I worry sometimes that table manners are a litmus test used by snooty people to find a reason to dislike others. I think eating politely is important, but I'm not a Victorian spinster who uses it as a proxy for all sorts of other wildly unrelated "failings" (much like the cops here use speeding as a proxy for other much more serious traffic offences which they generally ignore).

Canada = people line up to shake hands
U.S. = people go nuts at a polo match and near-riot

The fifty worst Americanisms?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14201796

The worst one in my opinion is the pronunciation of simultaneous as symultaneous.

I am used to 'transportation' now.

Last edited by Kingstonian (2011-07-20 10:49:22)

Yes, that's right, lets all hold hands and have a party and forget about the damage the banksters have inflicted on our economies.

Ever resourceful, I could always sell me kid sister's virginity in the new and opportunistic black market that will rise from the ashes. Its the market after all, and as we all know, the market is benevolent and always right.

Life will continue, but not as we know it.

Last edited by Maximilien de Robespierre (2011-07-20 13:55:10)

They left out "hopefully" (instead of "I hope"), and "Sen. Snodgrass said the tax cuts would help grow jobs." Really? Grow a job? Whaddya do, water it?

One American journalistic trait that should come in for savage criticism when compared to its English counterpart is the mealy-mouth reluctance to call a spade a spade.  You really notice this in sports commentary, both during and after a game or match.  When listening to, say, English television or radio announcers of a futbol match, an American is startled by the plain-speaking they employ.  When a team or player is performing poorly, they'll simply say that they're rubbish.  On the other hand, when watching an NFL game the announcers will go out of their way to apologize for a team's or a player's poor performance.*  If a quarterback is missing wide-open receivers and throwing picks, they'll say he's having "an off day," rather than simply saying he's stinking the place up and should be immediately benched, if not released.  There is a sinister element to this strange reticence.  On the other hand, in light of recent events, English journalistic practices appear to be no better, if a bit blunter.

*This was often not as common with local or regional announcers.  The L.A. Lakers' legendary announcer, Chick Hearn, would routinely rip a team or player that was playing poorly.  Perhaps significantly, Hearn, who is universally regarded as the best basketball announcer of all-time, never got a national gig, unlike the saccharine Dick Engberg or Marv Albert, who were uncritical local announcers who became national stars.   (Although Marv deserves credit for being a pervert.)

Last edited by Maximilien de Robespierre (2011-07-20 15:25:50)