As blended cultures in the United States, we tend to butcher the English language in casual conversation and don't think twice about it.
We continue on speaking our "American-English" until an overly-observant foreigner points out our unique manner of speaking.
Sadly, they are so right.
How dare judgy non-Americans break our stride by making us self-conscious!
But we won't go down like that. Like, we're Americans and we totally persist, m'kay?
A Buzzfeed article highlighted old and new observations from the grammar police who pointed out our peculiar use of colloquialisms heard from sea to shining sea.
In response, some of the commenters agreed about proper English usage while others passionately defended our unique expressions.
Here are some examples of what people around the world are telling us Americans "like to say" and the hilarious responses that followed.
How many of these are you guilty of?
We love to emphasize things by verbally saying the punctuation mark.
Why do Americans love to say 'period' at the end of arguements as if it's like a mic drop or something— ya gal al (@ya gal al)1561913770.0
@_QueenAlex Same reason anyone does anything. Because we can— LordHeadass (@LordHeadass)1561938362.0
This statement applies towards expressing things are going swimmingly.
americans love to say “you’re good”— gabbylaur2n #2 (@gabbylaur2n #2)1551342314.0
@gabbyl4uren actually, it means, “You haven’t completely lost my respect with your big mouth. Shut up now before you do.”— Kimberly Arnold (@Kimberly Arnold)1562968246.0
Those with selective hearing are guilty of saying this when something bears repeating.
Americans love to say "wait, what?" and make start your story again instead of apologising for not listening or simply keeping quiet— THE BRAH DAWG (@THE BRAH DAWG)1560859368.0
@brah_dawg It’s an expression of disbelief, not an expression of “I wasn’t listening”— Isaac Price (@Isaac Price)1562964559.0
Who's buying?
Americans love saying “It’s a free country!”— Hey Buzzfeed, I am American (@Hey Buzzfeed, I am American)1559626440.0
@BluntBuckeye Because we don’t have a king or a queen. Unless in drag.— MacMarine4 (@MacMarine4)1562958239.0
Ex-squeeze me?
I bacon powder?
americans love to say ‘excuse me’ when someone’s in the way and it’s SO passive aggressive 😂😂— Jordan Beasley (@Jordan Beasley)1539097483.0
to clarify; you’re supposed to engage in the very British (and totally not passive aggressive 😉) act of waiting, tu… https://t.co/8hJb0UYyan— Jordan Beasley (@Jordan Beasley)1562967155.0
@JordyBeasley I’m American and this is what I do when people are in the way! https://t.co/3OEYidnVoo— The Equestrian (@The Equestrian)1562958567.0
Irish they were more clear about this.
Why do Americans love saying that they're Irish when 1) the only link they have to Ireland is that their great-grea… https://t.co/eaaH70qm4z— Connor (@Connor)1552818520.0
There's quite a few angry kids in my mentions now so just to clarify: I'm not interested in your ancestry, and it's… https://t.co/dMcyx9WhHb— Connor (@Connor)1562965408.0
@arpeggpalegg LOL at all those people. “Actually someone in my family’s last name is O’Brien and I like beer and th… https://t.co/EsOQpsR1ky— not jim (@not jim)1562985220.0
Level of annoyance varies by tonal pitch.
Americans love saying “you guuuyss”— soniya 🍪 (@soniya 🍪)1551033266.0
@sXOniya And actually if you’re from philly we just say you’s. That’s a thing. “What did you’s do last night?”— Ryan (@Ryan)1562967879.0
What were they expecting?
americans love to say “we’re pregnant” when only one of them is pregnant— Hjönk (@Hjönk)1539945935.0
@heartseekerjhin Becoming pregnant is a team effort, that requires both a man and a woman... the man impregnated th… https://t.co/flF0ZxSZZk— Sheet of Paper! (@Sheet of Paper!)1562967609.0
In fast food joints, some of us start speaking before making a decision but fill the silence after the horse has left the gate.
Americans love to say "I'm gonna do theeeeeeee" instead of just ordering food like a regular person.— trash loser 👘 (@trash loser 👘)1537455198.0
@trash_loser I’m American and that drives me crazy. It’s like nails on a chalkboard when I hear someone say that.— Larry Kocen (@Larry Kocen)1562971346.0
This here is a dig.
Yup.
For some reason Americans love to say “yuuup” as a response. Thank you! “Yup” Take care! “Yup” Sorry!! “Yup.” Ya’ll… https://t.co/8o6Kj3IXtT— Neil (@Neil)1537374816.0
@neilmuir22 We know what it means; it is regional/colloquial. Perhaps YOU need to broaden YOUR language comprehension skills.— Laurie Payne (@Laurie Payne)1562960280.0
Guilty.
Americans love to say "super", "super this, super that, super, super, super." -_-— Jacques Kitenge (@Jacques Kitenge)1407941698.0
@jacques_k23 SuperMan. SuperCuts. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! 😂— Doug Pearce (@Doug Pearce)1562965241.0
@jacques_k23 That’s only on the west coast like California if you’re talking about people who use it like- “Omg I g… https://t.co/l7zlDRibwn— beth dublin (@beth dublin)1563016844.0
This predates the use of emojis.
Americans love to say 'lmao'— 𝕂𝕦𝕕𝕫𝕒𝕚 (@𝕂𝕦𝕕𝕫𝕒𝕚)1391795580.0
@kaycee_xchigs Nope. We type that. Only.— AmyBranson (@AmyBranson)1562967191.0
We totes like to abbreviate things.
americans love to say veggies instead of vegetables and now you must also live with this cursed knowledge— gerard (@gerard)1554371706.0
@legerrid And most English speakers, no matter which side of the Atlantic, have forgotten that vegetable is a 4-syl… https://t.co/M9iAGqLEKp— Theresa (@Theresa)1562965353.0
It's like saying, "are you listening?"
