What words and phrases do Brits and others see as 'American'?

by sonnyboy 114 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  dorayakii

  English Z sounds like zed not zee.

  Yes, this one really annoys me... zeeeeeee... think the Americans just made it up so it would make the "alphabet-song" rhyme...

  A B C D E F Gee

  H I J K, L M N O Pee

  Q R S, T V U Vee

  W X, Y and......... Zed

  The English word "zed" comes from the original french word for the letter "zède" which in turn is from the Latin "zeta"... the word ultimately comes from Greek (Z, ?)"zeta".

  It is commonly accepted that the Greek zeta is derived from the Phonecians letter "zayin" (meaning "sword") which looked somewhat like a capital " I " with bars at the top and bottom.
• 

  sonnyboy

  Ah, I get it now. Just the letter Z alone is pronounced Zed.

  For some reason I thought people were saying that it makes the sound zed when pronounced in words, which I couldn't believe.

  I think I'm finally awake.
• 

  tijkmo

  have a nice day

  you the man
• 

  dorayakii

  I find the American pronunciation of "route" hilarious, and in complete disregard for the etymological roots of the word.

  To many British ears, the American over-pronunciation of "r" is ear-grating and makes pronunciation of the word stilting and overly nasal. In (British) English, the post-vocalic "r" simply serves to modify the previous vowel sound.

  a ------> ar

  e ------> er

  o ------> or

  Its quite funny though when Welsh or Cornish people, pronounce an "r" where there is none there in spelling. eg. "Old Ma Evans" becomes "Old Mar Revans". (Flash-back to the song "Oy've go' a brand new combine 'arvister").

  The common southern US pratctice of using diphthongs and tripthongs where simple monopthongs will do is quite amusing and incomprehensible.

  bag ------> "bayag"

  box ------> "bowox"

  When i'm travelling on the french métro, i often have to pass though some quite touristy areas. If there is a bunch of American tourists on the train, you can hear them a mile away even if they're trying to whisper. I never did understand that, but i think maybe the nasality of their accent resonates more than others. The British tourists are quite loud too in comparison with all the other quieter, more civilised people, but nowhere near as loud as the Americans (who often sound like a load of people incessantly imitating "Anne" from Little Britain, "eh eh eeeeh", lol).

  dorayakii, of the "dont worry yanks, i still luv y'all" class
• 

  sonnyboy

  If there is a bunch of American tourists on the train, you can hear them a mile away even if they're trying to whisper. I never did understand that, but i think maybe the nasality of their accent resonates more than others.

  
  

  
  I guess our ears become accustomed to certain levels and tones of speech. I've had two British professors in the past, and I couldn't hear a word they said! It was like they spoke in a quiet mumble.

  To me, some British accents sound extremely loud and nasal (I'm not sure what region it's from, but movies usually portray people with this accent as street urchins or lower-class citizens, like the Weasleys in Harry Potter).
• 

  stillajwexelder

  Many Americans say I could care less

  Most others would say the more gramatically correct I could not care less
• 

  upside/down

  
  Aluminum (us)-- Aluminium(gb)

  TV or is it the phone?(us)-- Tele(gb)

  Dude --- teen

  Gnarly--- teen surfer

  Bogus--- teen surfer

  Phat--- teen hip hop

  Sik--- teen hip hop

  Cowabunga-- old school teen surfer Hang Loose --- Hawaiian, teen Hows it hangin? Wazzzup or sup? (What is up?) Whatever? --- teen chick phrase. "Like"... unecessarily added to every other word in a run on sentence... ie. Like my boyfriend, like was totally like blowing me off and I was like "whatever?" and he like wouldn't answer his cellphone, even though I like text'd him like a gazillion times...

  Many "American" phrases or words are actually "Hollywood" pop-culture terms associated with the latest fad (hip-hop/ rap at present) and trends and are created because the industry thrives on constant change and must create the "new cool" and they market it very effectively. Young people the world over... eat it up (ie. buy it) like candy! Thus the cancer like spreading of "American" or more accurately "Hollywood" pop-culture and the constantly changing "lingo" that goes with it...

  How else can you explain youths spending over a $100 on a pair of sneakers(us), over $50 on a T-shirt and over $60 for a pre-worn out pair of shorts? Marketing! and the FACT that you will actually die and be ostracized without these NECESSITIES. The Dubs aren't the only ones demanding "conformity"...

  Far out man...

  u/d (of the to not conform... is to conform class)
• 

  dorayakii

  I guess our ears become accustomed to certain levels and tones of speech. I've had two British professors in the past, and I couldn't hear a word they said! It was like they spoke in a quiet mumble.
  

  To me, some British accents sound extremely loud and nasal (I'm not sure what region it's from, but movies usually portray people with this accent as street urchins or lower-class citizens, like the Weasleys in Harry Potter).

  Nasalisation means the closing of the nasal tract while pronouning vowels or (the utterance of sounds characterized by resonance produced through the nose). Basically the nasal sounds vibrate more and make the sound intrinsically louder in both frequency and wavelength. This is why Brits think Americans are loud and Americans think Brits are inaudible. Technically, no British accents are nasal and in standard British "Recieved Pronunciation" (RP) and most regional accents of the UK, no nasalisation takes place. Some fake "Hollywood" British accents however are nasal in reference sometimes to colonial times where the accent is percieved as quite posh, effected, and droning, but in reality few if any people speak like that today. Some of the films you've watched showing "street urchins or lower-class citizens" actually show quite the opposite of nasalisation; the opening of the nasal tract and decreased vocal murmering/vibration produces a "purer" vowel sound.
  In American English (AE), most speakers (90%) tend to tighten their vowels somewhat, particularly but not exclusively around nasal consonents such as m, n and ng (eg. "cancer", bank", bang"... In transcription, phoneticians often draw a "tilde" (~) over the vowels in the transcript of an American speaker to indicate his/her increased nasality.

  http://www.uta.fi/~sanni.siurua/ame1.html
  Another characteristic very common in AE, and usually not found at all in RP, is nasalisation, which Morris-Wilson explains as a nasal quality given to vowel sounds preceding a nasal consonant (mainly m, n or ng). This is often referred to as ‘nasal twang’, which is “one of the features of American English which many English people find disagreeable: they consider it to be indicative of laziness, untidiness, slovenliness, etc."

  
  dorayakii of the "disclaiming all responsibility of the above quote" class.
• 

  sonnyboy

  Nasalisation means the closing of the nasal tract while pronouning vowels

  It seems to me that the nasal tract would have to be open to allow nasal sounds to come through.

  Have you ever heard Fran Drescher from The Nanny? That's how I'd define nasal pronunciations.
• 

  talesin

  Nuke-ular instead of nuclear

  Cracker - racist term used for southern whites

  trailer trash - classism term used for poor

  femi-nazi - mysoginist term for feminists coined in the 80s

  going to the can - using the bathroom (john by the brits)

  talking to Ralph and Beulah - puking the morning after

  from the 90s,

  Talk to the hand! (putting your hand out, palm towards the other person, means you are not listening to what they are saying)

  You go girl!

  Sister-friend - coined (or at least made famous) by Oprah

  shizzle my fizzle - ebonics

  'sup - meaning what's up?

  WHAT-ever!

  know what I'm sayin - dropped at the end of each sentence, means nothing

  from the 80s

  valley girl - a dumb, pretty girl who essentially never says anything of merit and talks in exclamation points, perky and bouncy

  grody to the max!

  fer sure!