Is there an increase in Americanization of British English due to influence of American pop-culture?

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MoonShineWashingLine@reddit

I had to correct my 14yo's pronunciation of 'address' the other day as she was saying it the American way. It's because they watch so many US YouTubers.

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Flimflamsam@reddit

Adult is another one that irks me. Same weird placenta on the “wrong” syllable.

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Flimflamsam@reddit

Oh deary me, hahaha. Indeed that is weird 😂

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Obvious-Water569@reddit

Yeah, but that's not new.

It's been happening in one form or another since the 40s or 50s.

What is different now is the speed at which it's happening due to social media.

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TeHNeutral@reddit

I read that Paul McCartneys dad wished they wouldn't have said yeah, yeah, yeah and instead had said yes, yes, yes on She Loves You

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ambiguousboner@reddit

It’s funny because on some subs like r/soccer you see the opposite, Americans/Italians/Germans all using British English phrases

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That’s more fanaticism, people wanting to feel a part of something so they try to imitate and immerse as much as they can. Sometimes it’s cringe but it’s usually just people who are really into a certain thing.

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BillWilberforce@reddit

I'd also add, people using American spellings so that it doesn't look out of place on social media.

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DeadBallDescendant@reddit

Or because their chat is AI generated. Perhaps that's more evident in publishing. But it's a thing.

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Occamsfacecloth@reddit

Who does that?

The only time I've thought to change my language to be better understood was when discussing how a few weeks ago when the American military killed 160 elementary school girls on day one of the campaign they started in the middle of a negotiation. Just for clarity.

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devtastic@reddit

It's been happening in one form or another since the 40s or 50s.

Yes, back in the 1980s my dad used to be amused when I said "I guess" because that was an Americanism to him. Similarly nobody went on "dates" when I was a kid as that was an Americanism (and we were all ugly). I guess "Blind Date" popularised that term.

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RaveyDave666@reddit

Yup, I have to correct my son an awful lot.

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scouse_git@reddit

Exactly. They said the same in 1958, and then by 1964 the Yanks were talking about the "British Invasion."

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Much-Beyond2@reddit

Also the breaking down of homogenous UK culture through the influence of BBC, ITV. British millennials pretty much all have the same cultural references.. so you can post a vague reference to Mr Blobby and everyone will understand it.. I don't think that's quite the same for my child's generation.. they all follow a patchwork of different influencers/ content creaters etc..

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NotForMeClive7787@reddit

The sooner we demonetise social media the better. The internet and influencer culture is an absolute cultural abberation....

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Character-Bid-5089@reddit

I'm with u there. People are forgetting to think for themselves.

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laidback_chef@reddit

Its a niche reference. But low-level cultural events just arent the same. If purple aki was around now, he'd get 5 minutes of fame instead of generational trauma.

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Atompunk78@reddit

The same goes as a general point too, in every aspect of our culture

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VolcanicBear@reddit

Has there been an increase? No.

Is it more noticeable because people base a large portion of their personality around getting annoyed by it (also the whole social media thing)? Yes

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yuelaiyuehao@reddit

I've lived outside of the UK for 12 years, coming back occasionally to see family, and the increase is definitely very noticeable. Kids especially.

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VolcanicBear@reddit

Aye, so it's likely continued on the same trajectory and is now more prevalent than it was 12 years ago.

20-30 years ago, my Nan was getting annoyed at me saying "dude".

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HerculesMulligang90@reddit

You don't think the trajectory might have changed due to Tiktok, Netflix and YouTube?

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Flimflamsam@reddit

For me (I left the UK about 25 years ago) it’s that it’s crept into more “official” use - in adverts and shop signs, that sort of thing. Colloquially speech has always had influence but it was moreso reserved for informal use.

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glasgowgeg@reddit

Is it more noticeable because people base a large portion of their personality around getting annoyed by it (also the whole social media thing)? Yes

They're far more annoying than people who are using Americanisms, because a lot of the time they're wrong.

I've been accused a few times of using the "Americanism" high school, despite it being a Scottish term, first used in the 1500s, and accounts for the majority of institutions of secondary education here in Scotland.

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Competitive_Rub_9590@reddit

Pants and lift are pretty common, personally I say trousers but I must admit I say lift mainly because elevator is just longer

French fries and chips though, never heard anyone say those in the UK

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MoonShineWashingLine@reddit

We've said pants up north for decades.

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Flimflamsam@reddit

Swing yer keks!

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BottleGoblin@reddit

I always thought lift was the British English one?

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Competitive_Rub_9590@reddit

It might be, I’m not too sure actually

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BottleGoblin@reddit

Its the paternosters you really want to watch for. Those things are over the top.

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Extreme-Dream-2759@reddit

Chips and French Fries over here are different things. What McDonalds serves are French fries. Our Chips are much thicker / chunkier. up to 2 or 3 times the thickness

We wouldn't call a Doritos chip a crisp - it a Tortilla chip. Our crisp are very thin slices of a potato that have been deep fried.

We are never calling "Trousers" as "Pants" or Men's Under Pants - as "panties" (unless you are into wearing women's underwear LOL)

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Flimflamsam@reddit

Fries are a type of chip. They’re basically julienne style chipped potatoes.

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Jimbob136925@reddit

yes, my 9 year old uses Americanism language all the time and I am constantly correcting her of the British language we use this side of the pond. Seems most of her peer group uses the same. I blame YouTube, I try to limit her time to that too without being too draconian!

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spidertattootim@reddit

yes

Yes, with a capital Y

Americanism language

'Americanisms' or 'American language'

correcting her of the British language

What?

limit her time to that too

Limit her time with that or on that.

Perhaps you're not the best person to be correcting your child's use of English?

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Jimbob136925@reddit

Well thank you for swallowing the Oxford dictionary and enlightening us all with the regurgitated contents, kind internet stranger.

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spidertattootim@reddit

You either think correct use of language is important, or you don't.

Or does it only matter when it gives you a way to demean your child?

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redseaaquamarine@reddit

People don't "talk down to" their children. There has to be a parent/child distinction or it invites a total lack of boundaries. I always talked to mine as intelligent people in their own right, but that doesn't mean that I wasn't a parent and on a different level to them. Otherwise, enjoy the teenage years.

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spidertattootim@reddit

Well done completely missing the point of my comment to project your irrelevant ramblings. Bore off.

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Jimbob136925@reddit

Ur boring me nw. Thnx for a laff bud. Have a sweet ass day wont ya

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spidertattootim@reddit

Try not to be such a twat to your kid okay?

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Jimbob136925@reddit

Try not to be such a twat on the internet ok? There we’ve both learned a lesson today. Good day to you sir.

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Miserable-March-1398@reddit

I bet you’re a right laugh to go for a pint with.

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spidertattootim@reddit

I'm really not arsed about how people speak and write, but people acting superior (especially to a kid FFS) when they can't write properly themselves really get on my tits.

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redseaaquamarine@reddit

What the actual.....How can a person "act superior" to "their own kid"? A parent is superior. They are the adult and are the ones to teach the child to live on this planet. They have to be the authority figure and protect them as they grow. They couldn't do that without respect

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Icy_Mixture1482@reddit

People acting superior … really gets*

(Even though "people" is plural, the thing that is annoying you is the act of them behaving superior.)

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xxxxxxxxxooxxxxxxxxx@reddit

Could say the same about people who seethe about British people using American words and phrases as if language isn’t constantly evolving.

