British Tennis Forum

Brendan F · Intermediate Club Player

RE: The weird & wonderful world of English grammar...

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Brendan F wrote:
Considering who they vote for Americans don't do themselves any favours if it comes to a contest between who's right and who's wrong. I'm very much on SC's side here, I have an American girlfriend and she's happy to accommodate my whims that she avoid Americanisms in our conversations.

Lordy, you've got a bit of a controlling thing going on there, Brendan biggrin biggrin biggrin

More seriously, I understand there might be specific terms/phrases you don't like but to ask an American not to use ANY American phrases/words/whatever? I mean, that's how they've been brought up, it's their cultural background, it would mean they'd be overthinking what they're going to say each time before they opened their mouth

If they say 'undershirt' instead of 'vest' (my latest 3-second confusion with an American friend re clothes buying), does it really matter? Obviously, if they're in the UK, it can cause confusion (hence above) but there's nothing wrong with it per se (I think my grandma used to call it an undervest, anyway, and we've sort of dropped the under bit)

There are specific US terms that we've stolen - like 'playdate', 'no way', OK, 'boss', etc etc etc - do you veto those too? smile

Mind you, there are a few specific ones that I'd put a stop to too smile

Brendan F · Intermediate Club Player

Coup Droit wrote:
Brendan F wrote:
Considering who they vote for Americans don't do themselves any favours if it comes to a contest between who's right and who's wrong. I'm very much on SC's side here, I have an American girlfriend and she's happy to accommodate my whims that she avoid Americanisms in our conversations.
Lordy, you've got a bit of a controlling thing going on there, Brendan
More seriously, I understand there might be specific terms/phrases you don't like but to ask an American not to use ANY American phrases/words/whatever? I mean, that's how they've been brought up, it's their cultural background, it would mean they'd be overthinking what they're going to say each time before they opened their mouth
If they say 'undershirt' instead of 'vest' (my latest 3-second confusion with an American friend re clothes buying), does it really matter? Obviously, if they're in the UK, it can cause confusion (hence above) but there's nothing wrong with it per se (I think my grandma used to call it an undervest, anyway, and we've sort of dropped the under bit)
There are specific US terms that we've stolen - like 'playdate', 'no way', OK, 'boss', etc etc etc - do you veto those too?
Mind you, there are a few specific ones that I'd put a stop to too

As a teacher, she's happy to see it as an academic exercise. It works both ways because if I'm using proper English, ie the way English people speak, while she's speaking American then it's like we're having separate conversations so it makes sense to both of us to just stick to one. It's actually quite rare that any such words come up in the course of our conversations anyway. Mostly the dreaded f word instead of the lovely autumn.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

If your biggest relationship problem is her sometimes using fall instead of autumn, you've got a great relationship

christ · Futures level

The Americanisms that I have grown to dislike intensely are those that have grown up around the recent authoritarian politics, things like "woke".

Every time I see traditional print and broadcast media referred to as "main-stream media" or "MSM" it raises my hackles a little, because of the underlying implication that somehow they are to be distrusted. (qv "Lame Stream Media")

christ · Futures level

From the BBC's report on the Draper Fonseca match:

"Draper quickly diffused what could have been a tricky encounter, showing his superior quality and experience from the start."

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

christ wrote:
From the BBC's report on the Draper Fonseca match:

"Draper quickly diffused what could have been a tricky encounter, showing his superior quality and experience from the start."

Not even remotely surprised! furious A common mistake. disbelief

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

"Oh my days!"

I seem to have been hearing the above expression more & more recently as a synonym, I presume, for "oh my word!", "oh my God!" (the actual three words, not the infuriating three letters "O-M-G") or "oh my lord!", & it's driving me up the wall. Anyone happen to know its origins? It strikes me as rather old-fashioned.

Tanaqui · County player

Stircrazy wrote:
"Oh my days!"
I seem to have been hearing the above expression more & more recently as a synonym, I presume, for "oh my word!", "oh my God!" (the actual three words, not the infuriating three letters "O-M-G") or "oh my lord!", & it's driving me up the wall. Anyone happen to know its origins? It strikes me as rather old-fashioned.

https://www.oed.com/dictionary/day_n#1319772200

Slightly longer explanation in this blog post (scroll down a bit) https://www.oed.com/discover/the-oed-june-2021-update/?tl=true

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

Tanaqui wrote:
Stircrazy wrote:
"Oh my days!"
I seem to have been hearing the above expression more & more recently as a synonym, I presume, for "oh my word!", "oh my God!" (the actual three words, not the infuriating three letters "O-M-G") or "oh my lord!", & it's driving me up the wall. Anyone happen to know its origins? It strikes me as rather old-fashioned.
https://www.oed.com/dictionary/day_n#1319772200
Slightly longer explanation in this blog post (scroll down a bit) https://www.oed.com/discover/the-oed-june-2021-update/?tl=true

Thanks, Tanaqui. The OED explanation seems a bit banal & doesn't really account for what seems to me to be the sudden upsurge in the popularity of the expression, not in my circle of friends, who wouldn't use it, but certainly in the (British) TV programmes I've found myself watching in recent months.

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

I used google AI and asked it if there had been a recent increase in the use of the phrase. It responded:

Yes, there has been an increase in the use of the phrase "oh my days" recently, particularly in British youth culture. This increase is likely due to the phrase's popularity and usage in various forms of media and communication.
The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) has even noted a significant increase in the use of "oh my days" due to factors like working from home and increased use of videoconferencing. This suggests that the phrase is becoming more common in both online and everyday conversations.
While the phrase has been used for a longer period, its popularity among younger generations in the UK has seen a notable rise, making it a common expression of surprise, excitement, or even exasperation.

indiana · Tennis legend

It's really all about A1, judging on recent comments by the US Secretary of Education!

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

indiana wrote:
It's really all about A1, judging on recent comments by the US Secretary of Education!

Yea, Heinz loved that - every school should have A1 funding they agreed! (its apparently a steak sauce in the US made by Heinz!)