Americanisms: 50 of your most noted examples

Some are useful, while some seem truly unnecessary, argued Matthew Engel in the article. Here are 50 of the most e-mailed.

1. When people ask for something, I often hear: ” Can I get a. ” It infuriates me. It’s not New York. It’s not the 90s. You’re not in Central Perk with the rest of the Friends. Really.” Steve, Rossendale, Lancashire

2. The next time someone tells you something is the ” least worst option”, tell them that their most best option is learning grammar. Mike Ayres, Bodmin, Cornwall

3. The phrase I’ve watched seep into the language (especially with broadcasters) is ” two-time” and ” three-time”. Have the words double, triple etc, been totally lost? Grammatically it makes no sense, and is even worse when spoken. My pulse rises every time I hear or see it. Which is not healthy as it’s almost every day now. Argh! D Rochelle, Bath

4. Using 24/7 rather than “24 hours, 7 days a week” or even just plain “all day, every day”. Simon Ball, Worcester

5. The one I can’t stand is ” deplane”, meaning to disembark an aircraft, used in the phrase “you will be able to deplane momentarily”. TykeIntheHague, Den Haag, Holland

6. To ” wait on” instead of “wait for” when you’re not a waiter – once read a friend’s comment about being in a station waiting on a train. For him, the train had yet to arrive – I would have thought rather that it had got stuck at the station with the friend on board. T Balinski, Raglan, New Zealand

12. The word I hate to hear is ” leverage”. Pronounced lev-er-ig rather than lee-ver -ig. It seems to pop up in all aspects of work. And its meaning seems to have changed to “value added”. Gareth Wilkins, Leicester

13. Does nobody celebrate a birthday anymore, must we all ” turn” 12 or 21 or 40? Even the Duke of Edinburgh was universally described as “turning” 90 last month. When did this begin? I quite like the phrase in itself, but it seems to have obliterated all other ways of speaking about birthdays. Michael McAndrew, Swindon

14. I caught myself saying ” shopping cart” instead of shopping trolley today and was thoroughly disgusted with myself. I’ve never lived nor been to the US either. Graham Nicholson, Glasgow

19. I enjoy Americanisms. I suspect even some Americans use them in a tongue-in-cheek manner? “That statement was the height of ridiculosity”. Bob, Edinburgh

21. A ” heads up”. For example, as in a business meeting. Lets do a “heads up” on this issue. I have never been sure of the meaning. R Haworth, Marlborough

Gayle, Nottingham

22. Train station. My teeth are on edge every time I hear it. Who started it? Have they been punished? Chris Capewell, Queens Park, London

24. People that say ” my bad” after a mistake. I don’t know how anything could be as annoying or lazy as that. Simon Williamson, Lymington, Hampshire

26. As an expat living in New Orleans, it is a very long list but ” burglarize” is currently the word that I most dislike. Simon, New Orleans

29. I’m a Brit living in New York. The one that always gets me is the American need to use the word bi-weekly when fortnightly would suffice just fine. Ami Grewal, New York

Joshire

30. I hate ” alternate” for “alternative”. I don’t like this as they are two distinct words, both have distinct meanings and it’s useful to have both. Using alternate for alternative deprives us of a word. Catherine, London

31. ” Hike” a price. Does that mean people who do that are hikers? No, hikers are ramblers! M Holloway, Accrington

33. I hate the word ” deliverable”. Used by management consultants for something that they will “deliver” instead of a report.

34. The most annoying Americanism is ” a million and a half” when it is clearly one and a half million! A million and a half is 1,000,000.5 where one and a half million is 1,500,000. Gordon Brown, Coventry

35. ” Reach out to” when the correct word is “ask”. For example: “I will reach out to Kevin and let you know if that timing is convenient”. Reach out? Is Kevin stuck in quicksand? Is he teetering on the edge of a cliff? Can’t we just ask him? Nerina, London

37. I hate the fact I now have to order a ” regular Americano”. What ever happened to a medium sized coffee? Marcus Edwards, Hurst Green

39. My favourite one was where Americans claimed their family were ” Scotch-Irish”. This of course it totally inaccurate, as even if it were possible, it would be “Scots” not “Scotch”, which as I pointed out is a drink. James, Somerset

40.I am increasingly hearing the phrase ” that’ll learn you” – when the English (and more correct) version was always “that’ll teach you”. What a ridiculous phrase! Tabitha, London

41. I really hate the phrase: ” Where’s it at?” This is not more efficient or informative than “where is it?” It just sounds grotesque and is immensely irritating. Adam, London

43. My pet hate is ” winningest”, used in the context “Michael Schumacher is the winningest driver of all time”. I can feel the rage rising even using it here.

46. I hear more and more people pronouncing the letter Z as ” zee”. Not happy about it! Ross, London

47. To ” medal” instead of to win a medal. Sets my teeth on edge with a vengeance. Helen, Martock, Somerset

48. ” I got it for free” is a pet hate. You got it “free” not “for free”. You don’t get something cheap and say you got it “for cheap” do you? Mark Jones, Plymouth

50. ” I could care less” instead of “I couldn’t care less” has to be the worst. Opposite meaning of what they’re trying to say. Jonathan, Birmingham