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spidertattootim@reddit

Agreed.

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spidertattootim@reddit

There's at least three instances of poor grammar or bad writing in your comment so you should probably give up.

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Jimbob136925@reddit

Ooh, careful everyone. Grammar police on patrol...

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spidertattootim@reddit

You're literally telling us about how you correct your child's use of language, you hypocrite.

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Jimbob136925@reddit

You are literally telling us all how much spare time you have on your hands. So there we are.

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spidertattootim@reddit

We're all wasting time on Reddit mate.

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Wonderful-Yam-9712@reddit

The amount of kids bouncing around saying “cooked” “rizz” and other shite is unbearable.

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Extreme-Dream-2759@reddit

We have the same issues and respond the same

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VastOpinion6020@reddit

You should pretend to not understand her before correcting her. That will get the point across! I heard a child say ‘candy’ the other day.

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Jimbob136925@reddit

I do actually do this and the look on her face is priceless!

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cleb9200@reddit

Limiting a nine year olds access to YouTube is not draconian it’s basic common sense

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Exact-Action-6790@reddit

British language 🤔

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Kaioken64@reddit

My brother is 9 and is the same.

Uses words like candy for sweets or trash/garbage for rubbish all the time.

I too blame YouTube.

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DameKumquat@reddit

Some, but it's mostly matched by increased determination to stay firmly British in response. So it mostly balances out.

Sometimes words get slightly different meanings in different countries - so 'fries' is used here but only for the skinny thinks McDonald's etc sell,.not for chips in general.

I've heard kids talking about dating, which is just weird.

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ProfPMJ-123@reddit

Only the biggest of pedants care.

One of the reasons English has become such a dominant language is because of it's malleability.

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Flimflamsam@reddit

For me it’s the way the language is used incorrectly, using umbrella terms or slightly incorrect words. Yes some of that is definitely pedantic, but some I feel is important to be able to accurately describe yourself and your thoughts.

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AlexGator93@reddit

An 18 year old coworker referred to a shopping centre as a mall today. I've noticed other bits and pieces from younger people, so it is happening.

Personally I'm not a fan, but it's not the end of the world either.

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Flimflamsam@reddit

Don’t forget our monopoly board (decades old, much older than t’Internet) has Pall Mall on it, no idea how long it’s been called that, but definitely not a modern change.

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arpw@reddit

When I was a teen 20ish years ago I'd go to the mall - because its actual name emblazoned all over it was Castle Mall.

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Lewis19962010@reddit

Mall is normal depending where in the country, my local desolate shopping place in the town centre that has been there since the 60s Has mall as part of its name

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Shanks18@reddit

We've had shopping centres called mall/malls for decades in the UK, I wouldn't necessarily chalk that one up to an Americanism.

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Brakiss78@reddit

I've heard a lot of younger people say parking lot instead of car park recently. I always get annoyed by people asking where something is at though. That last word is completely unnecessary.

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fezzuk@reddit

Cops annoys me.

Or worse "the feds'.

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Occamsfacecloth@reddit

Cops isn't American

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fezzuk@reddit

Kinds is, i know it comers from copper but its an americanisation

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Smooth-Captain9567@reddit

Na not buying cops being Americanised. It’s just a shortening of copper. Feds yeah, but I think it’s also just tongue in cheek and creative language for most people. Sometimes I say Federales, and I’m knowingly doing it because I want to and I’ve watched a film or ten in my time, and language is fun. I haven’t been tricked into Latinisation.

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fezzuk@reddit

Dont think a ever head anyone in the UK say it until the last few years, perhaps regional im in london.

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Smooth-Captain9567@reddit

Feds? Heard it since start of the 2010s at least. I’m from South Wales. We should share language and have fun with it. Makes us no less British, in my opinion. Our language is about 4/5 languages smashed together and bastardised over the last 2000 years anyway. The way I see it, we’ll always have the wit to manipulate language however we like. It’s one thing that nobody else can copy. Long May it reign.

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fezzuk@reddit

Feds litterially dont exist in rhe UK.

Its specifict to the US because there is a difference between state and federal police.

Using anywhere in the UK regardless of language is bloody stupid.

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Smooth-Captain9567@reddit

Are you trying to suggest I don’t know what feds means? Did you not read anything I said?

I’m very well aware pal. Have a good one, yeah. Don’t ruin too many parties!

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fezzuk@reddit

So you just want to soind like your copying americans, with the full knowledge.

Each to their own i guess

Personally i find it werid, annoying and off putting.

Someone use "feds" in a conversation i will immediatly judge them as a bit simple.

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Smooth-Captain9567@reddit

If we’re having a serious conversation, or I’m talking to an authority figure, or someone needs help. I’m obviously calling them the police.

If I’m having a few pints and the police come in the pub, I might utter “look out, it’s the Feds” with my tongue firmly in my cheek. Yes, I have the full knowledge that that doesn’t make sense in this country - I am also confident that people around me have the intelligence to know that too. It’s called taking the piss. Things are situational, and that doesn’t make someone an idiot.

If someone judged someone for saying something intentionally silly in a conversation of an appropriate manner, and then tried to mansplain why it doesn’t make sense - I’d probably judge them as a bit of a condescending prick. So yeah, to each their own.

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fezzuk@reddit

No people use it seriously. Yeah i get its tounge in cheak use, i might even do that, although i would probably use "Popo" as i think its funnier.

But living in london i have heard kids use it with zero sense of irony.

Its just automatic and non thinking, thats americanisation. And it makes people idiots imo.

Of course its about context, but the context of my comment was people using it seeiously, not in some toung in cheak joke, and i thought thst would be obvious from... well the context.

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laidback_chef@reddit

It objectively isn't, tho. It originated in the uk.

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fezzuk@reddit

I dunno what to say, never heard anyone one use it until perhaps the last 5 years.

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kilgore_trout1@reddit

Yeah but it’s like Soccer - ie a British word in origin which now seems more American than British.

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Occamsfacecloth@reddit

Yeah it does seem to irritate English people when the Irish call it soccer

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RaisinHorror1440@reddit

It's called fitba'.

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Critical_Wasabi5218@reddit

No its not you retard

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kilgore_trout1@reddit

To be fair my school was a rugby playing school and a bit posh, and football was always referred to as soccer to differentiate it from Rugby.

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Occamsfacecloth@reddit

Did you call rugby football?

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kilgore_trout1@reddit

In general terms we’d call it rugby but as far as I remember more formal situations, like the honours board, it was referred to as “the Captain of the Football team” - as in Rugby Football, as opposed to association football.

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ScreenOk1746@reddit

Why does the feds bother you? It means the FBI not local state police.

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fezzuk@reddit

Because we do not have federal or state police in the UK.

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1-05457@reddit

Some people in the UK use it to refer to the (local) police in general.

The irritation is exacerbated by the fact that the UK 1. isn't a federation, and 2. doesn't have a national police force.

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Pizzagoessplat@reddit

I'll do a coffee

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laidback_chef@reddit

Im ngl I thought they were 2 different types of car parks.

Parking lot: like an allotment 1 big square for parking. Car park: multi layer car park.

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OutlawJessie@reddit

My husband thinks "these ones" is silly, he's American and he's right I guess, I could just say "these" - as in: Which jeans are you wearing today? These.

But it's just a harmless spare word. We do it too.

