# "Americanisms", do they annoy other non-Americans? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 3, 2004, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americanisms-do-they-annoy-other-non-americans/238046 "2004-04-03T11:41:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![c\_carol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e79b87/32.png) [@c\_carol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/c_carol)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2004, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americanisms-do-they-annoy-other-non-americans/238046/21 "2004-04-03T19:52:08Z")
> [@](#): > > American south: Coke (all brands) I’m from the American South, and nobody I know says that. It’s usually “soda” around here. Maybe it’s a regional difference within the South? ---
**Author:** ![Wumpus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8c91f0/32.png) [@Wumpus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wumpus)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2004, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americanisms-do-they-annoy-other-non-americans/238046/22 "2004-04-03T20:03:08Z")
c\_carol: Take a look at the link I posted above for “soda” vs. “pop.” It maps out those usages, and has “coke” as a generic term as well. Based on the map, I’m guessing you live in Florida, Virginia, or North Carolina… ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2004, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americanisms-do-they-annoy-other-non-americans/238046/23 "2004-04-03T20:07:14Z")
Where in the South, **C\_Carol**? I’m from Tennessee and I’ve always heard it referred to as Coke. ---
**Author:** ![c\_carol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e79b87/32.png) [@c\_carol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/c_carol)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2004, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americanisms-do-they-annoy-other-non-americans/238046/24 "2004-04-03T20:36:51Z")
I’m from North Carolina. Thanks for the map link, Wumpus, that’s pretty cool. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2004, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americanisms-do-they-annoy-other-non-americans/238046/25 "2004-04-03T20:49:39Z")
> [@Wumpus](#): > > c\_carol: Take a look at the link I posted above for “soda” vs. “pop.” It maps out those usages, and has “coke” as a generic term as well. > > Based on the map, I’m guessing you live in Florida, Virginia, or North Carolina… I knew it! I always figured there was a relationship with how close you were to Atlanta to whether or not you call it coke. ---
**Author:** ![MinniePurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@MinniePurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MinniePurl)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2004, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americanisms-do-they-annoy-other-non-americans/238046/26 "2004-04-03T21:32:46Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > The soft drink thing is particularly interesting. > > American south: Coke (all brands). > American east coast: Soda. > American midwest: Pop. > Most of Canada: Pop. > English speakers in Quebec: Soft drink. > > This is probably glossing over a lot, and I know it’s incomplete (U.S. west coast?) but this is what I remember from my dialectology course. In my family, we tend to call it “soda pop”. (I grew up in Colorado, my parents are both from near Chicago.) My husband, who grew up in Virginia and Florida, calls it “Soda”. (However, that might be a deliberate choice on his part, as he purposely lost his southern accent after he moved out here.) ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2004, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americanisms-do-they-annoy-other-non-americans/238046/27 "2004-04-03T22:38:02Z")
> [@c\_carol](#): > > I’m from North Carolina. Thanks for the map link, Wumpus, that’s pretty cool. Sorry to ask again but where in North Carolina? The reason I ask is because I am from Cleveland, a small town about forty minutes from the NC border and I’ve never heard a lot of people refer to sodas as … uh, sodas even though I myself do. ---
**Author:** ![fortytwo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f9ae1b/32.png) [@fortytwo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fortytwo)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2004, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americanisms-do-they-annoy-other-non-americans/238046/28 "2004-04-03T23:11:41Z")
I think this is an “Americanism” because I’ve only ever seen it here on this board. Anyway, “Go Figure” is an expression which really annoys me. I don’t even know why it does, because if it means what I think it means, like" work that one out" it says the same thing but more succinctly. Usually I’m in favour of brevity, but in this case it makes my few hairs curl up. Go figure. Yuccch. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2004, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americanisms-do-they-annoy-other-non-americans/238046/29 "2004-04-03T23:15:57Z")
One thing that annoys me even more than Americanisms, is the mistaken identity as Am-isms…the particular case that riles me is writing the date as “March 22 2004”, which is typical of Victorian England. But you’ll get people complaining that it’s an Americanism. And it’s not. MM/DD/YYYY is an Americanism. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2004, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americanisms-do-they-annoy-other-non-americans/238046/30 "2004-04-03T23:17:08Z")
Texas is pretty well “Coke” country, as evidenced by the map. I usually say “soda” nowadays but I grew up calling every brand of soft drink a “Coke”. One common to grandparent age Texans: “sody water.” Still ocassionally used for comic effect. ---
**Author:** ![jastu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/43a26b/32.png) [@jastu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jastu)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2004, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americanisms-do-they-annoy-other-non-americans/238046/31 "2004-04-03T23:37:51Z")
Another new Kiwi (formerly Aussie) here. I love colloquialisms and I think they, along with each individual country’s culture should be encouraged and nurtured. Unfortunately American TV shows flood our screens as they probably do in most western countries so we are exposed - over exposed to their culture and our young people tend to pick up on these things. To make matters worse, many of these shows are already a couple of years old by the time we see them. Why don’t we just show our own? We do and some damn good ones but it’s much cheaper for the networks to buy American shows than it is to produce and air our own. I had not realised Mad Max had voice overs for the American audience, I agree **TitoBenito** it is insulting. I knew The Castle had some words changed - am I really supposed to believe that American audiences couldn’t work out what a rissole was? If not too bad. American movies are not changed for us to understand. Is this still happening today? Are British movies changed in any way for American audiences? I would think not as I recall someone posting quite recently they had a problem understanding the accent in “Bend it Like Beckham”. I like the way this thread has suddenly turned into a debate about soft drink. ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americanisms-do-they-annoy-other-non-americans/238046/32 "2004-04-04T00:06:52Z")