Americans love to say ‘here’s the thing’— Jasmine (@Jasmine)1546810534.0
@jas_brazier Because I’m about to tell you the crux of the matter— The Equestrian (@The Equestrian)1562958413.0
@jas_brazier We’re giving you a heads-up in case you’re only half-listening to us as we are to you.— Just Kidding Jeez (@Just Kidding Jeez)1562956304.0
Okay, like, some things are a regional thing.
Americans love to say “like”— Foolish Prophet (@Foolish Prophet)1541550096.0
@megcarmodyy Horrible habit for sure.— Jeanette Shinsky (@Jeanette Shinsky)1562969003.0
Get off my lawn.
Americans love to say ”that’s my property”— mik (@mik)1532103259.0
@mmikkymik Because we like to own things— Josh Brunke (@Josh Brunke)1562961647.0
Adjectives are hard.
Americans love to say that things are "addicting"— jack (@jack)1525265009.0
@sadness_tweets Things are not addicting, they are addict’ive’— Melanie Richer (@Melanie Richer)1562978239.0
You guuuys, here's the thing. It's a free country and we will continue speaking the way we do regardless of what y'all say. Yup. Period.
Anyway, you're good. LMAO.
If you need a definitive list of American-English sayings and slang, McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions: The Most Up-to-Date Reference for the Nonstandard Usage, Popular Jargon, and Vulgarisms of Contempos is available here.
Wanna jump off the bandwagon? Then keep reading!
U/lit3rallyuseless asked: What doesn't deserve the hate it gets?
Film and media are probably the biggest contender for being hated on randomly. It may seem harmless, but not always deserved.
Actors are people too!
Actors who played characters that people didn't like.
Really if you hated the character then the actor did a good job (assuming that was the role).
The best cartoons.
nice day summer GIF by PBS KIDSGiphyChild cartoons. Some are actually really good, even as an adult.
I feel like watching cartoons aimed at generally a younger audience allows for you to be reminded of some life lessons, I know I forget some things, or didn't realise others, or it at least partially renews my awareness of something I should still like or appreciate
This doesn't deserve awards, it's just my opinion that is apparently shared by many.
This man did nothing wrong.
Guy Fieri, he literally is the nicest person in the world but since he looks like he was electrocuted by mountain dew people want to saw his head off.
Even before that, I was witness to his other charitable work. A few years back, Santa Rosa was hit by some terrible fires and he showed up at a few shelters and personally cooked up and served some killer buffet food. No cameras, no massive team of PR, just a dude with an assistant to keep him on schedule to hit up other shelters in the area. Guy Fieri legit earned a lot of respect in my book for that.
You know who DEFINITELY doesn’t deserve hate? Animals. They’re just living their best lives, and need to be left alone.
The best cats.
Black cats.
We got a black cat for the first time last year. I've since formulated the theory that black cats might get some of their reputation from the fact that people can't see them well in the dark and so they seemingly appear out of nowhere and they might be instinctually cautious because they know people have a tendency to kick them while walking in the dark. Our black cat is the sweetest cat I've ever known.
They get a bad rep.
Discovery Sharks GIF by Shark WeekGiphySharks. They are beautiful, complex creatures, deserving of respect and, like any wild animal should be left alone in their natural habitat, but they get this reputation as vicious bloodthirsty monsters. This is only because every shark attack is news, and only then because they are so rare. More people are killed EVERY DAY by mosquitoes than sharks kill in a year.
Any apex predator that has remained evolutionarily unchanged for hundreds of millions of years, whose existance predates TREES, is deserving or our respect and admiration. Shine on, you crazy cartlaginous fish, shine on.
So cute too!
Opossums. They're neat little critters. They eat tons of ticks that carry Lyme disease, (mostly) don't carry rabies because their body temp is too low, and they're the only marsupial native to North America! They get a bad rap because their first defense is to hiss and bare teeth, but failing that, they just play dead.
If you don't have the predisposition to hate them, you'll find they're pretty cute too.
E: this is about /opossums/, the north American species.
Kiwis, I feel for you, but this comment isn't about your possums.
Hating on other people for just living their lives also seems to be a big contender for things that don’t deserve to be hated on.
This is so true.
Unemployed people. A lot of people genuinely are looking for work and did not want to lose their last job/it was beyond their control (like a layoff) but they get so much hate and called lazy by most people. I know too many unemployed people that are actually really trying hard. They definitely aren't lazy. (Not saying lazy unemployed people don't exist, but to be fair, so do lazy employed people too lol)
Leave the weather man alone!
Fox Raining GIF by Family GuyGiphyMeteorologists. They try their best to predict the weather based on patterns, models, and data. They're not perfect because predicting the weather is insanely difficult. When they get it wrong, I think we should go easy on them. It was probably an outlier result almost no one could have foreseen.
I've seen people get angry over the meteorologists for getting it right. Like they control the weather - it is their fault we are having rain, that kind of BS. Never made sense to me, but hey, I have plenty of relatives I clashed with growing up.
Please stop being d*cks to these people.
Customer service associates.
I hate when customers think that I, the minimum wage person forced to sit there and listen to them yell, am personally responsible for every policy they disagree with. Like, ma'am, if I had that much power and influence, I wouldn't be sitting here on a Saturday evening serving you.
Wholesome and necessary.
People don't deserve hate they give themselves when they are not doing too good at the moment.
I'm in a weird place and I didn't know I needed to read this. Thanks buddy.
If you haven't heard it from anyone else today, I'm proud of you.
It seems like people hate on things simply because they think they're meant to hate them. But you can always be the change and make an effort to stop being an a**hole about certain things.
No matter what though, sometimes haters gonna hate