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neilm1000@reddit

I've heard parking lot but the one that gets me (which I haven't heard in the UK) is 'parking structure,'

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Macrihanishautomatic@reddit

I had a teacher in school (early 2000s) who kicked off at a girl for responding to his instruction with the word “okay”

He shouted “Okay?! We are NOT in an American school!”

Heaven knows what he’d make of the Americanised language today.

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jafarthecat@reddit

Is OK an American thing? I genuinely didn't realise.

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Tough-Oven4317@reddit

Apparently it was an American magazine having "oll korrect" as a joke way to write All correct, in the 1830s

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Flimflamsam@reddit

I always love coming across new tidbits. Thanks for this!

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nemmalur@reddit

It is, but it’s over 100 years old at this point.

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AbsolutelyNot5555@reddit

I was slightly reprimanded in school in the mid 90s when I used the word “gotten” in something I had written. The teacher scoffed, “We are NOT Americans!”

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Macrihanishautomatic@reddit

I was also criticised for using the word “gotten” because it was an Americanism. If I could go back in time I would argue that “gotten” existed in English before the time of Shakespeare.

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Sublime99@reddit

what would be the correct term to use then? "understood", "all right", "affirmative"? There's Americanisation and then there's something that's been internationalised to within an inch of it's life already.

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Macrihanishautomatic@reddit

I imagine the answer he was looking for was “Yes Sir”

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Sublime99@reddit

Oh that makes sense… I left school 10 years ago and moved to Sweden where the sir/miss thing doesnt exist at all (first name terms from primary school!) , I honestly can’t remember the last time I used a title 🤦‍♀️

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Macrihanishautomatic@reddit

It’s a strange convention when you really think about it.

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Harrry-Otter@reddit

Fries and chips are different things. Fries are what McDonalds serve. Chips are what you get at a chippy.

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Demonic_Sloth@reddit

I'd disagree with that to be honest. Chips is the general term for all chips, including fries. Fries are specifically the skinny chips.

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Flimflamsam@reddit

Yep, same as biscuit and cookie. North American English uses cookie as the umbrella term, we use biscuit - but cookie is a subgenre of biscuit in the UK.

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DevilsAdvocate1662@reddit

You're not wrong

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RevenantSith@reddit

No such thing as a ‘fry’ here. Never heard of them.

Thick chips. Skinny chips. Criss-cross chips. Steak-cut chips. Chippy chips.

All chips!

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

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DevilsAdvocate1662@reddit

It's chips and crisps that are the problem, Americans called crisps Chips, and chips Fries

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Extension-Aside-555@reddit

EXCEPT when ordering fish and chips. In that one case, they say chips.

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nemmalur@reddit

Is it still a crisp if it’s made from a tortilla?

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AlabamaShrimp@reddit

No it's a tortilla chip. Crisps are still crisps and different.

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Rich-Peak-3902@reddit

Yet if someone had a "bag of crisps" and it was Doritos or Quavers, one wouldn't correct them.

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Ramtamtama@reddit

Its a "crisps & snacks"

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jverbal@reddit

And then you've got the Aussies who call all of the above 'chips' where the context of the discussion helps you understand what they mean.

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Lordaucklandx@reddit

And NZ too but there’s chips and hot chips

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ToManyTabsOpen@reddit

Aussies do like the c word.

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andypanty69@reddit

"Context of the discussion" - well now you've found why Americans get confused by proper use of words.

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carl84@reddit

Americanisation

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Nice-Contest1499@reddit (OP)

Mixing variants of English is bad, one should stick with one varaint, as I am more exposed to US English and as my boyfriend is American I choose US spelling. It's that simple I am certanly not going to use -ise spelling and then write a truck instead of a lorry as that'd be absurd.

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RaisinHorror1440@reddit

It's not UK English, it's just English. However, we Scots have language similar, but you'd probably not be able to read it, if it was written down.

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Nice-Contest1499@reddit (OP)

English is the whole language, UK English is a variant although a pretty wide one as Scottish vs London vs BBC differ quite a lot.

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tannercolin@reddit

English is the language, English (simplified) is the variant.

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Nice-Contest1499@reddit (OP)

English includes what is spoken in the US too.

So to be precise I have to call UK English that way.

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RaisinHorror1440@reddit

In Yankee land it's called American English.

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Nice-Contest1499@reddit (OP)

Are you seriously going to claim that American English is not English?

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bad-at-exams@reddit

Yes. English is from England. It's like saying Germany speaks Germany German and Austria speaks Austrian German. No, German is the language.

US English is the derivative of English. Or it should be, but Americanisation has messed with it.

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Nice-Contest1499@reddit (OP)

But they do. Germans speak German German and Austrians speak Austrian German. That is not wrong. Those are the variants. Just like how there is US English, UK English, Irish English, Canadian English etc.

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tannercolin@reddit

There isn't a 'UK English'. It's just English.

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nemetonomega@reddit

Not quite right, there is English, Scottish Standardised English and Welsh English.

The language from England however is just called English, because it's their language. In Scotland and Wales we speak a variant of the original, just like American English is a variant or real English.

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bad-at-exams@reddit

It should be "British" English btw. Also, you never refer to German as Germany German.

If you're explicitly talking talking about the differences between them in the same sentence, you might qualify them, but you never would otherwise.

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nemetonomega@reddit

There is no British English. In Britain (not including NI, as you seen to acknowledge Irish English) we have English and two variants of English.

English - from England

Scottish English - a variant influenced by Scots grammar and language, it is different to the English spoken outwith Scotland.*

Welsh English - a variant influenced by Cymraeg grammar and language

Outwith is an example. Common word in Scottish English, but not a word in English.

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Nice-Contest1499@reddit (OP)

I mean I only say it when talking about the differences, othervise it's the same language. Both English and German.

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bad-at-exams@reddit

Well I think we're probably splitting hairs now and I get where you're coming from, but...

Yeah, I guess in answer to your question, one thing that Americansation has led to is people (foreign to English-speaking countries) learning American English as English, rather than learning British English. Having anyone speak English is really nice, but I'm always very slightly annoyed when they produce a learnt American accent or use American words (chips VS chips).

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Nice-Contest1499@reddit (OP)

but I'm always very slightly annoyed when they produce a learnt American accent or use American words (chips VS chips).

I mean most people are exposed to US English in a 10 to 1 ratio compared to UK English so there's no realistic way to avoid this. Especially since in many coutnries people boost their English through exposure.

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Due-Employ-7886@reddit

They do often call it 'high German' which I would accept

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RaisinHorror1440@reddit

I'm not claiming anything, I'm telling you.

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Nice-Contest1499@reddit (OP)

Americans speak American English.

Brits speak British English.

Americans and Brits speak English.

I don't get why this is so controversial?

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tannercolin@reddit

In Britain we speak English

In the US you speak English (simplified) which is the US variant. There is no UK variant of the English language. It's just English.

I think you're trolling at this point. I know you're American, but still...

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Nice-Contest1499@reddit (OP)

I am not trolling nor am I American and what you are saying is just anti-American sentiment or some other thing like that.

English is the language that is spoken in both the US and the UK.

There absolutely is a UK variant of English. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_English

You cannot export your language to dozens of countries and then get angry when it gets categorized between them.

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redseaaquamarine@reddit

They are regional accents and of course they differ; the accent (and sometimes dialect) changes every 5 miles here in the UK. But as the origin of the language. "UK English" is not a variant. A variant, by definition, is something that varies from the original form.

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nemetonomega@reddit

Exactly.

