Americana
Have you ever noticed how a new buzz phrase (frequently imported
from the US) enters the UK language and seems to eclipse the phrase
we once used perfectly happily? There are many examples and they
often drive me bonkers - but then so many things do!
I'm glad to see that I'm not alone in this, and you may have a pet hate as well. If so, I wonder if you'll spot it in this list:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14201796
I'm glad to see that I'm not alone in this, and you may have a pet hate as well. If so, I wonder if you'll spot it in this list:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14201796
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43 Comments
A few othere are 'well' for 'very', as in 'he's well funny'; 'wicked' for 'good' or great' - and even worse wicked's successor, 'sick' which (I think) seemes to mean the same.
Now off to look at the list.
'Back-to-back' - what ever happened to consecutive?
And the ubiquitous inclusion of 'like' and 'totally', as if everyones a Valley Girl.
That said I do find Americanisms quite irritating. But the fact that the Academie Francais, a body set up to preserve the French language, is a failure by most measures shows that attempting to stop these words and phrases worming their way in is somewhat akin to shouting at the rain.
I think the "Americanism" that irritates me most isn't a particular word or phrase. It is the tendency to embellish any speech or announcement with superfluous and unneccessary verbiage so that about twice as many words come out as are necessary to do the job.
In defence (not defense) of Americanisms, a lot of them are metaphorical and, hence, very lively (at least to start with). Baseball metaphors (stepping up to the plate) are meaningless to us (and hence dead metaphors) - but we must acknowledge the amount of metaphors from our equivalent game, cricket (on the back foot, stumped).
We must also remember we have plenty of our own dead metaphors. Back to square one, for instance, relates to football commentaries on 1930s wireless.
I seem to remember 'well good' from hippy times (Neil in the Young Ones). Intensifiers like 'very', 'really' and even 'well' have a long history of being mocked. Mercutio lampoons the use of 'very' in Romeo and Juliet.
By and large, though (thinks: what does by and large mean?) Americans are lively and fun. I may feel jealous of them occasionally, and even exasperated by their kiddishness, but I'd rather have them - and their language - than not.
Another tangent, they Americanised the first couple of Dr Who's and now Torchwood has gone over the pond. Another small chip taken out of our culture.
I am so totally random!
I often use "Belly up to the table", in the context of "Stepping up to the plate". I have no idea where it comes from, but people seem to know what I mean.
I followed the link from Spangles and skimmed the 50 mentioned. Yes, overall I agree - with two personal extremes - I like '24/7' and I hate 'physicality'. So what's prudish or possibly interpretable as such.....
Its about 'fanny'.
Now those who know about me and my writing know of my interest in things historical. And I could tell you a lot of things, if you were interested, in authoresses called Frances during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Some literary historians take umbrage in calling such ladies 'Fanny-for-short' but it takes on a whole new perspective if you apply the Americanism.
My daughters have been very supportive in my writing ventures. But it took me a while to get the joke here.... (prudery alert sound) ..... Fanny Burney.......... and that later woman writer, mother of famous Anthony, Fanny Trollope...
I must be getting old!
Tony, I was well chuffed (joke!) to read your comments. I also don't understand why 'sick' is used to show appreciation.
Deli, I completely agree about 'awesome'. Talk about vacuous! And 'at the end of the day' is deeply irritating. To use another irritating expression (and one that gets me gritting my teeth), what's that all about? :)
Weens, yes, yes, yes! I once had an editor who only seemed capable of saying 'Cool'. Everything was cool, whether it was good or disastrous.
GD, Valley Girl-speak makes me want to run for the hills. But not the Hollywood Hills, obviously! Putting 'so' into some statements also gets me seething. 'I'm so over him!' Grrr. If you ask me, 'Friends' has a hell of a lot to answer for.
Gilou, ha ha!
