Quoting Andz (Reply 47): Quoting Metroliner (Reply 46): Send it Oz-wise - 'daggy'?! 'Shonky'? 'Stoked'? barby, ute, footy.....

Whats with this 'Sheila' business? Then of course there's 'Bruce'! Also a Kitchy(sp) of beer. What the????

What's a Drongo?

A Donk? (I don't need a gun, I've gotta donk. A donk?. What's a donk?)  

Farcry

Here in Canada i'm continually called because i say ALUMINIUM instead of ALUMINUM, yet ALCAN (or Novellis as it's now called) actually spell it ALUMINIUM on their sign!! Go figure!!

Another 'phrase' i hate is people here saying 'punched out', instead of just saying 'knocked out'.

If i say i 'queued up', people look at me funny until i tell them i meant i was in a 'line up' (like some sort of police ID parade!)

The word 'Sod' gets me everytime........i call someone a 'sod' any they think i'm calling them a piece of turf!

'Score'......everytime someone says that i ask which footy game they went to.

Biggest word ever that should be banned, specially here in Canada........

WOOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Idiotic word spoken by people who obviously love Owls, lol  

Enjoy

Cheers

ps, just for Canadians......'down east'!!!! Growl

Quoting Runway23 (Reply 43): One thing which annoyed me in England was people saying mate to everyone else. I find it is a mark of semi-rudeness and shows a lack of brain power and chavness.

Actually, it's naval in origin, a shortening of ship-mate. On other words, far from showing a lack of brainpower and chavness, it's actually illustrative of having a history. Which clearly explains why you don't say it.   

What the hell is "chav"?

Ought
It has all the class of a coaches handkerchief.

And while I am at it America fries and or freedom fries. If you really feel it's that repugnant to say french fries just say fries for everyone's sake.

Quoting SkySurfer (Reply 51):

Arg! I hate when people call it Al-loo-mini-um, its al-lu-minum. What about the Brits calling plastic "polythene".

Quoting Farcry (Thread starter): Dames/Broads

What Americans say that nowadays? Maybe 50 years ago they did.

A couple words that my Candian friends use that is somewhat annoying is "foil paper" instead of "aluminum foil" or "took" for a "beanie."

It has to be ''De plane '' !!!!! ITS DISEMBARK !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Drives me mad and is not English .....

Quoting OA260 (Reply 57): It has to be ''De plane ''

What, as in "De plane boss, de plane"??!   

Quoting JAGflyer (Reply 55): What about the Brits calling plastic "polythene".

We do?? Last time I checked we called plastic "plastic" just like the rest of the English-speaking world!!

One of my pet hates is the newly-formed verb to leverage...WTF?!?!

Quoting BAViscount (Reply 58): What, as in "De plane boss, de plane"??!

LOL.... If someone says it to me I say '' Oh you mean Disembark ''  

Quoting JAGflyer (Reply 55): What about the Brits calling plastic "polythene".

it's short for polyethylene the chemical name for plastic
just like we often say Styrofoam for polystyrene although it more of a brand name.

Quoting Mdsh00 (Reply 56): Candian friends use that is somewhat annoying is "foil paper" instead of "aluminum foil" or "took" for a "beanie."

I have always said aluminum foil or just foil. Older people will also use the term tin foil.
Took is something you do. Touque or tuque is a winter hat. A beanie is that dome thing with a propeller

Quoting Yfbflyer (Reply 60): A beanie is that dome thing with a propeller

LOL. The Aussies call a woolly winter hat a beanie too! I remember being amazed when my cousin in Melbourne asked me if I wanted to borrow a beanie to take on a trip to Tasmania. I had visions of walking around with a little propeller on my head!

Quoting TWFirst (Reply 12): Bullocks

I love the word Bollocks.

Quoting TWFirst (Reply 12): Brilliant

I think it's a great word in some cases. Especially sarcasm. "Oh, that's bloody brilliant!"

Quoting BAViscount (Reply 18): "I could care less". It's "I couldN'T care less"!! Grrrrrrrr!

I also can't stand "For all intensive purposes." It's, "For all INTENTS AND purposes."

Quoting Mdsh00 (Reply 56): What Americans say that nowadays? Maybe 50 years ago they did.

My roommate says "broads" all the time.


Other things I hate. I correct my friends all the time, and they can't stand it.
-Incorrect usage of "me" versus "I". It's, "My friend and I went..." But then it's, "She sent my friend and me a package."

-Saying, "Like" before every word. You just sound stupid when you say, "I, like, went to the store, and, like, saw my friend and he was, like, "Hey, what's up" and I was like, "Nothing!"