I hate it when people say British English, or UK English. There is no such thing, and it implies that everyone in the UK speaks the same version of English. There is English, the language spoken in England, and many variants of English.

In Scotland we speak Scottish Standardised English*.

In Wales there is Welsh English, or Wenglish.

In the US there is American English.

All of these are variants of English, the language from England.

*Not to be confused with Scots, which is a separate (although similar) language to English.

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SilyLavage@reddit

Modern Scots isn't that difficult for English speakers to understand. The differences are mainly in the vocabulary and spelling, and can often be understood from the surrounding context.

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Rare-Grocery-8589@reddit

This is illogical nonsense. There’s nothing inherently wrong with mixing variants of English. The only logical reason to stick to one variant in a given contest is to make sure you’re more easily understood. Different regional spellings of the same word are still technically correct, so there’s no logical reason to insist that someone uses the local variant, except by diktat.

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Nice-Contest1499@reddit (OP)

Google it, multiple sources say that you should be consistent.

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Rare-Grocery-8589@reddit

Google say what it likes it’s nonsense and I’m not giving up to the “authority” of a search engine. 😂 Give me a clear, well-reasoned and logical argument and i might be persuaded.

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AutomaticSuccotash51@reddit

Yeah, if you are writing a publication on how you cured a disease. I don't think reddit comments quite come under the requirement of needing to keep a unified variant of english.

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Icy_Mixture1482@reddit

Is that so?

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Nice-Contest1499@reddit (OP)

I mean yes and I don't see anything wrong with it, you cannot expect to have a dialectless language with over a billion speakers.

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mooglus@reddit

I think he did it on accident

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aaarry@reddit

This is one of the worst offenders when it comes to yank wank/yankslop.

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Rug-bae@reddit

This one really grinds my gears

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BocaSeniorsWsM@reddit

Didn't we used to call it 'dumbing down'?

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Rich-Peak-3902@reddit

If we're going to be pedantic, then the OED standard is "-ize" with "-ise" being the acceptable variant (which only really became a thing in the 1950s).

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toon_84@reddit

I could care less

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loranlily@reddit

Tortilla chips are tortilla chips, they are a separate entity from crisps and that has been the case since I was young (I’m 39, for reference).

I actually live in America now, and I find that I have to code switch quite hard when I come back to the UK, rather than just using the American words for things.

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AbsolutelyNot5555@reddit

I also live in the US now, have done for over 20 years and I definitely have to switch when I visit the UK again (as I am right now!) my family will absolutely call me out on it when I accidentally use Americanisms but it’s hard not to, when I’ve lived there so long, and my husband and kids are American!

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loranlily@reddit

Oh I relate so much! I’ve been here for 14 years, also have an American husband and child. My mum in particular loves to point out when I accidentally use Americanisms to her haha

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AbsolutelyNot5555@reddit

It’s like a full time job being careful what I say! I’m trying so hard to hold onto my Britishness lol

[-]

Nice-Contest1499@reddit (OP)

Yeah I know that tortilla chips are made from corn so they are technically not the same but still I had to use a famous brand to get my point across.

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loranlily@reddit

No, I mean linguistically. We call them tortilla chips and they aren’t categorised with crisps.

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niallniallniall@reddit

They know that, they just happened to choose Doritos as a name brand UK crisp.

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loranlily@reddit

I never even said the word Doritos in either comment

[-]

niallniallniall@reddit

You're not understanding what OP or I mean. This is a miscommunication. The OP just happened to write Doritos as their chosen name brand crisp/chip. They could have wrote Walkers or Golden Wonder.

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loranlily@reddit

I understand that. I said, apart from tortilla chips being widely used, we don’t tend to use chips to mean crisps.

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nemmalur@reddit

It was in the OP’s post. Corn crisps or tortilla crisps just sounds odd.

[-]

Sniff_Sniffer@reddit

In the UK crisps are crisps. Its the colloquial term

Knik Knacks are 'corn snacks' - still crisps

Pringles- dehidrated potato - still crisps

Wheat crunchies - baked extruded corn snack- still crisps

Etc, etc.

Doritos -still crisps

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loranlily@reddit

Why are you talking to me like I’m not from the UK? I said we generally call tortilla chips “chips”, but everything else is called crisps. Your spelling and grammar is absolutely appalling, and you’re trying to lecture me on vocabulary?

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DingoBingoWimbo@reddit

You're wrong

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Jonny_rhodes@reddit

Wow a jarg Brit complaining about spelling … You moved to a country ran by a pedophile with the lowest education score anywhere Was that to look intelligent by comparison or what ?

[-]

loranlily@reddit

I moved here when Obama was president. If I could just move back to the UK, I would, but it’s not that simple. Also, I live in the state with the best education in the country, so that’s not the own that you think it is. You’re just making yourself look ignorant, unfortunately.

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Sniff_Sniffer@reddit

Someone call Stephen Fry, we have bad some grammar and shitty spelling in a reddit post! Fucksake, chill out

[-]

orthomonas@reddit

As an American living here, all is well. Just, please, stop referring to unadorned tortilla chips as 'nachos'.

It's the same disappointment as being told to expect a Sunday roast and getting only a Yorkshire pudding.

[-]

Boofagoofdoof@reddit

Had a fair bit of confusion in a conversation with a Young Person over vests, tank tops and waistcoats because they were using the USA definition. It didn't cause major problems, just crossed wires for a couple of minutes. At least nowadays there seems to be a bit being picked up the other way too, with American usage of words like "wanker" and watching Blackadder. I suspect the only thing I didn't like was that it made me feel Old and not Down With the Kids. I'll be over here with a tartan blanket over my legs

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cegsywegs@reddit

The increased use of AI will only make this worse, parliament is beginning to use US terminology because they can’t be bothered to write their own speeches anymore.

Likewise all the shitposts everywhere and AI slop posted all over LinkedIn.

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HonkersTim@reddit

I’d think someone was crazy if they referred to Doritos as Doritos crisps.

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Gary_James_Official@reddit

Doritos is a strange example as it doesn't need a qualifier (crisps, chips, or whatever else) as everyone should know what is being discussed. Simply saying 'Doritos' is enough, in and of itself.

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nemmalur@reddit

But a different brand of tortilla-based snack would still be a chip?

[-]

HonkersTim@reddit

Right? No one would say 'tortilla crisp', it's madness.

[-]

nemmalur@reddit

“I say, would you mind passing me the maize crisps?”

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ScreenOk1746@reddit

Except we do say tortilla chips, because a tortilla is a completely different thing.

[-]

Gary_James_Official@reddit

It would be on a brand by brand basis, dependant on what was on the packaging. I would tend to call them chips, if the brand wasn't known, merely because the most obvious examples all use that term.

Except when something is deliberately wrong in its self-description... I don't think I'll ever be comfortable saying the words 'potato snacks,' for example.

[-]

Ecstatic_Food1982@reddit

Out of interest, are you American u/Nice-Contest1499?

[-]

Nice-Contest1499@reddit (OP)

No but my boyfriend is.

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Ecstatic_Food1982@reddit

Thanks, just interested. Always interesting to hear outside perspectives 🙂

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Poo_Poo_La_Foo@reddit

I hate it.

I do, however, find it cute when my niece says things from Bluey (which is Australian).

[-]

crispycat40@reddit

YouTube affects my children’s use of Americanisms.

I get a lot of zeebra, tomayto, ladybug, elevator, lever etc.

My youngest claims she was born in America and I just didn’t notice, which is why she uses Americanisms.