Alan, I agree about English being a collection of words from many different languages, and I also agree about the fuddy duddy (and futile) nature of the Academie Francaise. What upsets me most about the current influx of Americanisms is that they often seem to rob our very rich vocabulary of all its colour, subtlety and variety, so that (to use Deli's example) 'awesome' becomes a catch-all phrase that means nothing. It sounds like a form of lazy thinking - why should someone think up a more precise term, such as 'extraordinary' or 'serene' or 'dazzling', when they can just say 'awesome'. It makes me want to weep!
Another irritation for me is when 'situation' is bolted on to a word that already describes a situation. For instance, 'an emergency situation'. For pity's sake!
I think it would be fun if radio and television interviewers put their interviewees in those special drop-you-into-the-shark-tank chairs that crop up so often in the lairs of the villains in James Bond films. Interviewees who are persistent offenders in the language stakes could be sent to their doom with a single jab of a red button. We'd hear a lot of waffling, such as 'At grass roots level, when we've applied all the checks and balances while we address this issue, we'll need a level playing field if we're going to move forward', followed by a splash and a strangled scream. I bet you John Humphreys would love it!
T'other bugbear is at the end of a fruitless business conversation, something like I've just paid a bill on the phone, or asked, 'Will you refund the charges?' followed by 'No.' The twit on the script will then ask, 'is there anything else I can help you with, today?'
They're not a courtesies, they're insincere. It's all lies, lies and more damn lies.
You all have a nice day.
Weens, I think Spangles' joke was the inclusion of 'well' - not the chuffed part; a good word, chuffed.
Having read the list now, I'm surprised at a few omissions. Americans never 'do' anything - they always 'go ahead and do' it. And they never tell you any thing without rhetorically aking you to guess first: 'You know what, I'm going to go with the tuna on rye.' And 'go with'? what's wrong with 'have'? And nothing is ever 'there' - it's always 'right there', as in, You walk three blocks and take a left right there; or Has anyone seen my mobile (sorry, cell phone)? It's right there on the table.
Oh, and one I absolutely hate is their pronunciation of 'nuclear' as 'nucular'. Urgh!
Now, I'm gonna get a handle on myself, because, going forward, I aim to medddle in the Olympics, which will be well cool, dude.
Kiki, I've never heard 'safe' instead of 'OK'. But eek!
Alan, 'wait while three o'clock' is quite sweet.
Mockingbird, I'd never thought of the 'other' meaning of Fanny Burney and Fanny Trollope. How could I have missed that when I have a mind like a sewer? (Too many years spent working with a gang of graphic designers who taught me jokes that can still silence a room.)
Gerry, yes, 'gotten' is olde English. I didn't intend to sound as though I'm casting aspersions on Americans, by the way. I've had some wonderful American friends. I can't abide 24/7, personally. I cringe every time. But maybe including the seconds would help to stamp it out. (Sorry, Weens!)
Whisks, I agree about the ludicrous scripts that people in call centres have to follow. I often feel sorry for them having to say it all.
Tony, I think there should be a rule that any politician who can't pronounce 'nuclear' properly should not have anything to do with nuclear weapons.
Alastair, I am stunned about the idea of teaching children to type rather than write. As for Doctor Who. Well!
My late aunt and uncle lived and worked in the States for many years, so had many American phrases when they returned to dear old Blighty. They always spoke of 'taking in a movie' rather than 'going to the flicks', as my mother called it. Whenever I said goodbye to my aunt (whom I adored), one of us would always say 'Take it easy' and the other would reply 'You bet!'
I've also noticed, today, a rash of 'quantum' when describing the size of something. I'll have to listen out for it so I can get it down properly and post it here.
I knew there was something else !
But I can still whinge, can't I?
My current pet hate - "go figure!"
Mind you, all this alternative phraseology is bread and butter to us writers. We may not like some of them, but our characters can be made quite distinctive and instantly recognisable by their choice of language. So it's all grist to the mill.
Tony's comment got me fired up - American pronunciation is what drives me mad. R-out instead of R-oot (Route). Aloominum instead of Aluminium! (Think Alan mentioned that one)
I hate when I accidently slip up and use an American phrase - it feels like betrayal. I always rib my brother for it becuase he often says 'trash' instead of 'rubbish' or 'sidewalk' instead of 'pavement'.