-The spoken Pennsylvania accent, and some of the words they use. It's "bagel" not "begel". It's "telephone" not "telepheune". It's "sub" or "hero" not "hoagie" or "grinder".

I'm sure there's tons more. I'm hardcore regarding grammar. If you don't use a word correctly, I'll correct you. And I know it's annoying, but I can't bear it.

TIS

Quoting ANITIX87 (Reply 62): -Incorrect usage of "me" versus "I". It's, "My friend and I went..." But then it's, "She sent my friend and me a package."

I was always told that the best way to check when you should use "me", and when you should use "I" is to break the sentence into two. For example:

"My friend and I went..." splits into "My friend went..." and "I went...", which is correct.
"She sent my friend and me a package" splits into "She sent my friend a package" and "She sent me a package". You wouldn't (unless you're from Cornwall!) say, "She sent I a package", so; in that example; using "me" is correct.

Sorry, I know that's off topic, but I couldn't help myself!

Quoting BAViscount (Reply 58): pet hates

That's something the Brits use that annoys me. Over here we call it pet peeve. Though I never use it.

I hate how I always hear lieutenant pronounced in the UK as 'leftenant'. Where is the 'F' in the word????? It's 'loo-ten-ant'.

And why is 'colonel' said as 'kernel'? Are we talking about popcorn?

I don't like the word 'mate' used in place as calling some one a friend. Mate means someone you breed with to increase the population.

Quoting JAGflyer (Reply 55): its al-lu-minum

no... it's (note the punctuation) aluminium. not "aloominum"

Dropping the "off" from "pissed off"! To say that you are "pissed" means that you are under the affluence of incahol *hic*!

Quoting Andz (Reply 65): no... it's (note the punctuation) aluminium. not "aloominum"

Although I think it's funny, that's one that doesn't actually bother me, because the word is spelled differently here than in the UK (and wherever else). AlumiNUM versus alumiNIUM.

Quoting SkySurfer (Reply 51): Biggest word ever that should be banned, specially here in Canada........ WOOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

        

Sounds like it came from our friends in Newfoundland. Dispite what they think, Newfie slang is NOT cool.

And no, I am not calling it "Newfoundland and Labrador". If the mainland wants to have their own name, they can become their own province.

Quoting AirPortugal310 (Reply 53):

Its the British term for "wigger".

Quoting Yfbflyer (Reply 60): Touque or tuque is a winter hat.

Yeah that's what I meant to say.

Quoting Andz (Reply 65): no... it's (note the punctuation) aluminium. not "aloominum"

The Americans have it right, actually. The discoverer of the element, Humphrey Davy (an Englishman, by the way), named it "aluminum", but his contemporaries at the Royal Society changed it to "aluminium" so that it fell into line with other elements' name-constructions, like sodium, potassium et al. The British (and other countries) adopted the change, but the Americans stuck with the name that Davy originally gave it.

Quoting YYZflyer (Reply 64): I hate how I always hear lieutenant pronounced in the UK as 'leftenant'. Where is the 'F' in the word????? It's 'loo-ten-ant'.

No-one knows for sure why it developed as leftenant, but given that the word had a long history of centuries before the Americans decided to change it, it is the pronunciation with by far the longest provenance. The Royal Navy long had a tradition of talking about the First L'ten'nt which may be why it went that way in the US, rather than a deliberate policy. In any case, you can't talk about phonetic pronunciation in terms of English, it just doesn't apply.

Quoting Banco (Reply 70): but given that the word had a long history of centuries before the Americans decided to change it,

Yes, the Americans like to change things to fit their liking.     

I learned something today.

Quoting Banco (Reply 70): you can't talk about phonetic pronunciation in terms of English, it just doesn't apply

Indeed, English is basically hypocritical about itself in pretty much every way, especially all the "rules". You must do this except in case of this, that, this, and this, and a million other things.   

Quoting Banco (Reply 70): No-one knows for sure why it developed as leftenant

We Greeks do.

"eu", which in Greek is "epsilon-upsilon" makes an "ev" or "ef" sound. So, the British "leftenant" is actually an english-ized version of the Greek pronunciation, and the American "lieutenant" is an english-ized version of the French pronunciation.

TIS

Quoting Farcry (Reply 4): So if you were in a shop or a Post Office you would join the line?

You would "get in line"

Quoting Farcry (Reply 8): Do they use something else for 'surname?'

Last name or Family name

I hate the word cortege ugh! It just grates on me

Quoting Yfbflyer (Reply 54): America fries and or freedom fries

No one actually uses those terms.

Quoting ANITIX87 (Reply 62): "For all intensive purposes."

I've never heard this one.

