50 Americanisms as noted by the BBC
bootlegga @ Tue Jul 26, 2011 12:30 pm
Well GB hasn't been around for a long time, so I thought I'd post this in his honour (he loved telling us colonials how inferior we are to the Brits). 
The top 10
$1:
1. When people ask for something, I often hear: "Can I get a..." It infuriates me. It's not New York. It's not the 90s. You're not in Central Perk with the rest of the Friends. Really." Steve, Rossendale, Lancashire
2. The next time someone tells you something is the "least worst option", tell them that their most best option is learning grammar. Mike Ayres, Bodmin, Cornwall
3. The phrase I've watched seep into the language (especially with broadcasters) is "two-time" and "three-time". Have the words double, triple etc, been totally lost? Grammatically it makes no sense, and is even worse when spoken. My pulse rises every time I hear or see it. Which is not healthy as it's almost every day now. Argh! D Rochelle, Bath
4. Using 24/7 rather than "24 hours, 7 days a week" or even just plain "all day, every day". Simon Ball, Worcester
5. The one I can't stand is "deplane", meaning to disembark an aircraft, used in the phrase "you will be able to deplane momentarily". TykeIntheHague, Den Haag, Holland
6. To "wait on" instead of "wait for" when you're not a waiter - once read a friend's comment about being in a station waiting on a train. For him, the train had yet to arrive - I would have thought rather that it had got stuck at the station with the friend on board. T Balinski, Raglan, New Zealand
7. "It is what it is". Pity us. Michael Knapp, Chicago, US
8. Dare I even mention the fanny pack? Lisa, Red Deer, Canada
9. "Touch base" - it makes me cringe no end. Chris, UK
10. Is "physicality" a real word? Curtis, US
2. The next time someone tells you something is the "least worst option", tell them that their most best option is learning grammar. Mike Ayres, Bodmin, Cornwall
3. The phrase I've watched seep into the language (especially with broadcasters) is "two-time" and "three-time". Have the words double, triple etc, been totally lost? Grammatically it makes no sense, and is even worse when spoken. My pulse rises every time I hear or see it. Which is not healthy as it's almost every day now. Argh! D Rochelle, Bath
4. Using 24/7 rather than "24 hours, 7 days a week" or even just plain "all day, every day". Simon Ball, Worcester
5. The one I can't stand is "deplane", meaning to disembark an aircraft, used in the phrase "you will be able to deplane momentarily". TykeIntheHague, Den Haag, Holland
6. To "wait on" instead of "wait for" when you're not a waiter - once read a friend's comment about being in a station waiting on a train. For him, the train had yet to arrive - I would have thought rather that it had got stuck at the station with the friend on board. T Balinski, Raglan, New Zealand
7. "It is what it is". Pity us. Michael Knapp, Chicago, US
8. Dare I even mention the fanny pack? Lisa, Red Deer, Canada
9. "Touch base" - it makes me cringe no end. Chris, UK
10. Is "physicality" a real word? Curtis, US
See the rest here;
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14201796
DrCaleb @ Tue Jul 26, 2011 1:01 pm
"Lets take this offline" drives me nuts. We are in a meeting room, speaking face to face. How much more 'offline' does it get?
Why not just tell me to shut the F up, because you don't want to discuss it?
sandorski @ Tue Jul 26, 2011 1:21 pm
WTF is "Cotton on"? Don't know if this is a US term or not, but I have heard the CBC Washington correspondent say this twice now. I'm pretty sure he is trying to say, "Caught on", but can't be sure as it sounds exactly like "Cotton on".
BartSimpson @ Tue Jul 26, 2011 1:26 pm
#9 'Touch base' is lost on the sodding gits in the UK because they don't play baseball.
#3 'Two-time' and 'three-time' generally refer to consecutive events, such as a two-time loss in baseball. A double loss could indicate two games being played concurrently which makes no sense.
As to the rest of it, it appears to me to simply be an imperialistic bitch session rather unbecoming of the Brits. Really, they sound like the French.
BartSimpson @ Tue Jul 26, 2011 1:28 pm
DrCaleb DrCaleb:
"Lets take this offline" drives me nuts. We are in a meeting room, speaking face to face. How much more 'offline' does it get?
Why not just tell me to shut the F up, because you don't want to discuss it?
Why not just tell me to shut the F up, because you don't want to discuss it?
'Offline' means private and is typically used as a less threatening way of saying private.
As in your boss says: "You and I need to discuss this in private."
"Let's take this offline." comes across as somewhat less intimidating.
andyt @ Tue Jul 26, 2011 1:34 pm
waiting on a train is the only one that makes no sense to me.
raydan @ Tue Jul 26, 2011 1:35 pm
Not really that strange nor surprising... languages evolve. The more distance between speakers of the same language, the faster they will evolve in different directions. Because of global communications today though, the change is probably slower than what it was in the past.
If you compared English spoken in Britain today to how it was spoken 500 years ago, you probably wouldn't even recognize them as the same language.
BartSimpson @ Tue Jul 26, 2011 1:40 pm
andyt andyt:
waiting on a train is the only one that makes no sense to me.
The Brits have been known to 'suck a fag' and, believe me, that makes no sense to me.
jeff744 @ Tue Jul 26, 2011 3:56 pm
Am I the only one that found that the comments they used were almost entirely worded with an aura of superiority?
SprCForr @ Tue Jul 26, 2011 4:04 pm
Let me quote an old German saying with respect to the whining err whinging:
Fuckem.
BartSimpson @ Tue Jul 26, 2011 4:18 pm
jeff744 jeff744:
Am I the only one that found that the comments they used were almost entirely worded with an aura of superiority?
+1
![[B-o]](./images/smilies/drinkup.gif "Drink up")
Tricks @ Wed Jul 27, 2011 6:31 am
$1:
29. I'm a Brit living in New York. The one that always gets me is the American need to use the word bi-weekly when fortnightly would suffice just fine. Ami Grewal, New York
I have never heard someone say fortnight without joking before. It did remind me of this though.
PublicAnimalNo9 @ Wed Jul 27, 2011 8:12 am
Ummm the Brits use that two-time, three-time expression quite a bit. Guess THEY don't watch F1 racing or they'd know that.
Batsy @ Wed Jul 27, 2011 11:10 am
BartSimpson BartSimpson:
As to the rest of it, it appears to me to simply be an imperialistic bitch session rather unbecoming of the Brits. Really, they sound like the French.
If you look at that list you'll see that one was written by a Dutchman, one was written by a New Zealander, one was written by a Canadian and TWO were written by...... Americans.
Praxius @ Wed Jul 27, 2011 7:28 pm
You'd think people would have better things to complain about than what people say, which generally mean the same thing if said the proper way. You know what they mean, get over it.
You'd think that, but there are words I can't stand.
"Nooks & Crannies" - makes me want to Nook someone up their Crannie with my Foot
There's three other words, but can't think of them at the moment.
But I find it commical how Brits will complain about what people say in North America (US/Canada), and moan about how we're saying it all wrong.
At least we pronounce the letters "T" and "R" in our words as it should be.
North American: "I believe this show is better than the one we just watched."
Brit: "Oi B'leave this show aez b'ah an tha one we jez wach." 