Are people being helpful or rude when...?

I just had a conversation with a colleague who I like very much and has always been very nice to me and I used the word "awesome".  He waited for me to finish what I was saying and then said quite seriously "we try to steer away from the word awesome in this country, just so you know."  I thought he was joking at first, but then said "its just very overused. I tell my children to wipe it from their vocabulary".   Realising that he was serious, I said "ok, I will just go with great instead" and he said "when I was in America, they seemed to get a kick out of brilliant, why dont you use that?".  Luckily my phone rang and he left my office after that, but do you think he was trying to honestly be helpful or am I justified to take a bit of offense?

Both, I think.  He wasn't trying to be rude, but he was being rude.  I'm impressed you handled it so well...I probably would have laughed and said 'you're kidding, right?'  I love how he was making the broad statement that Brits 'try to steer away from using the word awesome'.   

I would continue to use 'awesome' and all my lovely American phrases.  They're part of me!  You would never tell a British person in America to stop using 'brilliant', would you?

I find that to be very rude! What nerve! 

I would continue to use 'awesome' and all my lovely American phrases.  They're part of me!  You would never tell a British person in America to stop using 'brilliant', would you?

Exactly what I was thinking! Don't change your vocabulary just to make some jackass at work feel better. I mean who does this guy think he is? 

Rude. You're not one of his children and he can't tell you what to say.  I would use it more in fact, and make up words to go with it.

as example:

"Can you have those papers on my desk by this evening? Awesomesauce."

"You did? That's abso-awesome-lutely freakin' rad , DOOD!"

DH picked up some americanisms off of me, was told by his boss that he disapproved of the words in a professional environment, and now he uses em more.

Rude. You're not one of his children and he can't tell you what to say.  I would use it more in fact, and make up words to go with it.

as example:

"Can you have those papers on my desk by this evening? Awesomesauce."

"You did? That's abso-awesome-lutely freakin' rad , DOOD!"

DH picked up some americanisms off of me, was told by his boss that he disapproved of the words in a professional environment, and now he uses em more.

LOL  
mirrajay, maybe you should get this guy a jar of Awesome Sauce for X-mas.

I get a chuckle when I hear people here say awesome. I love it! My colleagues in the UK used to take the piss out of me when I said awesome (and for just generally being very American), but they were joking and we all knew it. Bummer you have a dud colleague!

Ha, like awesome is the cause of so many language problems. 

When my coworkers tease me, they like to say "awesome" a lot..but in like, a southern accent, or they try to mock my NY accent, which makes them look sillier than I do, with my occasional use of the word. 

I hate 'awesome'... it makes me cringe when I hear it.
*BUT*... I would not try to make a colleague or friend feel bad for saying it, or 'helpfully' suggest they substitute it with another word.  That's just plain rude.  

Well, one of my favourite colleagues at work has a very dry sense of humour and might say something like that to me. It did take me a while to realise that it was just him trying to be funny by taking the p*ss, and not being rude to me. And so now, we go back and forth with him teasing me about my accent, and me telling him he can't be a pirate because he can't say "AARRRRR."   And he even gives me high fives now. So, I might be inclined to think it is possible that your colleague was joking and carried it on a bit too long, but really only you could know if that is sense of humour, and he is picking on you because he likes you, or if he is really trying to put you down. Either way, don't feel the need to change who you are. It's one thing if you are saying something that might potentially confuse people due to a different pronunciation or usage than they use here in the UK, but dude, everyone understands what awesome means!   Besides, tell him that Americans like it when English people say brilliant because it's an English sort of thing to say, therefore English people should find it fun and endearing that you say awesome.

It sounds like you are on pretty good terms with this guy, so I tend to think he really thought he was being helpful.   

You could always tell him that the last time you checked, "awesome" was listed in the Oxford English Dictionary, therefore it is a perfectly acceptable term to use in this country. 

While it sounds like he was just trying to be 'helpful,' IMO, what he said is rude and condescending. You are not a child and it's not as if you are ESL and using a word out of context.  

I say, keep saying awesome!

Navie - thank you for those excellent suggestions!  I am now on a mission to use the word "awesomesauce" in a sentence before the week is through!

Maybe it is, like QG said, one of his cringe worthy words, so I guess I will just not say it around him, since he is a higher-up in the organisation.  
I refuse to say brilliant though - that would just be trying too hard, I think.

Thanks everyone - you're AWESOME-TASTIC!

I love that he said, "we tell our children to wipe it from their vocabulary...and when we were in the states the americans got a kick out of us saying brilliant"...for one you aren't his child and for another thing you are American and this is part of your vocabulary and it will always be part of your vocabulary...it makes you who you are...and if he doesn't like that he can stick it up his "awesome" ass lol

 
I refuse to say brilliant though - that would just be trying too hard, I think.

The funny thing is, you will likely get to a point where it's not trying and it just comes naturally.  I had a lady ring me this morning from the UK (Jersey, actually) and when she told me they'd credited my account with the 260 quid I had stolen out of it, I said, 'thanks, that's brilliant.'  It just happens sometimes!