People would seem to be endlessly interested and engaged by the quirks and oddities of English language use; including their being irritated by certain of same, favoured by other English-speakers. Annoyance and exasperation about such matters can sometimes get really heated. An instance of such which I recall, was an SDMB thread within the past few years, starting with the issue of “I couldn’t care less” versus “I could care less”, and getting gradually into more general matters: the thread ran ultimately to six pages, and at last became so acrimonious that it was locked. An element in the “care less” controversy would seem to be that the “could” version is peculiar to American English, where it co-exists unhappily with the “couldn’t” version; whereas “couldn’t” is universal elsewhere in the English-speaking world.
I, British, am even-handed on the “care less” thing (I personally like the “could” variant; but in my experience – as above: the “couldn’t” one, is universally used in the UK). However, I find it interesting in general, how inhabitants of one part of the English-speaking world, can feel to be foolish and grating-on-them, expressions widely used in another part thereof – but consider very similar expressions which they use and are familiar with in their country, to be totally acceptable and “good to go”. I suspect that this is something which many of us do. On the whole, I enjoy American colloquial ways with the English language; but I have a few peeves with same. Blanket “disclaimer” re all such that I shall mention: I realise that this is silly and petty stuff to get upset about – but it’s an area which is about people’s (often strong) feelings, not about those feelings making sense.
One gripe which I have, concerns the figure of speech about someone who tediously and endlessly reiterates the same shtick. From archaic sound-reproducing technology: a vinyl gramophone record, with the needle getting stuck and cutting through a division, thus going round and round in the same groove and emitting the same brief segment of sound, over and over again. For us in Britain, this expression is “a stuck record”. In the US, you say “a broken record” – which usage annoys the hell out of me, because it doesn’t make sense: if the object concerned were actually broken, it wouldn’t work any more or make any more sound of any kind ! It goes on repeating itself, because it’s stuck – not broken ! (I “know with my head”, that figures of speech don’t aim for pedantic accuracy – as those interested in this stuff put it, “sometimes sound trumps sense” – and it’s blindingly obvious what you guys mean by “a broken record”.)
Another of mine – here, a single word. The colloquial adjective meaning “foolishly and unnecessarily fussy / precise / particular”. With us Brits, it’s “pernickety”. Americans add one additional letter – “persnickety”. I feel-with-my-gut (while seeing-with-my-head that I’m being idiotic): that the British form is a fine word, with overtones of mild ridicule and “get a life”. With just that additional American “s” – for some reason, or none at all, that makes the word feel for me repellently baby-talk-and-nursery-ish, and it makes me cringe.
Attempting to show that my intent is not in particular, Yank-bashing: on the whole, I’m taken with Australian ways with English – find them colourful and vivid and agreeably laconic. One Australianism, though, comes to mind, which pisses me off. (In this instance, no direct British counterpart.) The adjective “grouse”, implying generally “good / desirable / high-quality”. Has me annoyedly feeling: “what’s this all about? Why ‘grouse’, of all imaginable things? Not even AFAIK, a member of the Australian avifauna…”
I’d be interested to learn whether others have equally dotty “hates” for closely-equivalent expressions – with the version of which in their own variant of English, they’re fine; but with the slightly different one in another, they’re not.
