3 hours ago, charliearon said:

And I have no idea what zed means!

Sounds like a name of a farmhand on “Green Acres”.

Edited August 6Aug 6 by Mike A

4 hours ago, Mace said:

Take "Restroom" for example.

In Canada, we use "washroom" or "bathroom," never "restroom." When I used to go to the US, whenever I'd ask in a restaurant where the washroom was, I'd get blank stares, especially farther south than Washington state.

AI tells me about loo.

In france before dumping the chamber pot out the window, the woman would cry out L'eau ! (Water! in English).

My Book of Esther chess set shows Haman's wife doing just that from the upper story. Unfortunately Haman is standing under the window : (

17 hours ago, dave2013 said:

I've watched Brits routinely mangle English pretty badly as well. Many say "I were" instead of "I was", or "I was sat" instead of "I was sitting". Just a few examples.

Dave

These are regional variations, which exist in the UK in the same way that they do in every other country on the planet.
The "correct", or standard version of the language is now called "King's English", formerly "Queen's English"
It has an equivalent, I suspect, in many countries.
In Germany, where I lived for a while the "correct" language version was called "Hochdeutsch".

My own pet hate is the American way of extending perfectly good words to no useful purpose.
"Transportation" has travelled across the Atlantic Ocean and there is no context at all, where the word
"Transport" will not do the job.

"I could care less", when it means "I couldn't care less" is one I share a dislike of.

Another is the execrable junk food that seems to be helping to make the UK population much larger than they need to be.

3 hours ago, Reader said:

These are regional variations, which exist in the UK in the same way that they do in every other country on the planet.
The "correct", or standard version of the language is now called "King's English", formerly "Queen's English"
It has an equivalent, I suspect, in many countries.

Sure, I understand that there are regional dialects and slang. However, I've seen a lot of Brits use the word "sat", as in "I was sat", instead of "sitting", which is incorrect English. Same goes for "I were' instead of "I was". One time I even saw a british guy use the word "learned", as in "I learned him how to do that", instead of the correct word "taught". That happens here sometimes as well with poorly educated people.

In the U.S. South we can really do a number on English. For example, we sometimes say "I'm on" which means "I'm going to", "I'm fixin to", which means "I'm about to", "git!" to mean "shoo! or "get away!", and "idn't" instead of "isn't". We use "ain't" instead of "aren't" or "isn't" a lot, too. However, I know that's slang and not correct English.

The junk food and fast food is definitely an undesirable American export that if consumed in excess will make you fat and unhealthy.

Dave

5 hours ago, Reader said:

My own pet hate is the American way of extending perfectly good words to no useful purpose.

One of my wife’s cousins is a veritable fountain of these type of words. Words like “conversating” and “confrontatious”. For those of us old enough to remember he sounds like the character Kingfish from the TV show “Amos ‘n Andy”.

Sometimes Americans speak too informally. As when entering a fast food restaurant and saying to the mascot greeter, "Hi, Ronald" instead of "Hello, Mister McDonald".

Oh yes, by the way, it's maths... not math!!!!! and what's with "so fun?" which I'm hearing more and more of..... It's "so much fun" Wrong on so many levels!

Edited August 6Aug 6 by Rocky_53

13 hours ago, JRMurray said:

In Canada, we use "washroom" or "bathroom," never "restroom." When I used to go to the US, whenever I'd ask in a restaurant where the washroom was, I'd get blank stares, especially farther south than Washington state.

In the Amish country of Pennsylvania it is called the 'Necessary Room'. I first saw it on a sign in a restaurant in Intercourse PA. Yes, the town was named 'Intercourse'. It's not far from 'Kitchen Kettle Village'.

Noel

13 hours ago, JRMurray said:

In Canada, we use "washroom" or "bathroom," never "restroom." When I used to go to the US, whenever I'd ask in a restaurant where the washroom was, I'd get blank stares, especially farther south than Washington state.

Does anyone go there for a rest? 🤣

Toilet is the standard description for the room where you discharge human waste. Of course being an old language there are lots of slang words…

Bog, khazi, John being three of the most common.

Am I the only one irritated by aluminum, “can I get?” and “hey” instead of hello or hi?

27 minutes ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

Am I the only one irritated by aluminum, “can I get?” and “hey” instead of hello or hi?

Well, the standard word for the metal is "aluminum" in Canada and the US as well, as you can see in this Government of Canada website concerning Aluminum Facts (https://natural-resources.canada.ca/minerals-mining/mining-data-statistics-analysis/minerals-metals-facts/aluminum-facts). "Aluminium" sounds very British English to me, as does "maths" ("math"), "lift" ("elevator"), "flat" ("apartment"), "boot" ("trunk") ... and numerous others. At least we Canadians still use "-our" spellings, as in "honour" and "neighbour."

What irritates me is when I'm with my wife or in a group at a restaurant and then being addressed as "you guys," as in "how are you guys this evening?" I find that this occurs here in Canada as well as in the US.

Edited August 6Aug 6 by JRMurray

42 minutes ago, JRMurray said:

What irritates me is when I'm with my wife or in a group at a restaurant and then being addressed as "you guys," as in "how are you guys this evening?" I find that this occurs here in Canada as well as in the US.

Oh, yes. Being called "you guys", especially when there are females in the group, has always perplexed me, let alone being addressed that way by a young person - a bit too informal.

Dave

1 hour ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

Does anyone go there for a rest? 🤣

Toilet is the standard description for the room where you discharge human waste. Of course being an old language there are lots of slang words…

Bog, khazi, John being three of the most common.

Am I the only one irritated by aluminum, “can I get?” and “hey” instead of hello or hi?

Oi, Mate! Bathroom makes sense. My main one has a bathtub. The 2nd one only has a stall shower.

27 minutes ago, charliearon said:

Oi, Mate! Bathroom makes sense. My main one has a bathtub. The 2nd one only has a stall shower.

But the problem is Charlie they refer to areas only containing urinals and sit down toilets as “bathrooms”. Illogical as Spock would say.

Over here, there are no public bathrooms without baths or restrooms without beds.
However, we do have lots of these, some freeware and some payware. 🙂

Another minor irritation is the imported reluctance to use the word "died" to describe the end of a life.
For example, passed, passed away, passed on, at rest, at peace, gone, went to a better place.
They all replace the simple term, died.
Died is short, to the point and impossible to misunderstand.

Edited August 6Aug 6 by Reader