Are you becoming more British?

Jago   Wed Jan 21, 2009 4:15 pm GMT
There are plenty of examples of modern Americanisms infiltrating the modern British lexicon (Mom, gotten, the use of -ize etc) but are there any examples of modern British words coming into use in modern America?

Please note that I used the word 'modern' a lot to emphasise the fact that I'm not referring to historical transfers of words.
Sarmackie   Wed Jan 21, 2009 6:24 pm GMT
For a while, I said 'cheers' to everyone in every sentence. That's pretty British.
Damian in Edinburgh   Wed Jan 21, 2009 11:46 pm GMT
Many older people in Britain dislike the universal use of the word "cheers" here in the UK. I don't think it was used in the past quite so much as it is today...it can mean either "good health" or "slains!" (as we say in Scotland) when raising a glass in a form of toast, or it can merely mean "thank you", or a parting greeting, like when you are ending a telphone conversation, or parting company generally.

Some older people, mostly of the male variety, as it is to them to whom it is mainly addressed, also resent being called "mate" especially by people much younger than themselves. I once saw this venerable looking elderly gentleman in a Dixon's shop in Epsom, Surrey, blow his gasket when the late teenage/early twenties assistant who was serving him said "Cheers mate!" when he handed over his credit card in payment.

He indignantly demanded to have his card returned to him before it was processed as he complained about "lack of respect" and once it was returned to him by a totally gobsmacked assistant he walked out leaving his prospective purchases, all neatly packaged, lying on the counter. More than just a wee bit extreme I reckon, but there you go. That's how the old geezer felt about being addressed in that way by a lad young enough to be his grandson, or even great grandson at a push.
Jago   Wed Jan 21, 2009 11:54 pm GMT
I knew the older generation didn't like being called 'mate' but was totaly unaware that they weren't keen on cheers!
With the chav problem here the use of mate seems to have declined and is now only used (At least in the SW UK) in familiar company but in the form of 'matey'. It's also only generaly used towards people of a similar age group.
Uriel   Thu Jan 22, 2009 6:21 am GMT
Hmm. Can't really think of any offhand. I mean, you'll run into the occasional use of "shag" but it's always self-consciously tongue-in-cheek and just doesn't carry any of the gut punch of screw or fuck. "Cheers" is still pretty much confined to drinking (hence the old TV show name). "Mate" is never used in the sense you mention.

There are a few holdovers that echo modern British usage, like "I reckon", but they tend to be sort of Southern or country-sounding and slightly old-fashioned to my ears. I notice they are still used in the UK and Australia, though.
Damian in Edinburgh   Thu Jan 22, 2009 8:34 am GMT
Let me make this clear......the older people in the UK I referred to don't have a problem at all with "cheers" when it's used in the drinks scenario....it would be daft to suggest that they do. Saying "cheers" to raised glasses is probably the most universal form of expression in that sense.

It's when it's used in the other ways I described that "some" of them get into a froth over, like that distinguished looking gentleman in the Epsom store. He was obviously very conservative, and probably had a profound dislike for the up and coming generation anyway...it looked that way to me......the poor lad behind the counter had spikey gelled hair and wore an ear-ring and sported a very distinct Surrey version of a "Sarf Landun" accent.

I don't think the elderly man took exception to the "cheers" bit all that much...... it was the "mate" thing that got him all wound up in my opinion.
Liz   Thu Jan 22, 2009 10:02 am GMT
To me, it seems extremely funny and inappropriate to call an elderly man or a complete stranger "mate". :-) However, it's getting more and more common these days.
Mahatma coat   Thu Jan 22, 2009 11:06 am GMT
G'day, mate. What's doing, you old geezer?
Josh   Thu Jan 22, 2009 9:01 pm GMT
Would calling an older man "mate" in England and Scotland be similar to calling an an older man "dude" or "man" in the US?

That reminds of my elder brother's Vietnamese-born friend. Because he learned English on MTV before he immigrated, he took to calling his friends' dads "homie" or "dog" without any idea that his usage was abnormal.
WRP   Thu Jan 22, 2009 11:43 pm GMT
I wonder if we will get more British usages now that we have better access to British TV.

I could see reckon making a comeback this side of the Atlantic, it's not totally foreign and fills a need. It seems that cheers is already gaining some currency beyond drinking (as I do hear it now and then). Bless it for stepping in to awkward retail conversations where two way thank yous are common and you're welcome doesn't seem entirely appropriate.

I don't think mate is going to make it though.
Lazar   Fri Jan 23, 2009 1:05 am GMT
<<(Mom, gotten, the use of -ize etc)>>

No, no, no: "-ize" is the conservative and traditional form in Britain, and in the 20th century it's increasingly come to be displaced by the variant "-ise".
Jago   Fri Jan 23, 2009 2:11 am GMT
<<<<(Mom, gotten, the use of -ize etc)>>

No, no, no: "-ize" is the conservative and traditional form in Britain, and in the 20th century it's increasingly come to be displaced by the variant "-ise". >>

Naughty Lazar. You missed the bit where I over emphasised the word 'modern" so as to avoid someone citing the now common knowledge that -ize is historicaly British.
Lazar   Fri Jan 23, 2009 3:48 am GMT
Well you called it a "modern Americanism". You mean "-ize" is making a comeback from American influence?
Jago   Fri Jan 23, 2009 5:28 am GMT
It's is modern because it went away in British English and now it's being re-introduce. Anyway, this is off topic.
Damian in Edinburgh   Fri Jan 23, 2009 9:07 am GMT
Back to that encounter between the old gentleman and the gobsmacked shop assistant in Sutton (and I remember it was Sutton now and not Epsom - the two South London surburban locations are very close to each other - in fact you can only tell by roadsigns which one you are in at any given time because the whole of the area is just one huge metropolitan suburban sprawl).

Actually Epsom is not in Greater London proper - it's in the administrative county of Surrey, whereas Sutton, less than three miles away, is actually in the Greater London Metropolitan area.

I was staying with my mate from uni days at his home in Epsom but we were out together mooching around in "downtown" Sutton - Brits don't generally use the term "downtown" meaning the area where all the shops and businesses are located as opposed to the residential areas - we tend to use "town centre" - or just "town", as in "I'm going to town now", but that in itself can have a different meaning - as going wildly enthusiastic about something and perhaps over doing it all, but there you go.

The use of "cheers" in the sense of "thanks" is very widespread among the younger elements of the British (including Scottish) population as a whole, and this was clearly demonstrated by the hapless lad in the shop. He was very polite towards the old man but nevertheless it was unappreciated all because it was seen as "disrespectful" by someone who has a mindset still stuck in the England of several decades ago.

"Cheers mate!" was used by the very best of intentions by this young lad who, like many younger people in the UK now, do not see the need to differentiate between the generations - they treat them all alike. The assistant saw it as being friendly and egalitarian - addressing the old man just as he would a spotty faced youth still in high school in the store to upgrade his mobie or something. . That is why he was totally bemused by the old man's negative reaction, a representative of the older generation in Britain who fervently dislike what they see as a total lack of youthful respect for "age and maturity".

The old geezer certainly over-reacted - he needs to get out more, and for better or for worse, he should realiSe that times change.


It's Burns Night in Scotland this weekend - more about that later in an appropriate thread. We are celebrating Scotland's National Poet, a rake if ever there was one, but a fantastic exponent of the Scots lied. You've never lived until you've tasted haggis and neeps.