to hear their conversation

"Archiving"?

[globus]

You can be excused globby, having done the number of things you have claimed, it has to be accepted, you wouldn't have time to fit in an education in also

bit concerned why you be so close walking behind those 4 girls in school uniform, to hear their conversation

..............
They are all getting a bit plump. ...............

when you are in a hole, stop digging

<Yawn> I'm gliding gracefully across the pavement, thank you.

I'm the bloke who arranges to get (pot)holes filled around here.

There has been a noticeable increase in girls' weights around here. The lads haven't put too much on, but they are getting taller.

The source of my observation was from seeing them in the street and a conversation with one of the house-mistresses. (Who is a friend.) Small pond, large fish.

[Fangle]

Al lum in um

Aks ffs

Axe was in the first translation of the Bible into English, and was the word Chaucer wrote.

it hung around in the South.

I have only noticed it used by inner city blacks.

[message #2527204]

Al lum in um

Aks ffs

Axe was in the first translation of the Bible into English, and was the word Chaucer wrote.

it hung around in the South.

I have only noticed it used by inner city blacks.

The ones you know must be members of the society of inner city fans of Chaucer and 7th century biblical literary variants. The SOICFCBLV

[fraz]

It's funny that in my OP I stressed that my comments were an observation not a complaint and I acknowledged that languages evolve, and yet for some replies the tone implies 'FFS stop complaining, languages evolve!' Anyway, has anybody else noticed that an increasing number in the U.K. are replying to the question 'Have you got x?' With 'Yes I do/no I don't' whereas when I was growing up the standard reply was 'Yes I have/no I haven't'?

FFS stop complaining, languages evolve

He's not complaining and has said that languages evolve (and have been doing so for millennia).

I relate the way people use syntax and grammar to the way they were brought up and educated.

I despair at the laziness of some. "Spellcheck" is not terribly useful sometimes.

I also find the use of "like" terribly irksome. "He said, like, it was great, like".

I walked behind four girls who were in Oundle School uniform. That word was used about 20 times.

Education standards has dropped enormously in English. I'm glad I do not have to mark essays "like" my former wife had to do.

[fraz]

the got/gotten is definitely the iconic one. I said 'gotten' up until very recently when an english teacher friend stopped me and told me.
The shit thing is now every time I'll say for e.g. "the last time I'd got.." I find myself having to justify it's the correct way.

"I gotten up" isn't and Americanism. It's just wrong. Simple past in American and English English is "got".

It's both wrong conjugation and an Americanism.

And btw there's the weird shit english people say that Americans don't. In the UK people constantly say "the team are", "that university are", which are wrong grammatically and Americans don't make that mistake. "Team", singular: the team is.

No it isn't. In American English, the archaic form of the past participle of the verb "to get" (gotten) is still in use. The example you've given is of the past tense. In American, Australian and all forms of British English, the past tense of "get" is "got". The variance is in the past participle.