Americanist

[cosmolinguist]

Recently I noticed it everywhere: friends of mine grumbling that people were spelling words "wrong," writing "[sic]" after words that ended -ize rather than -ise... nothing was directed at me but I was feeling attacked.

So probably not the best time for me to be tricked into reading this by a friend of mine who sent me the link without explanation.

Immediately, though, my heart sank. Why do some Americanisms irritate people?

But by the time I got to him calling hospitalize "really a vile word" I knew we were just dealing, as we so often are, with just one guy's random dislikes. It's so often the way with these supposedly objective commentaries on language: none of us are free from these irrational likes and dislikes. And most of us couch them in terms that expect everyone to agree with. He magnanimously is willing to "accept" some changes to the language and even praises a phrase he attributes to America for being "vivid."

The writer's list of words that he considers "ugly and pointless" doesn't bother me at all... except for the last bullet point, which contains words I've never heard of before so it's not surprising that I'd think them a little odd. And, predictably, a lot of the words he's calling American Language Log has already debunked with easily-obtainable facts.

LL also provides a posibile explanation for the question the article starts with and doesn't even attempt to answer.

Social annoyance and public griping reinforce one another.

By social annoyance I mean a distaste for the way someone looks or acts that sees its object as an instance of a type. Someone's appearance or behavior gets under your skin, and it's not just that particular person, it's the whole class of people who look like that or act like that. And usually it's not just a random set of people, it's kids today, or jocks, or German tourists, or 30-something suburban women in Hummers, or those people who hang out with so-and-so. You associate the irritant with some salient combination of social features: race, ethnicity, age, sex, class, location, occupation, clique.

By public griping I mean the process of sharing your annoyance with a sympathetic group. You might trade anecdotes around the coffee machine or the dinner table, or write a letter to the editor. People enjoy listening in groups to skillful expressions of social annoyance, and so stand-up comedians do a lot of this. Cartoons and newspaper columns often express similar feelings, and allow you to join in by putting a clipping or printout up on your refrigerator or your office door. These days, you might send a copy to your friends by email, or chime in on your weblog.

In some places and times, linguists might have been presiding over the speech and language sessions of this ritual reinforcement of group identity. But these days, our reaction is generally to observe that most of the gripes are arbitrary and many of the explanations are false.

This is eactly what I feel: i'm part of a group that can't spell "properly" becasue I'm part of one whose cultural "invasion" -- evidence of which ranges from McDonald's to Game of Thrones to invovlvement in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan I am as depressed by as anyone, and far more than some -- should be resisted; this is the apparent consensus even of the people with Sky Atlantic subscriptions who get recognized at their usual Starbucks.

Which is fine. I would never say that American influence on the UK (or the world in general, but it's the UK I'm talking aobut here) is anything but pernicious and complicated.

But it's funny to think how connected I am to the way that I spell things. I'm a good writer and a good proofreader. Andrew says he fell in love with me for my words. I was in spelling bees at school every year since I was ten, until I refused to enter the next one because I was so bored with them. In practicing for those spelling bees I worried my mom with my ability to spell words that she hadn't even heard of before (I hadn't heard of all of them either, but I was pretty good at intuiting spellings).

I never would've thought I cared so much about this until I started feeling these thousand tiny cuts of "[sic]"s and griping, but now that I think about it, it shouldn't surprise me. Words are inexorably wrapped up with who I think I am. And while of course I don't want to make everyone like me, nor do I think I need to become like anyone else.

I just wish that the people telling me that American spellings are wrong rather than different or not suitable for a particular context would have to think about this as deeply as I have to in order to avoid being hurt by what they say.

Comments

[matgb]

See, I vary my spelling between ise and ize depending on what mood I'm in, either can be considered correct in British English anyway: Oxford spelling

In the last few decades, the suffix -ise has become the more common spelling in the UK. Many incorrectly regard -ize as American English, though it has been in use in English since the 16th century

and while I didn't go to Oxford, I did love watching Morse as a kid and he solved a case because of it once.

But Aluminum? Confused the hell out of me when they were talking about clear aluminum in ST:JH, I assumed it was some magical space substance, not just something being pronounced wrong.