How appropriate!
Didn't he also think that a place called Yurp was home to the You're a-peein' Comoonidy?
I'm also quite fond of American additional language - right there, you know what, go right ahead - it often gives a sense of dramatic action. John McEnroe's tennis commentaries are full of such padding - 'there's something going on right there' - but he tells us with such a sense of persuasive drama that he is far and away my favourite commentator. (By the way, 'far and away' is British padding.)
I rarely watch golf but tuned in last Sunday because it seemed something special was on the way. At first we had an American commentator - deep, mellow voice full of metaphors and colourful padding. I thought he was excellent, but later in the day we had the great master, Peter Allis. His description of Darren Clarke 'with his farmer's walk' was a beautifully precise metaphor, but then he extended it - 'inspecting his cattle, and they all look wonderful'. What a man. What a commentator. Long live metaphor (whether British or American).
Wait there's still more when people say thanxs babes, mwah, phat, tht's bait, 4real, allow tht, rude boi, rude girl, boi racer, girl racer and using like every other word and when they abbreviate words, dn't, kno, tho, tbh, dem, da, gal.. *sighs*
Seriously, totally awesome is 'old skool' now!!
I've just looked in for a minute to add my two pennyworth. (Not my two cents' worth.) Here are a few more verbal irritations - or should that be irritating verbalizations?:
Here's the thing.
Listen up - as in 'Oi!'
Nauseous - as in 'I feel sick'. (Incorrect use of the word, by the way. It should be 'I feel nauseated'.)
Circularlize - as in 'I'll circulate the minutes'
Diarize - as in 'I'll write it in my diary'
Sick to my stomach
Year on year
OMG
I'm outta here. As in 'It's no good, I'm going to have to stop now and step outside for a soothing breath of fresh air.' Toodle pip.
Batting on a Sticky Wicket
One in the box
Bowled him a Googly
had a good innings
Bowled over
batting for the other team
laid a straight bat on that one
Just not cricket
That have made their way into general use, for a start. There must be others.
I'll step up to the plate here....... errr ..... 'ave a go.
Having been born(e) there and having grown up (debatable) there I have a daily struggle with the grey (gray?) areas of two nations seperated by a common language.
For me it is simple "when in Rome,,, C'est la vive".
Hope this helps......
Prop
'Crutch' words, such as: like, 'I was like', sort of, right (spoken as if a question) are more worrying as they are responsible for a reduction in the words used by many people.
Has any sport contributed more phrases to English? One that comes to mind is 'doing something off one's own bat.
At the writing level, thank goodness for the vigour and originality of 'American English'. In Roth, Cormac Mccarthy and many more, the writing is such that gray, color, theater etc don't matter a jot.
Americana is the very least of it. Within our own British Isles we have Scottish (try getting a handle on Burns' "Salute to the Haggis" or anything else he wrote if you weren't born north of the border!) Welsh, Irish, Geordie, Scouse, Tyke, Tup, Brum. All English-speaking and every one of those areas of Britain has its own words ... expressions ... idiom that no-one born and bred outside of them can fully understand and I've only reached the Midlands of England already!
To Americana you can add Australiana, East/West Indiana, Pidgin English-iana from every corner of what once was an Empire on which the sun never set. We have inherited a continually evolving language more rich in culture than any other on Earth and while students all over the world strive to learn our language as a plus on their CV we have the advantage of having imbibed it with our mothers'milk.
Our tongue can be as beautiful as that used inspirationally in the King James' Bible or as dramatic as any to be found in the complete works of Shakespeare. It has preserved for us the geometric theorems of Greek sophists and philosophers; the strategems of Roman emperors and the solid practicality of their civil engineers (still used by British builders today) and the mathematical genius of Islam. As a Nation, we've welcomed it all on board and whyever not?
You may by now have gathered that I have an abiding love of of the English language in all its vagaries so may I go on to say that the one thing that truly p****s me off no end is the need of the very young in their pursuit of novelty to ignore so rich a heritage and invent ugly words that mean nothing at all to anyone but themselves?
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