[-]

Dominionix@reddit

There was, it’s fairly swiftly undoing itself of late.

[-]

CocoRufus@reddit

I'm seeing it all over the uk forums, apartments, trash, diapers, roommates, drugstore etc Im old and I bloody hate it

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Slight_Art_8828@reddit

One I’ve been hearing a lot lately is calling charity shops ‘thrift shops’ it does my head in. We done have thrift shops here we have charity shops, yet people are constantly saying they ‘ thrifted’ something or that they are ‘going thrifting’

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toon_84@reddit

"Can I get" is the ultimate one.

It just doesn't make sense.

"Can I get....." No, I'll get it for you.

"May I please have....." Not a problem.

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JHaslam1969@reddit

Nobody in britain uses "french fries". They are always chips here.

There actually is the opposite British-anisation of American English. Many American parents are complaining about their kids getting British accents, due to Peppa Pig.

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Critterfritter1@reddit

It's just English pal. British English isn't a thing.

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GeggingIn@reddit

The one that is very worrying is ass for arse.

Arse must remain.

[-]

toon_84@reddit

Any British person that uses the word ass instead of arse should be publicly humiliated in the town square.

[-]

Eukonidor_Of_Arisia@reddit

There were a lot of teenagers and young men saying "bro" a lot. Annoying as fuck.

[-]

faqhiavelli@reddit

Using “whenever” instead of “when” drives me absolutely…ok no I’ll calm down….slightly up the wall. And the first time I saw a British person saying it like that on social media it broke my heart a little

[-]

DingoBingoWimbo@reddit

I think every culture is losing its identity as we become more and more global, and it's super easy to travel anywhere or communicate with someone anywhere in seconds.

It's hitting us harder because we already shared a language with the US, which is the cultural hegemon of the world. It sucks seeing my friends and little kids talking like Americans, but I don't know how we'd stop it

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poshbakerloo@reddit

American pop culture has been around for a long time, I remember my parents I'm the 1990s complaining about it! You've got older and more irritated by it lol

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Defiant-Aside-6673@reddit

Detest it. Prevent it.

I hate hearing Yorkshire folk speak like Yanks.

Does my head in.

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DropDeadFredidit@reddit

I notice that my younger sister (04 baby) uses a lot more Americanisms than I do (92 baby). She’ll say things like “trash” or “thrift store” whereas I would absolutely say “rubbish” or “charity shop” for instance.

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Defiant-Aside-6673@reddit

That would do my nut it.

We need to keep our language and terminology. It's dumbing down the language.

[-]

toon_84@reddit

It's terrible on here. You really do have to read some posts a couple of times to work out if they're British or not.

Why anybody would want to be associated with that cesspit over the water at the minute is beyond me.

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FaithlessnessOdd4826@reddit

Think it's always happened, but it does work both ways. I keep hearing USians saying "bonkers" for example, which is a Britishism.

[-]

absolutetriangle@reddit

The K-pop thing is going to blow OPs mind

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absolutetriangle@reddit

After they come to terms with the metric system

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Scruffy_Angel@reddit

The number of children with American accents is wild. Raised on YouTube and TikTok.

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Yid@reddit

Listen out for the word "gotten".

It's gotten everywhere now.

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Dry-Letterhead-2902@reddit

Brits who say yall should be deported

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TomfromLondon@reddit

Is this 1980?

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RobCarrol75@reddit

*Americanisation

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CF_Zymo@reddit

*Americanisation

Case in point

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Nice-Contest1499@reddit (OP)

Mixing variants of English is bad, one should stick with one varaint, as I am more exposed to US English and as my boyfriend is American I choose US spelling. It's that simple I am certanly not going to use -ise spelling and then write a truck instead of a lorry as that'd be absurd. Had I moved to the UK I'd have switched to UK English but as I am not in the UK it doesn't really matter that much I could mix both without issue but I choose not to.

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MinimumCut140@reddit

Makes zero sense. My wife is a yank and I can tell you, she is learning English very well.

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CF_Zymo@reddit

Didn’t realise you weren’t a Brit, consider me corrected 😊

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Nice-Contest1499@reddit (OP)

Why would I be asking this if I were British.😭

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Tough-Oven4317@reddit

Your comments all seem so British to me especially the emoji, it's a headspinner to find out you're not British haha

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Nice-Contest1499@reddit (OP)

How 😭also the emoji-😭is a gen Z thing more I feel.

Maybe it's because it's just that I associate more complex English with school and there British was more prevelant, while for day to day stuff I use American.

My boyfriend (from the US) said he finds my accent cute as I mix slang from the deep south, north US with a Croatian accent. For example when I was telling him a story about when my friends went the wrong way I said this word for word:

"I told ya'll if we go this way we gonna get our asses lost, I told ya'll its the wrong fuckin way but nah ya ain't wanna listen to me" (Originally I said this in Croatian, I was out with Croatian friends before I'd even met him but this is how I translated it).

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Tough-Oven4317@reddit

Good point, all the Americans I speak to regularly are in their 30s now 😂😂

I'm too stupid to describe it, but I think Millie B and Sophie aspen made an impact on how gen z speaks, and it makes me think random people are British 😭

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Nice-Contest1499@reddit (OP)

If you think gen z speech is quirky wait till you see gen alpha brainrot speak 🙂

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CF_Zymo@reddit

This is a topic that is posted about very often in this subreddit, even by natives, as a general point of discussion. You are posting in a UK subreddit and don’t make it clear whether you are from the UK or not.

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ThinkBiscuit@reddit

I’ve got two kids – well, I call them kids, but their early 20s late teens. I’d say they do have a greater knowledge of US things than I used to, due to social media. But only in the things they are interested in

They know what pants are. They know what chips are. If I was to call a bin a garbage can, they’d know what I mean, obviously, but would deffo think it weird that I’d called it that.

What they do know about is Costco, Walmart, the sweets they have over there, and the fast food joints that we don’t have.

They love a micky D’s, but also a Tesco meal deal. One of them even loves the Beatles. I’m not worried about it in the slightest.

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firthy@reddit

*Americanisation

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Nice-Contest1499@reddit (OP)

Mixing variants of English is bad, one should stick with one varaint, as I am more exposed to US English and as my boyfriend is American I choose US spelling. It's that simple I am certanly not going to use -ise spelling and then write a truck instead of a lorry as that'd be absurd. Had I moved to the UK I'd have switched to UK English but as I am not in the UK it doesn't really matter that much I could mix both without issue but I choose not to.

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Tough-Oven4317@reddit

Mixing variants of English is bad for what reason?

Also stylistically your comment reads in a very British way. Is it just the spelling you don't think people should mix?

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Nice-Contest1499@reddit (OP)

Litteraly any source will tell you that you should stay consistent in the way you write.

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Tough-Oven4317@reddit

Staying consistent sounds more reasonable than saying you should strictly speak or write in one variant of England

But I don't understand why either would be important. It seems like a constraint

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Nice-Contest1499@reddit (OP)

Wait, you misunderstood me. By strictly speak one I meant at any given moment. The entire time I meant stay consistent. I didn't mean you should never speak the other.

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Tough-Oven4317@reddit

I think it's personal choice with English. Honestly I think most people would agree with you, though, in something like a magazine, a book, a government form, probably school work and exams.