But spelling "correctness"? Shaxsper couldn't even spell his own name. I'ts pointless pedantry.

[cosmolinguist]

I would've thought you weren't wrong about it being a magical space substance, but apparently clear aluminum is a thing.

Pedantry would be bad enough, but it ends up being an excuse to attack a whole culture, which seems a bit much really.

[matgb]

Oh, cool, that's nice.

But yeah, I'll take the piss out of Mr Websters misguided attempts to rewrite the language so it makes sense on occasion, but I don't care what spelling is used--clarity is important, if it's unclear, there's a problem, if it's clear who cares?

[sfred]

Hear, hear.
It's important in some contexts to use a particular set of spellings: if I was taking an academic course in the USA I'd make sure I used American spellings of the things that vary.
It annoys me a bit that default settings in spellcheckers tell me that "organise" is wrong. But "organize" isn't wrong either.

[cosmolinguist]

It annoys me a bit that default settings in spellcheckers tell me that "organise" is wrong. But "organize" isn't wrong either.

Indeed. I've had to switch the spell-checker on my phone to UK English, because it makes it easier to auto-complete words I'm likely to use that don't turn up in American English (I've noticed to my amusement, that I need the word duvet a lot :) ) as well as British place names. But then that means that my American spellings are all underlined -- or that I default to British spellings when I let it autocomplete, which is sometimes fine with me but sometimes bothers me because they don't feel like my words even though they're attributed to me.

So I wish there was a "UK & US English" spell-checker that wouldn't flag up "organise" or "organize" as being wrong :)

[sfred]

I wish there was a "UK & US English" spell-checker that wouldn't flag up "organise" or "organize" as being wrong

Yes!

Late, and came across this post randomly, but.

[milkymoon]

This is a really interesting and thoughtful post. (I feel the opposite about language, feeling more connected to British/Commonwealth spellings, but the sentiment is definitely similar.)

(Though I do wish some American software developers would recognise the 'spelling can be culture' issue for those of us who don't use your spelling system.)

Re: Late, and came across this post randomly, but.

[cosmolinguist]

Oh yes, certainly it's possible to have these same feelings but with "American" and "British/Commonwealth" on opposite sides from where they are for me. I think there are nuances of difference there -- political and cultural opinions the relevant countries have of each other always bleed through -- but fundamentally I'm sure many people share a similar sort of reaction to mine here.

I've heard that spell-check complaint more often than I ever thought I would -- being American, I benefit from the privilege-of-being-the-default-option and so didn't spare this a thought until I moved here. I think a lot about what assumptions we make without even realize that's what we're doing. Things that seem sensible at a visceral level turn out to be entirely arbitrary, in ways that are sometimes fun to realize, but sometimes absolutely dizzying.

[innerbrat]

A British person whining about an American invasion is pretty darned ironic.

[cosmolinguist]

Yeah, the rhetoric he's using for it is really weird. "American usages no longer swim to our shores as single spies, as "reliable" and "talented" did. They come in battalions." And it's hardly specific to this one guy...

(Ha! Also, on the subject of guy, I really wish it was as perfectly gender-neutral a term as he's grumbling it is; how badly does English need such a thing?!)

[complexicon.livejournal.com]

Guy is a nice word, I have to admit that the generalisation Guys applied to any group of people regardless of gender in that faux Sloane accent does slightly irk me, but then that seems to be something the English have done to the word Guy and it doesn't make me want to annexe the Sudetenland.

Guy makes me think of 50s detectives with their mac collars up and smoking, or that first time you see the grown up Henry leaning against the back of that car at Idlewild Airport in Goodfellas. It does seem to me to be an intrinsically American word and one I don't use, but then I refer to all the kids in the library as dudes because it suits the situation imho.

[cosmolinguist]

You are on top form today sir (though I actually preferred this one with the formatting error; I will be giggling at "and it doesn't make me want to annexe the Sudetenland" for a while yet.

I love it when you talk about what words make you think of; it is the best kind of synesthesia.

