Daily Mail article on Americanisms ruining the English language

"Ayup" - one of my favourite Yorkshire words.   

Makes me think of Maine's "Ayuh, ayuh."

"Ayup" - one of my favourite Yorkshire words.   

Think ginnel is mine. 

Aha, here we have a follow-up article: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1284254/Britain-declares-war-words-snuck-skedule-.html

I just can't make myself say 'burgled' instead of 'burglarized'.. it just cracks me up, no idea why.

I just can't make myself say 'burgled' instead of 'burglarized'.. it just cracks me up, no idea why.

I love burgled, but cannot bring myself to say 'speciality.'

As for the loathed 'can I get a coffee?' that makes my thick American skin crawl, too. 

I just can't make myself say 'burgled' instead of 'burglarized'.. it just cracks me up, no idea why.

Maybe because it makes you think of the Hamburgler?

I can't stand the British 'fitted'...that just makes me cringe everytime...and it seems like I hear it several times a day!

As for the loathed 'can I get a coffee?' that makes my thick American skin crawl, too. 

  "Can I get a ... " is classic American.  I heard it hundreds of times a day when I worked in food service.  I've yet to hear it in the UK. 

  "Can I get a ... " is classic American.  I heard it hundreds of times a day when I worked in food service.  I've yet to hear it in the UK. 

I have to admit that I do say it on occasion, but that was because I picked it up when I was living in the USA as a student... I never said "Can I get a..." before 2003 - growing up in England, I was always taught to say "Please may I have...".

I have to admit that I do say it on occasion, but that was because I picked it up when I was living in the USA as a student... I never said "Can I get a..." before 2003 - growing up in England, I was always taught to say "Please may I have...".

I grew up in the US, but I was taught the same way.    Maybe I grew up in a really weird American household, but I never say "can I get a...".  Any time I hear it, I hear my mother's voice answering, "Well, I don't know, can you?"
 

ETA:  maybe it is more American, but it still makes my skin crawl! 

  "Can I get a ... " is classic American.  I heard it hundreds of times a day when I worked in food service.  I've yet to hear it in the UK. 

I hear it all the time! It annoys me. Mainly from people under about 30. When they say it in a shop eg when asking for cigarettes, it sounds like they are asking permission to go behind the counter and serve themselves. I always expect the shopkeeper to say "No, you can't get them. You stay right where you are and I'll get them for you."

ETA:  maybe it is more American, but it still makes my skin crawl! 

I hear that!  For me, it's more the "can I get" rather than "can I have" that bothers me.  I accept that "can I" is used colloquially to mean "may I," but what's with the "get"? 

When they say it in a shop eg when asking for cigarettes, it sounds like they are asking permission to go behind the counter and serve themselves. I always expect the shopkeeper to say "No, you can't get them. You stay right where you are and I'll get them for you."

   
Exactly!

There are several love/hate groups on Facebook around the entire topic of "Can I get a...?".  I'm not sure I've ever actually heard someone say this being serious...but I've heard it several times as a joke.

I accept that "can I" is used colloquially to mean "may I,"

For years, people (like me) who say "May I..." have been seen as distinctly old fashioned and (far worse!) posh.

WOW loving the second article <not> and this one has comments the last one someone said they closed the comments.

This guy knew how to make an audience react so keep writing about it!

I just can't make myself say 'burgled' instead of 'burglarized'.. it just cracks me up, no idea why.

This group of words is a bit strange --
(noun) BURGLAR
(noun) BURGLARY
(verb) BURGLE
(verb) BURGLARIZE

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the two nouns, burglar and burglary, go back to medieval times and are described as "anglo-latin" words; that is, technical legal terms.  Oddly, though, there doesn't seem to be a verb to go with them... so in recent times, verbs were created by "back-formation" from the noun burglar.  In the UK, "to burgle" and in the USA "to burglarize."

Oddly, they seem to have appeared around the same time.  In the OED, the first instance quoted of "burglarize" dates from 1871, and of "burgle" in 1872.

1871 Southern Mag. Apr. (Schele de Vere), The Yankeeisms donated, collided, and burglarized, have been badly used up by an English magazine-writer.

1872 M. COLLINS Pr. Clarice I. iv. 63 The burglar who attempted to enter that room would never burgle again.