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Merging of AmE and BrE | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| Avrakdavra Diglot Newbie United States Joined 5713 days ago 5 posts - 8 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Mandarin, Esperanto, Modern Hebrew, Persian, Hungarian, Japanese, Portuguese | Message 9 of 35 30 April 2012 at 7:12pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I increasingly am noticing the use of "Britishisms" in American contexts. This is sometimes, I think, a way for the speaker to lend a supposedly sophisticated, European tone to their speech (especially by peurile, everything-about-my-native-country-is-bad types). Some such usage seems simply to reflect greater media interpenetration. In any case, some examples I have noted include the use of "shop" for "store," of "take a decision" for "make a decision," and of "sweet" for "candy."
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| Elexi Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5556 days ago 938 posts - 1840 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: French, German, Latin | Message 10 of 35 30 April 2012 at 8:12pm | IP Logged | |||||
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'color' is not an acceptable spelling of 'colour' in Britain and, in my experience, will
be picked up as such by a teacher or proof reader in good schools, universities and offices (normally with a red pen and with the comment 'Americanism!!'). Edited by Elexi on 30 April 2012 at 8:13pm 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Fenn Groupie United Kingdom Joined 4882 days ago 51 posts - 119 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Italian | Message 11 of 35 30 April 2012 at 10:21pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I've caught myself using more and more Americanisms recently. I rarely watch tv so i
think it's the internet that is influencing my speech, which means my swearing has changed too. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| geoffw Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 4679 days ago 1134 posts - 1865 votes Speaks: English*, German, Yiddish Studies: Modern Hebrew, French, Dutch, Italian, Russian | Message 12 of 35 30 April 2012 at 10:27pm | IP Logged | |||||
"Shop" as a noun is a Britishism? What's more classic Americana than meeting up at the malt shop? Can't say as I recall ever hearing the phrase "take a decision" anywhere. Edited by geoffw on 30 April 2012 at 10:28pm 4 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| starrye Senior Member United States Joined 5085 days ago 172 posts - 280 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese | Message 13 of 35 01 May 2012 at 9:53pm | IP Logged | |||||
Really? I often say "shop" for "store" and "sweets" for "candy" too. Also things like "bin" instead of "can" for the trash...or "holiday" instead of "vacation"...which I know I never used to say as a child or teenager. It's not really deliberate, just little words like that, I suppose because I see and hear them so often in the media and online.... I'm not sure where it is coming from, whether from British English specifically or other varieties, or even from ESL speakers. For instance, I have caught myself saying things like "if you have any doubts" instead of "if you have any questions".
Depends on the context....when I think about it, "store" seems to have a more common and casual tone to it than "shop" in American English (at least in my region). For instance, if you are buying something fairly mundane, it's just a store. But if you are doing more "serious" shopping, at maybe a nice Jewelry Shop or something, you'd be more likely to call it a "shop" and not just a "store". A large store, like say Wal-mart, would always just be a "store", because it's big and impersonal, etc. I think "shop" implies something smaller and maybe more intimate or local, or some kind of specialty shop. But over the past few years I find myself saying things like "I"m heading out to the shops..." in a casual way, which is not how I grew up using the word at all. But it is something I hear foreigners say often. Edited by starrye on 01 May 2012 at 10:33pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| hrhenry Octoglot Senior Member United States languagehopper.blogs Joined 5121 days ago 1871 posts - 3642 votes Speaks: English*, SpanishC2, ItalianC2, Norwegian, Catalan, Galician, Turkish, Portuguese Studies: Polish, Indonesian, Ojibwe | Message 14 of 35 02 May 2012 at 4:35am | IP Logged | |||||
I'm curious to know where you live. I grew up in Northern Minnesota, then moved to California as a young adult. I found it was much easier to just conform to the speech used in California rather than continue using my Minnesota-speak, for a couple reasons. For one, I would just plain be misunderstood sometimes (recently arrived in California, I used the word "pop" at a store instead of "soda" and the cashier actually thought I was asking about my Dad). The second reason, and it was probably a more important reason for me at that age was that, combined with my accent, I was often laughed at. So it was just easier to use the language that was in current use in California. Personally, I would think the other person would feel more comfortable with me using the local vocabulary, too. R. == Edited by hrhenry on 02 May 2012 at 4:45am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| starrye Senior Member United States Joined 5085 days ago 172 posts - 280 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese | Message 15 of 35 02 May 2012 at 2:31pm | IP Logged | |||||
New England... I wouldn't say it's my accent or entire vocabulary being influenced. It is just a subtle word choice here or there, that I often hear my (foreign) friends say, or hear on TV and see online often. Sometimes it starts off as a joke, between a friend and I, and we'll joke around about each others "weird" idioms/phrases... but then sometimes after a while, that phrase/idiom might seep into my own thoughts too. I have an older relative who uses "bloody" a lot. Oh and "cheers" is one I hear more often, at work, like at the end of an email. I definitely still say "soda" instead of "pop" though! :) 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Camundonguinho Triglot Senior Member Brazil Joined 4740 days ago 273 posts - 500 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, English, Spanish Studies: Swedish | Message 16 of 35 02 May 2012 at 11:04pm | IP Logged | |||||
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POSH is a recent Britishism in the US.
TO GO MISSING is an old Britishism in the US (1940ies) that stayed for good. ;) TAP WATER is still not called FAUCET WATER in the US, and some people still use TROUSERS instead of PANTS ;) Edited by Camundonguinho on 02 May 2012 at 11:05pm 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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