[bopeepsheep.livejournal.com]

-ize is perfectly good British spelling, in the main, and is the suffix preferred by the OED, no less. There are valid etymological reasons for preferring it over -ise in some cases (and slightly snobby historical ones for other cases), and there are lots of us out here who prefer it as a result (or use it by default because we have to for work, which is not quite the same thing but becomes it in the end).

[There are some words where I dislike the "not British" version - analyze is just wrong on so many levels - but that's not about them being "American", it's about there not being any kind of decent justification for the spelling variant. Aluminum and color are not examples of this.]

[cosmolinguist]

that's not about them being "American"...

Indeed. And I am enough of a dork about linguistics that I'm extremely happy to talk about the different variations and why one might be preferable to another. But dragging in politics and culture tends to muddy the waters very quickly and takes the fun out of it. I'm surprised he didn't say Americans are all fat and obnoxious, such is the tone of that article.

[land-girl.livejournal.com]

-ize is perfectly good British spelling, in the main, and is the suffix preferred by the OED, no less

This is what I was going to say, only she said it better :-)

[sparkle-puppy.livejournal.com]

I just want to say I'm sorry if I made you feel bad about American spellings when you were note-taking for me. It honestly didn't occur to me that it was something which might be upsetting to be ridiculed about the way people do, so I'm really sorry if I made you feel shit about it then (or ever, for that matter).

That article is a complete joke. It feels like a "letter to the editor" from the Daily Mail or something, and made me really angry that the BBC is greenlighting journalism like that. Also, it really sucks that someone you trust as a friend thought it would be a good idea to encourage you to read that. I hope they step on legos.

[cosmolinguist]

I have no problem using British spellings. I'm pretty good about spotting not just the obvious ones but the more subtle differences (and things like the differences in vocabulary: "got" instead of "gotten" or whatever). I have written for British people and entities on many occasions and do not begrudge that at all. You told me, reasonably enough, how you wanted things to be spelled and that's entirely right and proper!

My problem is not that different spellings exist, nor that I have to use them; I am happy to do so for things like, say, BCN or the Guardian's science-writing contest I entered. I just don't like it when I'm told things are objectively wrong that I was always taught are correct. Yes they may not be correct everywhere all the time, but I feel a lot better when there's the acknowledgement that these things are open to some debate. Especially when (as bopeepsheep and Language Log and others point out), they're not "the Americans'" fault nearly so often as they're blamed on us :)

I knew being in the linguistic minority was an occupational hazard of moving here. I try my best to handle the inevitable teasing and grumbling with good grace and good humor, standing up for my side when I think it necessary. But it gets tiring, as I've said before, having to be the one who's flexible and accommodating all the time.

As for my friend, I don't begrudge him showing me this; I am convinced it wasn't done maliciously. I'll let you know if I hear about him stepping on any legos though :)

[uglybuffy.livejournal.com]

I've got to confess I'm all about the Americanisms. I've noticed more coming from people from my homeland who don't want to sound English. Spuddy mocked me for asking him how my "bay-sil" plant was doing. I always say that I'm going to the bathroom rather than going to the toilet just because... it sounds less crude. And I hate and refuse to ever use the word "jumper".

[cosmolinguist]

I use and even prefer some British vocab to US, but a lot of that is an attempt to assimilate and not get funny looks. I really hate and refuse some English words ("tomahto", cutlery, autumn) but prefer other ones (wellies, rubbish, snog).

I think everybody ends up with their own vernacular. "British English" really isn't anyway; just look at the arguments about how to pronounce "scone" or whether to call the same thing a "barm", a "bap," a "roll," a "muffin," a "bun"... Moving to a new area or being around new people can change the words we use, as can deliberately wanting to. All the more reason it's stupid to blame a word on a whole country.

[softfruit.livejournal.com]

Erm, what word do you use instead of 'jumper'?

[sfred]

"Sweater"?
AIUI, in American English a jumper is a long, plain dress, of a kind for which we have no specific word in British English.

[softfruit.livejournal.com]

I was vaguely guessing that or pullover. I find sweater a much less inviting word than jumper, probably because of the "sweat" 8)

It's quite a blank spot in my brain, the next option my mind goes to instead of jumper is siwmper which is the equivalent word in Welsh, and then it dries up for a bit in the search for a synonym.