Now I do have some favorite foreign words.

Enshuledigensie (however you spell it)

habibi

I wouldn't say "hate" as that's way too strong, but what I just don't get from non-US folks is when they omit words, like "the"...as in "I am going to hospital" or "when I was in hospital"...if there is a proper name with it, then ok, such as "I was in Dexter hospital", but otherwise, one needs to use 'the' or similar before it...justs sounds SO weird and wrong...

Not a word that I hate but the effete and affected Britishism of "singular plurals" like,

"The Army are marching on Ruritania" or British Airways fly to South Succotash 7 times a week.

I understand the supposed logic. The army is made up of hundreds of thousands of men, tanks, etc., and British Airways is a company consisting of many people and planes so plural is implied.

Bullshit

If you want to emphasize the elements in the nouns, you could say "The men of the 8th army are sacking Ruritania" or "Planes from British Airways fly to South Succotash seven days a week."

After all I'm made of trillions of cells and even more trillions of atoms. I don't say "I are walking down the street on this sunny day."

Quoting Iairallie (Reply 73): Quoting Yfbflyer (Reply 54): America fries and or freedom fries No one actually uses those terms.

I didn't think they were being used until I saw them on a menu in Seattle

Quoting SW733 (Reply 6): I've asked so many Americans for their surname and they wonder what the heck that means.

You also have to be careful in French where "surnom" means "nickname", not surname or family name.

Quoting TWFirst (Reply 16): That's another one I hate... "arse".

Except with British usage at least you know when they're referring to the body part as opposed to a donkey.

Quoting Wingscrubber (Reply 42): Other examples might include the pronounciation of words like 'tuesday', 'news', 'deuce' which come out as 'toozday', 'nooz' and 'doose'.

On that point, I've always found it amusing that most Brits mispronounce the name of the 4th largest city in the U.S., Houston. It almost always comes out sounding like "Hooseton" (with the first syllable like moose, goose, loose). They seem to be able to pronounce the name of one of London's major railway stations, Euston. All you have to do is add an H at the beginning of that word and you've got the correct pronunciation of Houston, Texas. There should be a "y" sound right after the H, as if it was "Hyooston". Even BBC announcers constantly make that error.

Quoting SkySurfer (Reply 51): Here in Canada i'm continually called because i say ALUMINIUM instead of ALUMINUM, yet ALCAN (or Novellis as it's now called) actually spell it ALUMINIUM on their sign!!

I'm almost certain Alcan used the standard Canadian (and of course American) spelling "aluminum" before they were purchased by Rio Tinto last year.

Quoting YYZflyer (Reply 71): Indeed, English is basically hypocritical about itself in pretty much every way, especially all the "rules". You must do this except in case of this, that, this, and this, and a million other things.

That's because English is essentially a compound language. Usually one language replaces another in a country to a greater or lesser degree, but for some weird reason that didn't happen in England. Anglo-Saxon still absolutely forms the core of the language, and it's perfectly possible to converse in pure Anglo-Saxon to a large degree, because it comprises all the structural words (and, of, it, the) and basic nouns (pig, dog, cow) and basic verbs (to go, to be, to do) and so forth. The waves of successive Norse invaders didn't supplant English, their tongue was absorbed by it, adding a new layer of words that often shifted in meaning (skill, for example). When the Normans arrived, they destroyed what was by then the richest written "modern" language in Europe, with very few surviving texts beyond the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.

English was driven underground, spoken only by the peasants, and rarely written by anyone. When it re-emerged as a recognisable tongue, it had absorbed a huge layer of French words (notably, pig is English, pork/porque is French, cow is English, beef/boeuf is French, emphasising the different social layers) and that is what you find in the work of say, Chaucer, the first man to write in what is recognisable English.

A few centuries later, English went through a further expansion with an influx of Anglicised Latin words, imported directly.

In terms of pronunciation, English also went through the Great Vowel Shift, which for reasons no-one really understands changed the way English was spoken completely. For example, "boat" would have been pronounced "baht". but by then the spelling was beginning to be more or less fixed (there where still some changes, often arbitrary - rime/ryme became rhyme for no good reason whatsoever beyond it being similar to rhythm) and so often to foreigners our pronunciation doesn't seem to conform with the spelling. The answer to that is that it did, for a given pronunciation of old word structures.

Quoting ANITIX87 (Reply 72): "eu", which in Greek is "epsilon-upsilon" makes an "ev" or "ef" sound. So, the British "leftenant" is actually an english-ized version of the Greek pronunciation, and the American "lieutenant" is an english-ized version of the French pronunciation.

