Americanisms that will never, ever cross over into the UK

onimo otm, sry

Druthers. Don't think I've ever heard a British person say druthers.

OTM. I remember the first time I heard someone say this!

"For sure".

Americans don't really say soco, do they? Do you? Guys?

There are plenty of brand name things I can think of. I remember having a great argument in a pub in Dublin because an American woman I knew was complaining about not being able to order a seven and seven, until it turned out to be some drink based on brand names that the barman was in fact perfectly capable of making.

Channel four has started saying "season finale" about its own, home-produced programmes now.

"For sure".

Souness/Penis

Unfortunately "on the weekend" is beginning to creep in over here

"do the math"

OH WE HAD HERB IN BOSTON TOO GUYS

<i>"do the math"</i>

"World's Champion"

Milquetoast. See this often enough in American journalism. Never see it in Britain. Actually I don't even know what it means exactly.

Yes, people say SoCo, get over it. You people say "pressies" and "soz," you have no business being amazed by our shortenings.

Most Americans don't say "druthers" in any kind of organic way -- older rural people might say it for real, but most everyone else is using it as a knowingly folksy handed-down expression.

Americans say "over the weekend."

Now that Herb has been illuminated, I recognize it. But from Nabisco's definiton I had no clue what he was talking about. I thought maybe he meant some slur against Jews.

I've never said SoCo in reference to a drink.

Welsh band Los Campesinos have a song called "Don't Tell Me to Do the Math(s)"

Soz? People type "soz" in Internetism shorthand but I've never heard anyone say it.

i have never seen anyone drink soco ever not since i was 15

Americans say "over the weekend."

Everyone says that, but Americans say "on the weekend" and we say "at the weekend"

Pronouncing 'route' as 'rout'.

And that weird thing you do with buoy (boo-ee).

I use douchebag all the time. But using 'season' instead of 'series' bugs me.

Has "anyways" crept into the UK? I think maybe.

Don't know about Americans, but Australians definitely say "on the weekend"

Just so we don't get into the great SoCo debate again on this thread:

The people of the Southern Comfort drinks company want us to call their drink 'SoCo' and i for one flatly refuse to do so.

"Druthers, there appears to be a tiger in the dining room!"
"Perhaps his Lordship will permit use of the twelve bores..." etc

"Druthers" is a Southernism, or at the very least a countryism. Ruralism? I find it slipping out occasionally but my mom uses it in complete seriousness so it's part affectation and part reverting to type.

i say "anyways" but i say lots of dumb shit

What does it mean? (xp)

Umm wait what? The only situation where I can imagine Americans making heavy use of "on the weekend" is to project into the distance and say "on the weekend of October 14th" -- i.e., it's consistent with just saying "on October 14th."

Yes, people say SoCo, get over it. You people say "pressies" and "soz,"

Excuse me, sir. I have never, etc.

It's not so much that I care, it's just that this particular ad is so LAME that I was really hoping it was trying to introduce some stupid marketing contraction that does not really exist. Oh well.

xp thanks Jaymc.

But using 'season' instead of 'series' bugs me.

In the US, the entire run of the show is the series, and a year's worth of that (generally from September to May) is a season. Do you use the term "mini-series"?

Druthers = weird bastardization of "I'd rather" to mean (as a noun) "the way I'd prefer things." The main expression is "if I had my druthers," meaning "if I had things the way I'd rather have them."

but Americans say "on the weekend" - I've never heard anyone say On the weekend!

Also, I'm from Long Island and we definitely said Herb.

on the weekend

I've never heard anyone say this.

Series refers to an entire body of episodes of a television show. Season is merely one cycle's worth. This is perfectly logical (if you were describing televisiont that is).

Druthers, used like "If I had my druthers." Which I've always understood as "If I had it my way."
xpost

i've adopted "season" quite easily.

Until just now, I totally thought that "herb" was made up by Internet rap bloggers.

And yeah, there's not much to argue with the SoCo -- it's an organic grass-roots shortening for the US, so far as I know, and they're just trying to ship it over to you Brits so you feel all chummy with the beverage.

I am not really picking on your UK shortenings, BTW. I think your "veg" is much more dignified than "veggies."

Hmmm, that Neil Young song "Out Over The Weekend"

I was going to mention that, but he is Canadian after all

Oh yeah I forgot! And yet, if you google "on the weekend" you get plenty of hits from the New York Times etc where it is patently the same meaning as the British "at the weekend"

I can't see people in these islands ever dropping the words "street" and "road" from the names of, er, streets and roads when they give directions.

why weren't Pavement called Sidewalk?

hahaha you guys think the weekend is a place
boy are you gonna be disappointed when you try to drive there

So,

British: "Are you going out at the weekend?"
US: "Are you going out over the weekend?"

Latter seems a bit clumsy

Sidewalks are made of pavement.

"Are you going out this weekend?"

j/k

g-kit, for the US "sidewalk" is the strip you walk on, "pavement" is the general term for the stuff covering a spot that's been paved

My English mother-in-law does an impression of me that sounde like a total valley girl and is peppered with "like." I swear I don't sound like that but sadly I probably do say like too much and to her that's very American sounding.

The TV thing surely comes from the fact British TV shows tend to have shorter runs than American ones. Most sitcoms only used to have a run of 6 or 7 whereas American ones run for about 24. 24 weeks is pretty much a season or two, in the mertological sense, but 6 weeks clearly isn't. I thought that was where it came from.

Also, MM is right. We would definitely say, ""Are you going out this weekend?"

"Are you going out this weekend?"

Well, yes, that works all over!

ave not avenue

"Mean" for cruel and/or unkind

I think Americans use "on the weekend" in a general sense and "over the weekend" in a specific sense.

For example:

"What do you usually do on the weekend?"
"What did you do over the weekend?"

"On the weekend" is similar to "at night" in this usage.

"boogerman"

Hold on, Americans here claim they've never heard anyone say "on the weekend"! (xp)

someone remind me what the French would say for 'at/over/on the weekend'

i can has ketchup?

Any UK ILXors using "gotten" as the past participle of "got" yet? That's historically been distinctly American English.

how high's the ketchup mama?

0.9144 meters high and rising

(xp) Not since the 16th century.

not a uk ilxor, but gotten is valid

dont ask me how or why the specific usage vs "got"

also football talk, id say gotten is in there

I've found myself saying 'gotten' a lot. I hear 'douchebag' a lot too

everyone in my office says 'skedule' and that affects me more than it should

I agree, 'skedge' is vastly preferable.

Did 'Git-R-Done' ever cross over into UK parlance? Never too late imo.