I've gotten a couple of remarks from Brits on this site, probably joking, but I can never be too sure, about how Americans are always desecrating the English language through the use of words like "y'all", "aint", and "gonna". Is this just a friendly jab at us (which I believe), or does this actually annoy people?
2006-07-12 08:00:15 · 12 answers · asked by Incorrectly Political 5 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
What about certain distinctive phrases, like "That road is as slick as c*m on false teeth"?
2006-07-12 08:10:25 · update #1
It doesn't annoy me. It's all just part of informal chit-chat and colloquialisms, which weren't all invented in the US.
I like that the English language is constantly developing and being shared. I use words like "gonna" and "yeah/yea" myself, 'cause when all I wanna do is get to the point of what I'm saying as quickly as possible, having to say "going to" or "yes" is too cumbersome. I never use the word "yes" unless I'm being sarcastic or impatient about something. If it wasn't for being able to shorten and mix words for ease, it would make speech a pain in the neck. It's said that this is caused by the combination of words of Old English and Norman-French origin, which are often incompatible with informal speech, becoming like tongue-twisters.
The UK is full of different regional native dialects, some of which sound very peculiar, and a few of the really insular ones are hard to understand; they're like completely different languages, and make US dialects sound normal and intelligible.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/voices/wil/ - Dialects of the British Isles. (audio)
2006-07-12 08:03:53 · answer #1 · answered by Starling 3 · 6⤊ 1⤋
I'm not!!
I have a few pet peeves of course, like the fact that Americans have corrupted the word 'Orient' and used it as a substitute for 'orientate' ...! It makes it a real PAIN in the neck trying to google a map of the Orient!! Also, whenever I hear / read Americans saying Monday through Friday I have to do a quick double take...! Where I come from we normally say Monday TO Friday, or 'til - and if we DO use 'through' we add 'to' after it, 'Monday through to Friday'! And I get confused with the way some Americans say '20 of 5' ... I assume they mean '20 TO five' but I'm not 100% sure!!
; )
All these differences help keep me awake though, and any complaining I might do on the subject is ALWAYS light-hearted!
And as someone said, we use 'ain't' and 'gonna' too, and as I told someone ages ago, 'you'll have a hard time proving that the word ain't is an American invention'!!
We don't say 'y'all' though...!
8 )
The one thing that DOES annoy me is when Americans come on here and criticise people's spelling - just because they use BRITISH spelling instead of American!!
2006-07-12 13:46:23 · answer #2 · answered by _ 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Im an American who lives in London, and Id say no for the most part. Anytime Ive heard that its been jokingly. And after listening to a British 'rude boy' speaking that ridiculously foul and incoherent babel thats some where in between Cockney and Ebonics they really can't complain.
2006-07-12 08:11:50 · answer #3 · answered by Don’t Tread On Me 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Whenever someone says something about a person's language, it's a reflection of how they feel about that person. Dialects are different, but they are all useful as systems of communication. If someone says they don't like your dialect, it actually means that they don't like you, or the group of people you come from. Therefore, if a British person criticizes American English, it's a clue that the person really doesn't like Americans.
You will see other examples of this phenomenon on this website that criticize Ebonics and questions like, "Welcome to America, We speak English..."
2006-07-12 13:52:50 · answer #4 · answered by drshorty 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I doubt it. There are always a few stuck up, pretentious fools, but there are so many American shows on British TV that if it was that annoying we'd all be tearing our hair out.
Besides, there are a huge variety of different accents with different local slangs within the UK... American's saying "hey y'all" all the time is hardly different from people from east London (including myself) randomly inserting "innit" into every other sentence.
And ALL of us say gonna, innit.
2006-07-12 09:13:31 · answer #5 · answered by the last ninja 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
aint and gonna are english i use them as part of me accent... but i am finding it hard to understand some americans cause they use words i aint even heard of before.. am usually like say whaaaa? like on ricki lake and jerry springer i need subtitles to understand it, but even then i dont understand some of the things they say.. i think it is sad that the english language has been renamed, plain 'american' in america even though its the same language...confusing really but evolution of the language really, brits use words americans come up with sometimes there good others are just annoying like 'awesome' lol that winds me up..
2006-07-12 08:07:39 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm siding with the Brits!!!!
(as usual...)
The corruption of the English Language drives me mad.
I like Henry Higgins's speech in 'My Fair Lady' :
"Why can't the English teach their children how to speak?
This verbal class distinction by now should be antique..."
2006-07-12 08:08:31 · answer #7 · answered by paralyzed nomad 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it shows a lot of ignorance, but it alos is a natural progression of the English language. Incorrect spelling of words I think is worse
2006-07-12 08:05:40 · answer #8 · answered by speed777 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I don't think that it annoys them (but then again I'm not British). There are always different dialects to one language, I think that they accept this.
2006-07-12 08:05:29 · answer #9 · answered by Random Person 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Why should it? We're Americans, not Brits.
They also have a funny accent.
2006-07-12 08:03:58 · answer #10 · answered by schillinfl2 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