Two British girls are talking about Americanizms in British English:
Sally:
You know, there are so many American phrases creeping into British usage these days. Some examples:
Can I get a coffee?
(May I have a coffee, please?)
Can I get a coffee to go?
(May I have a coffee to take away, please?)
Are you in the line up?
(Are you waiting in the queue?)
Do you have my cell number?
(Do you have my mobile telephone number?)
We’ll touch base again next week.
(I’ll be in touch next week.)
My bad!
(My mistake!)
They’re all signs of a living and growing language, of course. Doesn’t mean I have to like all of them, though.
What do you think? Do you think the rise of American phraseology in British English is a good thing, or not? What are your favourite and least favourite expressions?
Miriam:
Get a coffee? Get a coffee? That sounds as if they want to help themselves.
Sally:
Well, I don’t find them truly annoying as such. Except “my bad”, which is possibly the most irritating “English” phrase on the planet. (Your bad what?! Bad breath? Bad dress… Sense? Bad hairstyle?!) It only bothers me when someone is so obviously trying hard to sound cosmopolitan and with it that they trot out loads of these things, irrespective of the effect on others. Or, indeed, the fact that some people may not actually undersand the expressions.
I also think Microsoft has a lot to answer for. I think I’m correct in saying that all computer-related terminology uses US spelling even in UK English (dialog, disk, program, dialer – but where on earth did “referer” come from?!).
But having said all that, I think I’ve become a lot more tolerant of these things since finding a best friend who lives in North America. When he uses Americanisms, it doesn’t bother me in the slightest. In fact, some of them are so far removed from UK English that I occasionally have to ask what he means. Which is funny.
In written English, they don’t bother me at all, really – in fact, when talking to the aforementioned North American I use Americanisms all the time (with British spelling, though). But in spoken English, they sound really weird. “Gotten”? “Snuck”? “Yo”?!
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