[cosmolinguist]

I love those kind of "word maps" in our brains! It is fascinating to me how helpful it is to think of which words are "near" each other like that.

I really wish I knew enough to have a good guess at how one says "siwmper." :)

[softfruit.livejournal.com]

Shum-puh

[softfruit.livejournal.com]

Consider "jumper" and then trying to say it without having the letter J in your language ;)

[softfruit.livejournal.com]

Actually as I try to think how to write the sound in English noises - the the "siw" think of "shrew" without the "r"

[cosmolinguist]

Sweater or sweatshirt are both words I'd use in America for things I'd call jumpers in the UK. They are different things but then they do both have the unfortunate-for-softfruit word "sweat" in them :)

Bringlish sort of has a word for Ameringlish jumper, though: I think pinafore is pretty close if not exactly the same. (Ameringlish doesn't use the word pinafore" for much that isn't archaic, as far as I can tell.)

[sfred]

Ah!
I think I think of pinafores as knee-length and had interpreted "jumper" as ankle-length (having read it in the context of plain-dress Mennonites) but I suspect neither of those is necessarily true.

[bloodbeauty.livejournal.com]

what really bugs me is when people aren't consistent, they use colour/and color interchangeably for example otherwise i'm all for language being spelt as you see fit, i'm used to UK spellings so that's what i use, but especially online spelling and syntax almost always take a back seat to phonetic effect (getting someone to "hear" the way i'm saying it, and delivery etc) which is something i'm noticing more and more people doing.

*hugs*

(because i can't go a day w/out thinking about CANADIA)

[tdaschel.livejournal.com]

cultural politics are always a big plate o' *funn* !

while a young person growing up in North America i got called out by a gal up in - oo.wee - British Columbia for sounding Irreparably American.

.. now i've had dealings with people from points east: Toronto (and adjoining suburbs), Antigonish NS, and Newfoundland generally. my tawk/spellings were never an issue. the BC complaint, tho', makes sense in that, as one moves West across the U.S. *or* Canada, accents tend to merge / which is to say you'll find far more linguistic variety in the east. and, um, merging of accents suggests merger of *shudder* Identities. in short, BC cultural paranoia over something that in, say, the Maritime Provinces would never be an issue. fact is, BC has a lot more in common with .. Davis, CA than Ottawa.

in any case, we should all respect where the other is coming from (unless they wish to exert Force or Fraud).

Re: (because i can't go a day w/out thinking about CANADIA)

[cosmolinguist]

I suppose the greater population density eastwards in these countries will contribute to linguistic variety. "Merger of identities" is interesting... I hope my friend from Vancouver will be along soon to tell me what he thinks of this :)

Re: (because i can't go a day w/out thinking about CANADIA)

[tdaschel.livejournal.com]

I hope my friend from Vancouver will be along soon to tell me what he thinks of this

.. well, there's instances of Everything Everywhere. and first impressions tend to *blind* (took me damn near forever to learn that not everybody in Monroeville, PA isn't horribly racist).

Re: (because i can't go a day w/out thinking about CANADIA)

[tdaschel.livejournal.com]

er "not/is" (will blame lack of sleep .. ha!)

Re: (because i can't go a day w/out thinking about CANADIA)

[cosmolinguist]

That's what I read it as anyway! Maybe because I only had three hours' sleep last night myself.

[starbrow.livejournal.com]

I think part of the reason I became so depressed shortly after moving here was the culture change, a big part of which was the constant policing of my words and spellings, which I'd never experienced before. I've learned to cope with it now, but I had to ask my husband to avoid constantly slagging off Americans, or referring to them as 'your people' (uttered in a tone of scorn), which to give him credit, he does his best at complying with.

I think I made it worse for myself by trying so hard to blend in and be as British as I could be right after stepping off the plane. After a while I just threw up my hands and gave a mental 'fuck it!' to the world. I'm American. I do British pretty well, and I love the UK, but that doesn't change where I was born. So yeah, sometimes I will come out with Americanisms, especially at stressful moments, and there's nothing wrong with that.