I feel like it's natural and good to mix variants if you feel like it, especially in natural speech and informal communication. If I can better get my thoughts across by saying an American phrase with a British phrase, I'd prefer to do that, than to stick to just one. I wouldn't want to limit myself, and I think it works stylistically, but I can see why people would think it sounds better to stick to one

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Nice-Contest1499@reddit (OP)

For me it's not really a choice, if I want to use British I have to think, American just got deep baked into me.
I agree that "stick to one" seems dumb.

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TipsyPhippsy@reddit

Mixed variants of English are bad*

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Decard_Pain@reddit

Americanisation, quite clearly yes.

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Pier-Head@reddit

On the flip side of the coin, US parents are complaining their children have British accents because of Peppa Pig

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AllThatIHaveDone@reddit

No, we've always taken words from other languages. Look at how many French or German words we have. English is not a pure language, and it isn't immune to change.

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4oclockinthemorning@reddit

We have THOSE ones because of invasions though

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Lewis19962010@reddit

Doritos are chips tbh, they are tortilla chips we don't call them tortilla crisps and never have

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Flaky_Self_8124@reddit

I’ve known people calling Doritos, simply Doritos or nachos here.

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Valuable-Island-1880@reddit

Which is funny because Americans don’t actually call Doritos chips. Doritos are their own category

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closouted99@reddit

I’ll call a sofa a couch and a flat an apartment sometimes

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pereuse@reddit

But that's correct British English right?

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redseaaquamarine@reddit

No

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TipsyPhippsy@reddit

English* and no, I would say sofa or settee, not couch.

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martinhsa@reddit

I keep reading prolly instead of probably which irks me quite a bit.

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redseaaquamarine@reddit

I don't like it when British people say "lil" and have actually seen them say "y'all". As my children always told the baby when it copied a phrase from a US children's programme, "we are not American"

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cgknight1@reddit

Is it that day of the week again - as always, people don't understand their own language...

Or calling outer pants pants

Common in many regions of the UK and nothing to do with Americanisation? (which is an S not Z).

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Rich-Peak-3902@reddit

*Some* regions, not many (mainly the Northwest).

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YarnPenguin@reddit

Are you posting from 1947 because I have some questions about your non timeline technology

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fuggerdug@reddit

I've noticed it on reddit and got downvoted for commenting on it in the past.

The one that always sticks out to me, because it's the quintessential British word, is: "arse". Now everywhere I look it's "ass" this, and "ass-backwards" that on the British subs. British people doing DIY are: "knocked on their ass" and things have: "looked like ass" and things have been "pulled out of their ass". Worst of all, people have been encountered acting like: "assholes".

This is relatively new, well certainly I've only noticed it relatively recently, but it's really taking over.

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WinkyNurdo@reddit

Agree completely. To my mind it’s the internet in general and social media that spreads it, especially amongst kids who haven’t known a life without the internet. The amount of times you see metres spelt incorrectly and Z’s replacing S’s is mildly dismaying.

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fuggerdug@reddit

Yeah and for some reason the people doing this are really defensive of it: I've got lots of down votes just for commenting on it lol.

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ThreeLionsOnMyShirt@reddit

Aside from specific words or phrases being used, one thing I've definitely noticed more with younger British English speaking is "flapping" their Ts, so they become more like Ds, and less glottal stopping.

So whereas the youth of my, well, youth would say "water" or "butter" without a consonant sound in the middle (almost "war-uh"), I think you hear less of that and more "warder"

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charlie_boo@reddit

Yep. Kids through to mid 20’s say Flashlight instead of torch, wrench instead of spanner where I work.

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Lunkwill-fook@reddit

Everyone saying “can I get” when ordering. It used to be “may I have” that deffo an American thing

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WGSMA@reddit

We trend towards a Global Monoculture, and there’s nothing anyone can do to stop it

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jafarthecat@reddit

Is that even a bad thing? It doesn't bother me in the slightest but I imagine it's unpopular generally.

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WGSMA@reddit

It’s neither good nor bad, it just is

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DevilsAdvocate1662@reddit

There definitely is, I learned recently that in the UK you can now call 911 and get through to emergency services as well as 999.

Apparently it was done due to the sheer number of kids who watch American TV shows or Youtubers

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IanM50@reddit

I'm not exactly sure when, but 911 has been an emergency service number in the UK for longer than the Internet has been around. It was introduced because of tourism.

I worked in London in the 1990s, and it was possible to dial 911 then with the call answered by the 999 service. It may have happened when London 01 numbers gained a 7 or 8.

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DevilsAdvocate1662@reddit

According to Google, it became a thing in the late 90's/early 2000's

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IanM50@reddit

Sounds about right, my guess is that London may well have been first given the higher numbers of tourists.

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TipsyPhippsy@reddit

Nothing to do with kids watching TV, it's more tourists etc

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Dry_Action1734@reddit

There’s a dozen or so numbers which get you through to 999. It’s been around for ages and not America specific. 112, for example.

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Extreme-Dream-2759@reddit

You can also dial 112 to reach the police, which is the European equivalent.

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nemmalur@reddit

I don’t know about an increase but it’s probably more pervasive and faster than before. And it’s going a little bit in the other direction.

It’s also been going on for decades, to the point that people aren’t aware that some words were coined in America.

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GreenWoodDragon@reddit

This has been happening for a very long time. WW2 probably accelerated the process.

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No-Photograph3463@reddit

Probably, but French Fries is a bad example, because French Fries are firstly a crisp, secondly can be classed as a sub-standard class of the humble chip.

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nemmalur@reddit

When are fries crisps?

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No-Photograph3463@reddit

Walkers French Fries are a type of crisp!

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ARobertNotABob@reddit

Same question has been asked for the last 50 years.

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FlowRoko@reddit

Not just Americanization, look at Multicultural London English. Heavy modern influence from Africa, South Asian and Islamic cultures. Also a significant portion of Europeans learn American (simplified English) not British English.

The world in general is becoming homogenized since we all exist in the same space (internet) for significant portions of our day, and physical travel is something almost everyone has done several times now. The world is psychologically much smaller than it used to be and we're being influenced and affected by cultures that would have had very limited penetration before mass commercial air travel and the internet.

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Nice-Contest1499@reddit (OP)

significant portion of Europeans learn American (simplified English) not British English,

Most learn British in school (including in Croatia where I live) but as US English is more common they just pick it up more.

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Rare-Grocery-8589@reddit

It’s been happening for 50+ years and I don’t care. Living languages evolve and change; it’s a natural phenomena that’s been happening ever since humans developed speech. I personally think cultural/linguistic “protectionism” is retrogressive, and dislike it on principle. Who decides what is a “right” form of expression and why would their “authority” matter?

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Funmachine@reddit

A big problem is that a lot of southern England has no idea what Northerners call things, and so when they hear regional words they think they're Americanised. But they're not. For example, my Secondary school was called "High School" it's literally in the name of the school, and many schools in the area. Also, the use of "Pants" to mean trousers is common in places in the North, and always has been. These aren't Americanisations, they're just regional differences in England.

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tommygunner91@reddit

MASSIVE increase in people even in their early 30s saying airplane instead of aeroplane

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DiscombobulatedMix20@reddit

When I was in Year 4 of primary school, my teachers always used to tell me off for using American words like "candy" for example. Nowadays, I am working in a nursery in placement but when children use American words, no one bats an eyelid. I don't even catch on but this post has reminded me!

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WinkyNurdo@reddit

Popular sites like Reddit and Wikipedia are definitely spreading Americanisms like the plague … especially amongst younger generations.

