Comments on: sunday in “the spiritual home of britain’s left-wing intelligentsia”

By: ZSTC

ZSTC — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 08:45:36 +0000

re American linguistic imports, the one I’ve noticed in the last few years is ‘Can I get a _______’ as in ‘Can I get a double macchiato’ or ‘Can I get a panini and a …’

I suspect this has been hastened by the return here since the late 90s of the coffee shop, in a version imported from Seattle (though itself an import from Italy of course).

If ‘gotten’ enters common usage (as in ‘I’d gotten really drunk the night before’) I think I would despair, and I say that as an ex-inhabitant of the US who often defends it to insecure kneejerk anti-American Brits

By: Ads

Ads — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 23:19:30 +0000

RobDP,

I am so sorry, on behalf of my countrymen and my country’s media penetration, about the like thing. It truly is our bad.

I taught a lingustics class (waaaaay out of my field) last term on American English, which I thought basically bombed (not a linguist, I) and they’re bringing it back by popular demand. Basically all I do is the police(-action state) in different voices. But apparently, this pleases the punters….

By: RobDP

RobDP — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 23:14:48 +0000

Oh one last thing, and sorry for posting another comment (I’ll sleep now, promise). I feel some of the biggest recent American imports to UK English have been grammatical. Every week I hear my compatriots using adjectives as adverbs à l’américaine more and more. I probably do it too. E.g. “he eats quick,” “it’s going great” and about a million better examples which suddenly escape me.

And of course “so he was like… and I was like…”

By: RobDP

RobDP — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 23:05:39 +0000

I'm now terrified that The Apprentice of all things might be dictating our vocabulary. Although (unrelated), hearing Britain's Got Talent habitually referred to as BGT is my current bugbear, since it makes it sound like a pesticide. Not that watching it is actually much better than drinking pesticide, but still... Also I vaguely remember something quite good about US vs UK vs "European" notions of "dating" in n+1 once upon a time (think it was 2005-6?).

By: RobDP

RobDP — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 23:02:04 +0000

Re Gabe: Everybody is fired, no-one “gets the sack” anymore. I think this is largely results from the fact that when the BBC bought The Apprentice they had to keep the catchphrase. So Alan Sugar has been bellowing "You're fired!" for the past few years, even though he is entirely and exactly the kind of person you would expect to say "You're sacked!" (or even "you're out on your ear mate")

By: Ads

Ads — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 22:41:11 +0000

Yes,

1) Let’s do a meetup for mexican
2) Let’s not all go silent when I propose this in a week or two and leave me looking like a desperate lonely ex-pat dork

By: co

co — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 22:15:20 +0000

Yes, an ex-pat burrito feast is an excellent idea! also with you on the hot sauce. I brought back four bottles of tapatio from the states. I intended to give half of them to a friend. In the end, I used them. My inklings of shame and moral debasement nicely dispelled by the taste. oh, and i totally stole a bottle of the chilua off the table the first time i ate at tortilla.

schizo stroller, i can suddenly afford to eat out in brighton, where do you recommend?

By: Ads

Ads — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:35:31 +0000

Gabe,

I think that’s about right.

Tokyo,

We do make our own. Not guac, as it’s not the most important thing to us, but all of the other stuff, yes. It’s pretty much the only thing we make with a bit of joy…

By: Tokyo

Tokyo — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:09:08 +0000

Since the majority of my diet consists of various burritos and guacamole, I feel for you. The wife & I tried guac in Paris once, having been traveling the EU for the better part of 5 weeks and craving some semblance of home, and the idea of anything Mex west of the Atlantic seems absolutely ridiculous now, specifically because of that moment.

You can always make yr own…

By: Gabe

Gabe — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:19:28 +0000

What made them ungauche must be a combination of rents (they can outbid sole-trader restos in a rising market), and the progressive habituation of 20somethings as each generation moves further out. So, they’re probably still a bit gauche for the 1997 crowd. Of course, anyone with kids has an exemption.

Similarly, I’m amazed how many Americanisms are common in UK English compared to only 10 years ago. Everybody is fired, no-one “gets the sack” anymore. Also “dating” didn’t exist in the UK until about then. But it’s too gradual for the people who live there.