woolley Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 Good thread RC. Entertaining and thought provoking. I now feel better about Americanisms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Power Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 programs. programmes I'm with Satan! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satan Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 programs. programmes Ah, but they're two different things, computer programs and tv programmes You dimwit. Merkin was talking about television programmes. He/she also put an apostrophe into the possessive pronoun "its". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Evil One Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 programs. programmes I'm with Satan! I already knew that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
La_Dolce_Vita Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 What is wrong with 'Can I get'? Is it grammatically incorrect? I would have thought not. It's used wrongly by people who are asking for something in a shop, for example. If you were to say: "Can I get a bacon sandwich?" in a shop, the shopkeeper could simply say "yes" and do nothing else because it is, indeed, possible to get a bacon sandwich. You haven't actually asked FOR anything, you've just asked about whether it's possible to get one, which it clearly is. The person who wants a bacon sandwich should say: "Please will you serve me a bacon sandwich?" I understand what you mean. In which case, 'May I get' might be the better choice or 'Can I have' (which has been mentioned). Though I tend to be very Lynn Truss about things, but this is something that bothers me very little compared with bad spellings of particular words, other grammatical errors, and turns of phrase. I think the proliferation of commercialise is worse. The words finalise and finalised seems to be have seeped outside the narrow world of particular finance operations. I hate: "Please be advised" or anything where people are telling you that they are advising you when they are actually informing you (or better, telling you). "Please find attached" Using 'trust' in a letter Re - for regarding Revert - for 'get back' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilitantDogOwner Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 center ............................... centre I though Center was the middle of something (i.e. the center of a circle), while Centre was a location (i.e. a community centre). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satan Posted October 24, 2012 Share Posted October 24, 2012 America is the land of euphemism. While "toilet" itself is a euphemism (which is why educated people and the Royal Family never use the term and will say loo or lavatory), the Americans take it a stage further. They talk about "bathrooms" even when there's no bath inside. Or "restrooms". A room for a rest? It's also the land of verbosity. A sign on a Greyhound bus in the States: "This vehicle is restroom-equipped for your convenience". In Britain: "Toilet on board". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
La_Dolce_Vita Posted October 24, 2012 Share Posted October 24, 2012 How do YOU pronounce longevity? Tell me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moghrey Mie Posted October 24, 2012 Share Posted October 24, 2012 I love it ! 'educated people and the Royal Family.........' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Posted November 10, 2012 Share Posted November 10, 2012 How about 'Can you confirm your address etc' is that an americanism or just call centre speak for 'what is your address'. FTR I always answer it with "Yes", there usually follows a long silence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
La_Dolce_Vita Posted November 10, 2012 Share Posted November 10, 2012 That's just modern commercialese. You don't need to look to America to see the worst ways of speaking and communicating. Take 'advise' for example, I see e-mail after e-mail where people use this word instead of 'inform'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RC-Drift.com Posted November 10, 2012 Author Share Posted November 10, 2012 So maybe some time in the future I'll be able to choose English as my preferred option instead of American English when installing software and App options Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barrie Stevens Posted November 10, 2012 Share Posted November 10, 2012 Many moons ago selling antique 18th Century prints of blood sports the “Fighting Cocks” had to be recatalogued in the USA as “Fighting Chickens” not quite the same thing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moghrey Mie Posted November 10, 2012 Share Posted November 10, 2012 Why do people like David Cretney say 'persons' instead of 'people' and 'utilise' when they mean 'use'? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
La_Dolce_Vita Posted November 10, 2012 Share Posted November 10, 2012 I see utilise a lot in business and government communication. Apparently, it makes things seem more important. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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