I'm not sure that would make much sense though. Lieutenant came to English directly from French, so why would a Greek pronunciation be chosen? I have seen examples of where the word is written Lievtenant, but it seems hard to believe that such isolated examples would impact pronunciation on a widespread basis. More likely, spelling was following pronunciation.

Quoting BAViscount (Reply 18): I couldN'T care less

Its really two ways of saying the same thing.... I could care less how you say it  

I also am not a fan of "lift"...to me 'elevator' makes more sense. Lift sounds so old and antique- to me its like saying "Carriage" instead of "Car".

Why is it, "he went round the circle" instead of "he went Around the circle"????

here are some differences that I enjoy / find humorous...

Bogey vs. Booger.... (the stuff in your nose)

Waistcoat vs. VEST....

Saloon... in the UK a Saloon is a Sedan (car).... in the US a Saloon is an old kind of bar...

Estate vs Station Wagon....... really neither term sounds very nice.

Boot, Bonnet.

Lorry vs Truck.

You Lot vs. You guys...


and many, many more  

-AA777

Copacetic, is that how it's spelled? Where did that come from? I hate when people use it, it just sounds made up.

Quoting AA777 (Reply 79): Its really two ways of saying the same thing.... I could care less how you say it

No it's not. Saying you COULD care less means you have a slight bit of interest in the matter. It means you DO care somewhat. Saying you COULDN'T care less means you really have nothing that interested you less. Meaning the result is of no importance to you. It's a semantics issue but it drives me nuts.

Quoting T prop (Reply 80): Copacetic, is that how it's spelled? Where did that come from? I hate when people use it, it just sounds made up.

This is, incidentally, is an American expression which nobody has been able to trace.

TIS

Quoting T prop (Reply 80): I hate when people use it, it just sounds made up.

And what if it was? Shakespeare "made up" more words than any other individual in English language history. Huge swathes of words we use today were plucked out of the ether by him, either because he heard others use them, or because he just created them himself. Nothing whatever wrong with making up words - some of your countrymen made up words I'd be desperately sorry to do without, like rambunctious or rumbustious. Fabulous!

For me, a native New Yorker living in Boston, it is the term "wicked".

"That was wicked cool". Drives me insane. For the most part I like most of the British words. I always will laugh at the word "brolly" though, as there was a video online of a man giving out free ones with "naughty" words written on them.




Lufthansa411

Canadian English (yes, there is such thing) uses words like Toque (what others call a beanie or hat you wear in the winter) as well as the whole soda/pop thing.

I use words like we say tin foil, toque, pop and highway (not freeway, motorway, interstate). Plastic bags/"Polythene" are referred to as "loblaw bags". Loblaw's is a nationwide chain of grocery stores (with many different names) and for some reason my family uses their name to describe plastic bags.

[Edited 2008-03-08 21:57:52]

Quoting Banco (Reply 82): Quoting T prop (Reply 80): I hate when people use it, it just sounds made up. And what if it was? Shakespeare "made up" more words than any other individual in English language history. Huge swathes of words we use today were plucked out of the ether by him, either because he heard others use them, or because he just created them himself. Nothing whatever wrong with making up words - some of your countrymen made up words I'd be desperately sorry to do without, like rambunctious or rumbustious. Fabulous!

Sure, there are words that are part of our language that are made up. Some are fine but this one to me sounds like a brand of mouthwash or something.

I think I'll add another word, English word, American English for that matter. I really can't stand y'all (and ain't) for that matter. Pretty much any typical southern slang word that der Führer of this country would say, I tend not to like it. I guess being an Anglophile, I find that kind of English to sound horrible.

It's HERBS not ERBS. H-ER-BZZZZ

Quoting ANITIX87 (Reply 81): No it's not. Saying you COULD care less means you have a slight bit of interest in the matter. It means you DO care somewhat. Saying you COULDN'T care less means you really have nothing that interested you less. Meaning the result is of no importance to you. It's a semantics issue but it drives me nuts.

I have no idea if this is how it developed, but to me, saying "I COULD care less" is basically a sarcastic remark. It basically means the opposite of what you're actually saying.

Maybe that's just how I and people I know use it.

Quoting Iairallie (Reply 73): Quoting Farcry (Reply 4): So if you were in a shop or a Post Office you would join the line? You would "get in line"

In New York you'd "get on line." (nothing to do with computers)

Quoting CaptainJon (Reply 86): and ain't

"Ain't" is really ancient. It absolutely isn't American English in the slightest, having been used in England for centuries, and right up to the modern day. In fact, it's no more "wrong" than any other contraction, such as aren't, isn't, wasn't and the like. It was only in the nineteenth century that you had the language little-Hitlers (on both sides of the Atlantic I might point out) deciding it was somehow incorrect and should be viewed as such.