I grew up reading and learning everything from books and printed media, with the vast majority written in British English. We referred to encyclopaedias, not Wikipedia. Kids today are infinitely more exposed to Americanisms than I ever was.

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kalendral_42@reddit

I think it’s partially down to the fact that by the time they notice those things they’ve already been indoctrinated into US-English via Microsoft autocorrect endlessly correcting to US spelling forms & suggesting US phrases

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xenojive@reddit

I think there's an increase in this topic being posted here

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talligan@reddit

As a Canadian in the UK that regularly gets jumped on in UK subs for the cardinal sin of accidentally using a Canadian English word ... It's kind of funny that you guys exported and made half the world use English and then get pissed off when that gets exported back to you.

[-]

Nice-Contest1499@reddit (OP)

Does Canadian English have it's own rules when to use UK vs US spellings or is it just MIX MIX MIX NO RULE MIX.

[-]

talligan@reddit

We do actually. Typically its American words with British spellings but exceptions do apply and there are rules that lay these out, insofar as anything in English has rules.

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Username___5@reddit

No one, absolutely no one calls crisps chips. Although I have heard people say zee instead of zed including myself

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Dry_Action1734@reddit

Quick reminder on the mum/mom front. Brummies have apparently always used Mom instead of mum. I had a go at someone for doing it in a post and was quickly informed.

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ToasterMonster69@reddit

Doritos are chips and not crisps. Tortilla chips - it’s not tortilla crisps.

French fries are… a subset of our chips? They’re skinny, chips are twice or more the width…..

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Damn_sun@reddit

Yes, to the detriment of the English language. I hear kids say "anyways" instead of "anyway"..which doesn't make sense

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Mysterious_County154@reddit

I just prefer the american words for things

British words feel too formal and serious

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Icy_Mixture1482@reddit

Yes, “pacifier” sounds so chill compared to “dummy”. “Elevator” rolls of the tongue so easily compared to “lift”.

“Apartment” is much simpler than “flat”.

“Faucet” sounds super casual versus that pretentious “tap”.

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RipCurl69Reddit@reddit

My girlfriend and I have a huge love for the US because we've got friends out there but the one time she said 'mom' I just about exploded lol

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CelesteJA@reddit

I grew up watching US TV shows and playing US made video games, so learned all the alternate US words for everything. But that didn't make me switch to using US terms.

What DID make me accidentally start switching to US terms as well as developing an American accent is having an American partner, lol. I've never left the UK in my entire life, and yet everyone I meet assumes I'm from America.

And people DO care. I've been actively trying to switch back to British English terminology because people constantly point out the American terms I'm using, and it's getting tiresome.

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yudo@reddit

You don't just pick up an accent that easily.

I'm from America and been living in the UK for the past 15+ years, still haven't lost my American accent, though I do say the English version of words nowadays.

[-]

CelesteJA@reddit

Yes, I just decided to lie today.

I don't know what to tell you. I've been bedbound for years and the only person I interact with apart from doctors is my partner. I don't even hear the accent myself, but my doctors constantly point it out.

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Squiggally-umf@reddit

Yeah, many occasions I’ve overheard an English person speaking normally and then suddenly pronounce their Ts the American way like that soft d sound and also pronouncing Ls a lot harder.

[-]

Dd_8630@reddit

Well, yes, it's been happening for like 110 years.

[-]

OkCaterpillar8941@reddit

I work in education and mainly with children with special needs. They either talk with an American inflection in their voice or with the full on accent. If I say a word that has different pronunciation or name in the US they'll correct me. Today it was Autumn versus Fall and writing the date. I have to let so much go because we'd never get any work done. My mantra is 'That is perfect if you live in the US but you don't so this is more a useful to way to say it'.

[-]

h00dman@reddit

The fact that we're referring to it as "American English" means we're still winning.

[-]

peterchekhov@reddit

I think there is an Americanisation of the UK through their loopy right wing and religious stuff

[-]

spanakopita555@reddit

Stuff I've noticed recently:

people on UK subs using 'mom' (and not just Brummies)
thrifting becoming common parlance
plushie or stuffie instead of cuddly toy
'a bunch of'

Do I care...? A bit. I think the world is better with variety.

[-]

ShufflingToGlory@reddit

I heard Spanakopita555's Mom took him thrifting for a bunch of plushies last week.

[-]

spanakopita555@reddit

twitch

[-]

Pat8aird@reddit

Less pop culture and more streamer culture in general.

[-]

elbapo@reddit

Yeah we're briddish now

[-]

OutrageousRhubarb853@reddit

It has been like that for as long as TV shows from the US have been popular in the UK. I’ve heard elevator instead of lift, and I’ve heard the obvious ones…

BUT my gears got a little sand in them at the weekend when I heard a young Scottish woman order her pizza in Edinburgh on Sunday afternoon.

“I’m going to do a pepperoni”

Not “I’d like a pepperoni” and not “I want a pepperoni”

“I’m going to do…” it’s not even right!

[-]

pereuse@reddit

I've caught myself saying "can I get" in a coffee shop. Instead of the usual "could I have". I couldn't believe I said it

[-]

OutrageousRhubarb853@reddit

I was once called out on my manners whilst in Texas! We were at a BBQ and when I went up to get some food I was refused for not saying please. I repeated myself exactly and they still wouldn’t give me a burger.

“Please may I have a burger”

I got a burger in the end but it wasn’t worth the pain.

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LordDethBeard@reddit

*Americanisation

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Nice-Contest1499@reddit (OP)

Mixing variants of English is bad, one should stick with one varaint, as I am more exposed to US English and as my boyfriend is American I choose US spelling. It's that simple I am certanly not going to use -ise spelling and then write a truck instead of a lorry as that'd be absurd. Had I moved to the UK I'd have switched to UK English but as I am not in the UK it doesn't really matter that much I could mix both without issue but I choose not to.

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FreeBogwoppits@reddit

You've brought back the unwelcome memory of my friend's four year old son announcing "Hi guys, welcome to my channel" in a pitch perfect American drawl.

Him and his family have only ever lived in Bungay, Suffolk.

He's 8 years old now and obviously wants to be YouTuber. He naturally uses a lot of American terms (trash, fire truck) and American grammar (I have got bit by a dog, I have took my tablet). His family accept it and the school hasn't voiced any concerns.

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Surface_Detail@reddit

The pants thing is regional in the UK. Only some areas call underpants pants. Some very backward areas.

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Evening-Cicada-1675@reddit

I haven’t noticed any real increase, I’ve always known there to be significant overlap between British and American culture. We share a language, so it follows that culture would be more easily shared.

Occasionally I’ll notice that my younger, teenage siblings will use an American spelling or term on social media, but they don’t do so in everyday conversation in real life. I assume it’s to reach a wider audience.

I’ve definitely also noticed that my siblings’ American followers will (sometimes) act insanely confused by their use of British and vocab, despite them being British.

Tbh, I think we infantilise Americans a bit because - on social media at least - they seem so defensive and so easily confused. We don’t see Americans as the brightest bunch (which I know is an unfair generalisation).

So, yeah, in summary: I don’t think it’s new and I think it’s more prevalent online because social media is essentially globalised communication.

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boogerwang@reddit

I would say its been accelerated due to the sheer amounts of americans on social media influencing world culture too

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Outrageous_Bar6729@reddit

Some things yes for sure, of your examples elevator is probably the one that might be used.