And there's nothing 'wrong' with Americanisms coming into the UK either, so long as the words themselves have value. Language - the one fundamental thing about it is that it changes. It changes all the time, and sometimes in random and unexpected ways. I'd love to be able to say I don't approve of the way 'kids these days' use English, but I'd be showing myself up for a hypocrite if I did.

Both ways of spelling 'realise/realize' are proper, of course they are! Maybe in a professional context in the UK, 'realise' is more appropriate, but likewise in the same situation in the US, 'realize' would be. Words don't have morality in and of themselves, and it's lazy thinking of that article writer to make that assumption.

[sfred]

...I had to ask my husband to avoid constantly slagging off Americans, or referring to them as ' your people ' (uttered in a tone of scorn)...

I am English, and had to make a similar request of my Scottish husband (with which he was less compliant: "But we *are* better than you!").

I love language changing.

[cosmolinguist]

I didn't try to fit in at first, but I found increasingly as I was working and spending more time with my in-laws and so on that I picked up not so much an accent as a bouncier way of talking, and certain words changed; both these were to make myself easier to understand and less likely to stand out (where I used to work particularly, it was really important to me not to be remarkable).

And so because of this I have lost my American accent (well, most people think so; there are a few holdouts who insist I sound American (though no Americans)) and have been known not to recognize my own voice on recordings, so unusual does it sound to me (I think I sound the same in my head!), without ever really meaning to, and as the link elaborates on, that messes with my identity too.

But you're absolutely right that words don't have morality in themselves; that's a fantastic way of looking at it. I'm kind of dismayed at what seems so obvious to my friends and me being apparently beyond the comprehension of this BBC writer!

But then I think the clue is in that ominous "A selection of your Americanisms will be published later" at the end of the article. Absolutely chilling to think what ranty small-minded smug pedants will rail against as the evil Americanisms... probably with about as much chance of accuracy for what's actually American (20%) as this guy started out with. I shudder to think, I really do.

But people love that stuff; just like they love shows about the 100 Best Music Videos by People With No Hair or whatever: it gives people a chance to get together and argue, to reinforce in-groups and outsider status. It all strikes me as incredibly bleak, but I know it's inevitable.

[complexicon.livejournal.com]

I have said many times before it is the very flexibility of our language that makes it so cool, that it can expand and is so bendy is why we have such a pulsing engine of slang here that is so diverse and interesting, and more importantly creative! It is always a kosh of supposed superiority with which to bash Americans, no doubt a hangover from the empire. So don't take it personally, the idiots who dislike American foreign policy yet have no other mechanism of protest other than making totally cool individuals feel bad because of slight nuances of language are, to use an anglo-saxon curmudgeon that no doubt they'd approve of, cunts. One of the reasons I love your journal so much is because of your beautiful use of language, the fact that there are tiny differences in the way we use words is of no consequence at all, it is OUR language and OUR job to pull and push it to its limits of flexibility, that is the heart of its richness, the foundation of our creativity.

[sfred]

One of the reasons I love your journal so much is because of your beautiful use of language, the fact that there are tiny differences in the way we use words is of no consequence at all, it is OUR language and OUR job to pull and push it to its limits of flexibility, that is the heart of its richness, the foundation of our creativity.

Yes, this.

[cosmolinguist]

I do try not to take it personally, and mostly I manage but it's so nice that when I don't I am reminded by your admirable eloquence that there is so much more to celebrate than to be cranky about.

[complexicon.livejournal.com]

Let's face it, most of the stuff that makes us cranky is the work of tnucs, which makes it not worth being cranky about because there is nothing we can do about tnucs except ignore them and try not to get cranky. Granted it only leaves us small corners of the world to hang out and be cool but then what is LJ apart from one of those corners? I don't really know what I'm saying here, I am just v thankful for your journal is all, it outweighs a lifetime of tnucs.

[cosmolinguist]

I am just v thankful for your journal is all, it outweighs a lifetime of tnucs.

This must be the nicest thing anyone's ever said about it.