It’s not soda or pop or coke! It’s fizzy drink (or sometimes soft drink) 😉 Thank you all for taking my OP in the spirit it was intended. I know we talk funny but I like it. Nice to see that nobody thought I was attacking anyone. > [@](#): > > I’m a little confused–all people have to do is not watch these programs, they won’t get ratings, and bingo, they’re off the air and there goes the cultural imperialism. If the populace is watching them more than antipodean ones then maybe the antipodes should make better programs that their folks want to watch Good point! Only we make crap TV so we watch your crap mostly. If we didn’t watch American, British and Australian TV we would be down to one pretty bad soap opera and half a dozen reality TV shows (same as yours, just remade with people who talk funny). We just ain’t good at making TV. Movies we can do though 😃 > [@](#): > > So what would you have Americans do? Edit our programing and not use our own words for things just to make others happy? Shows that take place in the mid-west use the word “pop” for soft-drink (or here in Texas a lowercase coke). It seems very odd to me but hey thats they way people talk there and to change it would be misrepresenting them. The Simpsons ARE Americans, they are not just whatever nationality it happens to air in. To change that would be just as insulting as what we did to the original Mad Max with the voice overs. Please note I was not ranting at Americans nor do I think they should change anything. I was ranting about Kiwis who think it is somehow cooler to use American (or others) words then perfectly good Kiwi words. > [@](#): > > Just FYI, I’m assuming you’re talking about things like Doritos here, right? Thin slices of tortilla or potato fried up crispy? I know you do. The crisps thing is a Britishism. When we were deciding what we would call things, some bright spark decided that what you call chips we would call chips and that what you call fries we would also call chips. Confusing, yes. But we muddle through. > [@](#): > > Of course, it’s also pretty normal for people to pick up sayings and phrases from the people around them. I’m especially prone to doing it with cusswords and insults, for some reason. For a long time, I was very fond of “Fuckin’ waaaah”, which I picked up from a co-worker. My use of it faded, though, when I began spending less time with her, and has pretty much stopped altogether since I left that job. If you want your kid to stop picking things up from the telly, perhaps you should limit the time he spends with it. I’m glad the whole world is prone to this. Seems it is not just Kiwis who are sheep 🙂 And yes my child like thousands of other should watch less telly. > [@](#): > > I like beetroot on my bacon and egg sanger. Me too! There are only 4 mill of us stuck all the way down at the arse end of the world, so any push to be the centre of the universe will probably have to wait a few years. In the mean time I will pack some fizzy drink in the chilly bin. Put my togs and jandals on and nip off to the beach. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![flamingbananas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f4b2a3/32.png) [@flamingbananas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flamingbananas)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americanisms-do-they-annoy-other-non-americans/238046/33 "2004-04-04T00:15:27Z")
> [@calm kiwi](#): > > In the mean time I will pack some fizzy drink in the chilly bin. Put my togs and jandals on and nip off to the beach. 🙂 _stares_ _drools_ Does it mean: I will go put some soda in the cooler, put my shoes on and go to the beach? ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americanisms-do-they-annoy-other-non-americans/238046/34 "2004-04-04T00:21:42Z")
Well done 🙂 Only not shoes. I think you call them either flip-flops or thongs, or maybe something totaly different. Oh and togs are a swimsuit. ---
**Author:** ![flamingbananas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f4b2a3/32.png) [@flamingbananas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flamingbananas)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americanisms-do-they-annoy-other-non-americans/238046/35 "2004-04-04T00:24:29Z")
Yay! I am smart! And I just learned 2 new words! _Togs_ and_Jandles_ ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americanisms-do-they-annoy-other-non-americans/238046/36 "2004-04-04T00:31:02Z")
If you spread them far and wide maybe NZisms can take over the universe : evil cackle : ---
**Author:** ![flamingbananas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f4b2a3/32.png) [@flamingbananas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flamingbananas)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americanisms-do-they-annoy-other-non-americans/238046/37 "2004-04-04T00:33:06Z")
_stares at **calm kiwi** , and slowly backs off…_ ---
**Author:** ![c\_carol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e79b87/32.png) [@c\_carol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/c_carol)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americanisms-do-they-annoy-other-non-americans/238046/38 "2004-04-04T01:34:52Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > Sorry to ask again but where in North Carolina? The reason I ask is because I am from Cleveland, a small town about forty minutes from the NC border and I’ve never heard a lot of people refer to sodas as … uh, sodas even though I myself do. I’m in Winston-Salem. “Soda” or “soft drink” sound normal to me. “Coke” for a non-cola drink sounds very old-fashioned and exaggeratedly “country”. ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americanisms-do-they-annoy-other-non-americans/238046/39 "2004-04-04T02:01:44Z")
> [@calm kiwi](#): > > Seems it is not just Kiwis who are sheep 🙂 No, there’s also the Welsh. Oh wait, who **are** sheep. Nevermind. > [@](#): > > If you spread them far and wide maybe NZisms can take over the universe : evil cackle : Well, that doesn’t look right. I don’t think you should go around explaining how you hope NZism will take over the world. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americanisms-do-they-annoy-other-non-americans/238046/40 "2004-04-04T02:31:23Z")
> [@Neurotik](#): > > No, there’s also the Welsh. Oh wait, who **are** sheep. > > Nevermind. > > Well, that doesn’t look right. I don’t think you should go around explaining how you hope NZism will take over the world. 🙂 grumble grumble bloody sheep fornication jokes See that is why we will never be able to take over the universe…I’m a blabber mouth. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americanisms-do-they-annoy-other-non-americans/238046.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americanisms-do-they-annoy-other-non-americans/238046.md?page=3)