The others, no because they would get the piss ripped out of them, anyone in the UK calling trousers pants would get shut down quick. Equally the fries vs chips we have 3 separate food items here:
Chips - Fat

Fries - Skinny

Crisps - Thin and crunchy

If you tried to use American terms people would correct you or just get confused.

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Suspicious_Flower_0@reddit

I still cringe at the time I was 16, went to a chip shop stoned and asked for "fries".

Still lives rent free in my head to this day, I don't know why I said that. It keeps my up at night like nothing else

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alexthemo123@reddit

You have either lived an amazingly uneventful, or blameless, life to date. Stay safe.

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jesuseatsbees@reddit

I don’t know if there’s been an increase but yes it happens. I’m a teacher and I have to correct ‘zee’ a lot, as well as American spellings.

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Nice-Contest1499@reddit (OP)

Are they actually corrected in school? Is it really that big of a deal? I remember that in Croatia in elementary and middle school our teacher would insist on British English but in high school we could use whatever we wanted even if we mixed them sometimes.

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Winter_Parsley8706@reddit

My mates daughter actually speaks with an American accent. Not just the odd word, full on.

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Nice-Contest1499@reddit (OP)

How is that possible? Like how?

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Yikes44@reddit

Letting them watch Cartoon Network all day every day.

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Winter_Parsley8706@reddit

She started putting it on a few years ago just as a bit of a joke and her mates joined in. Now she speaks with that accent. The school don't care and neither do the parents by the looks of it

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Eoin_McLove@reddit

I’ve noticed a few comments recently questioning the use of the American ‘train station’ over the British ‘railway station’. I can’t say I’d have noticed otherwise.

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NobblyNobody@reddit

I've noticed i've stopped spelling it 'Paedophile' automatically, for some reason lately.

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Bksudbjdua@reddit

I say should we go see a movie instead of should we go to the pictures? Pick a good film?

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Nice-Contest1499@reddit (OP)

One thing I find interesting is despite in my native Croatian the word for a movie being "film" I will always use movie when speaking english same thing with elevator, we say lift but I will always say elevator. Probably due to daily exposure to US English online and in pop culture and also because my boyfriend for the last 4 years has been an American.

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Bksudbjdua@reddit

Elevator is so foreign to me as someone who speaks British English. Although I do sometimes call an escalator and elevator by mistake

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throarway@reddit

You're just becoming more like New Zealand, where many of the British/American pairs coexist, sometimes with subtle shades of difference in meaning/register, sometimes completely synonymous. You'll hear "trousers" and "pants" (but never the latter for underwear), "chips" and "crisps" and "fries" in different pairings, "dinner" and "tea", "movie" and "film", "movies/movie theatre" and "cinema"...

If it helps, don't think of it as British vs American but continuing globalisation of English as a lingua franca. And also, remember that many Americans were originally British and just survived there more than they did here. And also also, British English will always have its own quirks.

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yearsofpractice@reddit

It happens because of the brilliant madness of English. It’s unique in major worldwide languages that it doesn’t have a central authority for grammar or indeed spelling (French, German and Spanish all do). Regards the latter point, dictionaries record rather than specify spellings.

English evolves. That’s why it’s the language that it is.

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Yikes44@reddit

Whenever our kids did that we corrected them. They used to watch cartoon network so they picked it up from there. In the end we stopped it and they were pretty much fine after that.

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Eoin_McLove@reddit

It has always been thus.

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GrownDandilion@reddit

Used to be a think now most people actively move away from americanised words and phrases.

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SnooMacarons5600@reddit

Something that tickled me: When my kids were younger, the question, :what's up?" , would be answered. "I'm chill.".

I've heard the British version, using a modified version, "I'm chilled".

So British to me.

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rumham_milksteak@reddit

I was talking to my gen z sister in law the other day. She was telling me about how pissed her friend was on a night out. When I asked her how much she had to drink, she was pretty confused

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Pretend-Ad-55@reddit

Something I’ve noticed is the use of ‘period’ meaning Full Stop.

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DifferentSweet1360@reddit

I don’t believe there is an Americanisation of our language because I would say there has been a big reduction in American show influence.

Just anecdotally based on what I currently watch - Young Sherlock (British), Deadloch (Australian), Shrinking (American), Gogglebox (British), Lidia Poet (Italian) and I watch BBC Breakfast (British) most mornings. There have also been some great Scandinavian shows and South African productions recently. So I wouldn’t say the US is necessarily the main source of our media anymore? I’m not saying there is no American pop culture here obviously but I do think it has reduced in the past 10 years. Probably with the increase in streaming options and therefore choice to not be force fed American TV. Although I do agree films still is generally quite American.

I teach 16-18yo’s and they don’t use americanisations either. And it’s quite often something you would get taken the mick out of if you did call the rubbish bin the ‘trash can’ or something like that.

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OllyDee@reddit

As to your last question I’ve noticed more pushback against americanism’s in the last few years. So yes I would say that some people do care, but probably not the majority.

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Soar_Fingers@reddit

More likely the opposite. Everyone in the UK is totally averse to anything from epsteinland

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According_Sundae_917@reddit

Monoculture is interesting here - US YouTube influencer culture and language is shaping global language for young people in any English speaking country.

Viral memes spread globally so things like ‘6-7’ are a joke not only for kids in USA but all over England, Australia, Canada … anywhere accessing YouTube/social media.

So I think we will see US culture influencing our language more and more but potentially a kind of ‘online dialect’ emerging as everybody worldwide is tuned into the same global internet culture

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According_Sundae_917@reddit

Monoculture is interesting here - US YouTube influencer culture and language is shaping global language for young people in any English speaking country.

Viral memes spread globally so things like ‘6-7’ are a joke not only for kids in USA but all over England, Australia, Canada … anywhere accessing YouTube/social media.

So I think we will see US influencing language more and more but potentially a kind of ‘online dialect’ emerging as everybody is tuned into the same global internet culture

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Practical-Command634@reddit

Kids are doing it because of YouTube. It's annoying

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Appropriate-Read7966@reddit

It’s been happening for years my kids in the 90’s loved the Simpson mans tigers etc so started saying elevator and trunk if the car they turned out fine 🤷‍♀️

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TheeHappyDude@reddit

Every fcking dckhead in front of me in the coffee shop says "can I get..." "Yeah, if you hop over the counter and serve yourself" is what I'd say

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Fellsy8@reddit

This one does annoy me; it also sounds quite rude.

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Matt_tuck_shop@reddit

Yes it happens and it's forced on us unfortunately

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Mglfll@reddit

Kids watching all sorts of US streamers and what not. Know my kids come out with a lot of Americanised phrases and it boils my piss to no end

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PKblaze@reddit

A mix of that and the number of things we use being American, such as the majority of the internet.

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neilm1000@reddit

So I am pretty sure that in the UK just as in most of the world US pop culture is very prevalent

I'm not sure that US pop culture is prevalent in most of the world.

For example calling Doritos chips and using the term french fries?

No. We do call some chips fries but those are the thinner McDonalds type ones, not chippy chips.

Or calling outer pants pants and calling underpants panties?

Some parts of the UK refer to trousers as pants, like where I live in Stockport. Panties are female specific.

Or saying an elevator instead of lift?

Very few people say this.

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lukusmaca@reddit

I grew up pretty into American pop culture (mtv, nickelodeon, jacksss, etc.) but I always knew the difference between what we call something and what they call something over the pond

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ClimbsNFlysThings@reddit

Language loves and changes. Meh

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