Jambo1874 Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 I'm working with on a US based project just now and work with people from Houston and Virginia. The ones from Houston are more annoying to talk to with their Americanisms, so I 'guess' the levels of annoyance can be regional. The most annoying thing is when we are referred to as 'the folks from the UK' on conference calls and the like. As hinted, saying 'I guess' when you mean Yes annoys me. If I'm explaining something, or confirming my understanding of something then they say 'ab-sol-utely' - but string it out so it takes about 3 minutes to say. Grrr. 'Ill reach out to ya' is also quite annoying. On the whole tbh, they are not nearly as annoying to work with as I thought, and get my sarcasm. They 'sure do appreciate it' when i take shortbread and other tartan (or 'tar-tan'...) nonsense over. One of the best things about working with the US 'folks' is winding them up about how much 'vacation time' I get compared to them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Harris Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 their use of the verb "to write" when talking about correspondence. i.e. "I'll write you" rather than "I'll write to you". or "he wrote me" rather than "he wrote to me" or "he wrote me a letter" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sawdust Caesar Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 "You do the math." Should be maths or more accurately arithmetic as it's usually just basic sums they are on about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Say What Again Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 Truly annoying but isn't it a Canadianism? It is according to the South Park movie it is. They have the Canadians saying 'anyhoo' and 'aboot' throughout the film. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoJack Horseman Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 I HATE when you're watching a film or American TV program and they need some Aluminium Foil, they call it Aluminum. Really gets my goat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I P Knightley Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 It is according to the South Park movie it is. They have the Canadians saying 'anyhoo' and 'aboot' throughout the film. Let's not own up to having South Park as our cultural reference source but that's the only evidence I can think of for 'anyhoo' being Canadian. I HATE when you're watching a film or American TV program and they need some Aluminium Foil, they call it Aluminum. Really gets my goat. ...and they even take the trouble to spell it correctly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabriel Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 Excessively using 'like' as an aspirated commas is infuriating, turning 'impact' into a verb grates, and the embarrassingly impolite 'can I get' for 'may I have' renders me speechless. These, however, pale into insignificance when one considers what our colonial cousins have done with the word 'democracy'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Boy Named Crow Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 Hear, hear!! Truly annoying but isn't it a Canadianism? I recently had a meeting with a well-educated American man who talked about being an "implementator." Not a slip of the tongue, he repeated it. Along the same lines as your beef *ahem* but probably not an Americanism is the Labour councillor about whom certain allegations had been made. He said on live TV *ahem again* that he would take the allegators on head first - brave man if you ask me!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamboinglasgow Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 this is going to sound odd but the word "yanks." I know its british, and it supposedly used by british people but what gets my goat is how when ever an american show goes to britain the word is over used. I have never called an american a yank. I know no one who uses it but in tv shows they think we all call them yanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darren Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 this is going to sound odd but the word "yanks." I know its british, and it supposedly used by british people but what gets my goat is how when ever an american show goes to britain the word is over used. I have never called an american a yank. I know no one who uses it but in tv shows they think we all call them yanks. Is it not the case the word is incorrectly used in that context anyway? I'm sure someone has told me Yanks are people from New York rather than US citizens in general... So, I was on the coach to Manchester the other day and there were a few Americans sitting behind me. Their pronounciation of aluminium really did my head in ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Boy Named Crow Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 Is it not the case the word is incorrectly used in that context anyway? I'm sure someone has told me Yanks are people from New York rather than US citizens in general... So, I was on the coach to Manchester the other day and there were a few Americans sitting behind me. Their pronounciation of aluminium really did my head in ! It's a civil war thing. Those from the North were the Yankees, those from the South were Confederates. I think the North won, so maybe they're all Yankees now??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jambo1874 Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 The whole 'Team' thing ie when Brad Pitt shacked up with Angelina Jolie it was Team Aniston or Team Jolie - I hate that. I notice it's more common now ie Team GB. This might have nothing to do with America but I notice TV shows, magazines etc all talk about things being 'on trend' when they mean 'in fashion' that really annoys me so I thought I would stick it in here in case the Americans started that I actually really like my US colleagues and they are a lot less huffy, and are more open than a lot of my UK 'co-workers' (another Americanism slipped in there.....) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marshallschunkychicken Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 "In the hole" has been mentioned already, but it annoys me so much, it puts me off Tiger Woods on the wii. Have to play it with the sound down. I also can't remember when I stopped talking to people, and started 'engaging' with them, but that could just be managementspeak. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gershwin Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 Chips. And saying 'Y'all set?' when you get within 5 yards of a till. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Whittaker's Tache Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 Awesome is a great word used properly. Nobody's trainers are awesome. No TV shows, films or bands are awesome. God is awesome. Some mountain ranges are awesome. The universe is awesome. Some things people do are awesome. I'm with you on this one Boils my pi$$ that expression. On the plane back from Munich at the weekend, some Septic Bird was thanking a guy for putting her case in the overhead locker "Thanks that was AWESOME" NO !!! Also "robust" gets on my nerves, political speak at its worst. Seems to have died out a little now Tony's fecked off. It was robust this and robust that for a while a year or so ago Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Roop Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 The words "fag" and "fan knee" having completely different meanings. I feel quite sad that a few words annoy me so much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denny Crane Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 In the zone Loser YP Freedom, courage terror - as used by Bush Hope, change, hope, change - as used by Obama Play the percentages Tough love Awesome Anyhoo Not In the hole Yessir Do the math Lest we forget their ever-so-hillarious Pollack jokes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Roop Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 'Loser','good to go', 'bummer', 'gross', 'get over yourself', 'get a grip', 'she is hot', 'chill out', 'you suck', 'are you kidding me?', 'can I get a','movie', 'right now', 'big time', 'most longest', 'I am outta here' and 'period'. All of these came up within a half hour chat not that long ago. Also, the mispronounciation of 'rowter', 'hostul' and 'missul' etc. That could be down to accent, possibly. Forgot another: 'airplane'. The misuse of 'so' to exaggerate something. "Senator Obama met with campaign officials Wednesday" and "two thousand eight". AND 8. ON!!!! Wednesday and there's no 'with' involved either. Saying 4600 as '46 hundred'. Having to accept 'program' instead of 'programme'. Not sure if this is an Americanism or not - ending spoken sentences as if you were asking a question. I'm calm now. It's not the people I dislike, it's the people here who try to mimic them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barby Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 I really hate the fashionable adoption of the Americanism "meet with" as in "I'll meet with him" rather than plain English "I'll meet him". "Talk with" rather than "talk to" tips me over the edge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maple Leaf Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 "Anyhoo' is a Canadianism, most often used in exasperation when a topic has been done to death in a conversation, as in "Anyhoo, moving on to the next item on the agenda ..." I've never heard a Canadian use the word "aboot", but Americans use it when they think they're imitating Canadians. I dislike the American pronouncation "Boo-y" when referring to a maritime marker bouy. Another one is the word "heelio" when talking about a helicopter. Many Americans dislike the term "Yank" or "Yankee", especially in the former Confederate states. In those states, what the rest of the world calls "The American Civil War", those people refer to it as "The War of Northern Aggression." Some grievances last a long time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heaven98 Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 Can I just say that picking holes on here of the evolving use of language in this country is a bit rich when the general standard of English grammar and spelling on this board is tantamount to a total indictment of a failing educashun sistum? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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