These bastards are responsible for huge swathes of ancient and noble English words being termed somehow vulgar or wrong, and more than that for causing idiotic arguments over English language construction by deciding that the rules of Latin should be grafted on to what is a Germanic language. That's why they tell you that you shouldn't split an infinitive, because you can't do it in Latin. In English you can, and that is a strength, not a weakness. People who blindly insist on these rules do so because of their own ignorance, not because of their knowledge. English is an utterly flexible language and has no rules others than those that we choose to give to it. Rules that try to confine the language should be examined and then discarded if they don't add anything, and that applies to the modern-day Canutes who rail at new words arriving as well.

Personally, I absolutely adore the sheer playfulness with which native English speakers use their language. The utter lack of a central regulating authority (which would be impossible anyway, irrespective of it being deeply undesirable) means that we can all mess around, change, play and do what we want with it. Far from complaining, it's a matter of real celebration, that our (and I mean all of us, English, American, South African, Australian, Indian - whatever) native tongue is so completely democratic that it belongs to no single nation and no single approved version.

The Oxford English Dictionary and Websters are stuffed to the gills with people who wouldn't dream of telling you what is right and wrong. What they do is enthusiastically monitor new terms, and if they stick, they put them in their dictionaries for ever more. They love new words, new constructions, and so do I. The day we stop messing around with our language is the day it starts to die. So when the young use a brand new word I've never heard before, the last thing I would ever do is complain. The magnificent inventiveness is something to cherish. Long may it continue.

Quoting Bill142 (Reply 87): It's HERBS not ERBS. H-ER-BZZZZ

It's a French affectation. Americans were no more immune to trying to be poncey and use language to try to place themselves in a higher social strata than anyone else. Same reason why in the US titbit became tidbit (oooh, tit! How rude!) and the tit (bird) became chickadee. In England people started using a long a (bath, path, fast) purely and simply as an affectation. It caught on, and it even caught on amongst the upper classes of the United States where you still occasionally hear it. Same with 'erbs rather than herbs.

Quoting Lufthansa411 (Reply 83): For me, a native New Yorker living in Boston, it is the term "wicked".

Deal with it or leave. No one is making you stay...  

I find it a wicked good way of emphasizing wicked cool things. Wicked cool huh?

here we go again.

What irks me about the British is that whenever there's a discussion someone will always say "At the end of the day blah blah blah." The other thing is when there's a discussion they have an annoying habit of putting people on the defensive by rephraising their answer as a question saying "No, that's not right at all, is it?" as if you have ot agree with them or be thought a chav.

Quoting Banco (Reply 52): Actually, it's naval in origin, a shortening of ship-mate.

yep...rum buggery and the lash. Good morning, sirs.

Quoting Dougloid (Reply 93): The other thing is when there's a discussion they have an annoying habit of putting people on the defensive by rephraising their answer as a question saying "No, that's not right at all, is it?" as if you have ot agree with them or be thought a chav.

That's just because you're always wrong.  

Quoting Banco (Reply 90): "Ain't" is really ancient.

You would know...

Quoting Dougloid (Reply 93): yep...rum buggery and the lash.

Speaking of which, where is Cornish these days...?

 

I have to say the Americanism "'erbs" previously mentioned is particularly grating. There's an "H" people !!

Quoting JAGflyer (Reply 84): I use words like we say tin foil, toque, pop and highway (not freeway, motorway, interstate). Plastic bags/"Polythene" are referred to as "loblaw bags". Loblaw's is a nationwide chain of grocery stores (with many different names) and for some reason my family uses their name to describe plastic bags.

Another "Canadianism" (although I think it isn't only Canadians that say this) is "writing" an exam. Such as "When are you writing the test?" or "I wrote the test a month ago." It was the strangest thing for me to hear because here in the US, we "take" tests not "write" tests.

Quoting Mdsh00 (Reply 96): Such as "When are you writing the test?" or "I wrote the test a month ago." It was the strangest thing for me to hear because here in the US, we "take" tests not "write" tests.

Yes..it's the teacher/professor/instructor who 'writes' the test, and the students 'take' the test...if they say the students 'write' the test, than what is the teacher doing? Taking it???

Quoting ANITIX87 (Reply 72): We Greeks do. "eu", which in Greek is "epsilon-upsilon" makes an "ev" or "ef" sound

Yep as in EURO pronounced EVRO in Greek.

Quoting J_Hallgren (Reply 97): if they say the students 'write' the test, than what is the teacher doing? Taking it???

No. The teacher sets the exam.