Daily Mail article on Americanisms ruining the English language

The thing I hate the most about the name thing is that a British person will repeat my name (incorrectly, with "British" pronounciation) and say something like "Oh, you mean...".  No actually I meant it the way I pronounced it (seeings how it's MY name).  It would be one thing if they just pronounced it in the British way (which is what always happens anyway and I don't mind that).  It's the fact that they go out of their way to give me a funny look and condescendingly imply that I am saying my own name wrong.

I really dislike this too and see it a whole lot.  

I think that people should always bend to the pronounciation of the area (like a city) or the person (if a name).  Like I would never correct the pronounciation of Derby (sounds like Darby) because it really is determined by the people that live there.  Equally, I expect the English to try to pronounce Maryland correctly and not like Mary-land.   Same for people's names.  It is just good manners.

I will say though, I think some concession should be given for accents.  Like the Gray-um versus Gram pronounciation.  I have a really hard time saying it the English way and my mouth just doesn't say Gray-um.  I am not trying to be rude, it is just my accent.  But that is soooo different from the pronounciation of Marsha versus Mar-see-uh.  Those are just clearly different names.

As a general rule, correcting other people's pronouciations is rude but there is a fine line between being helpful and rude.  Like my BF and I do "correct" each other's pronounciations but it is more in the spirit of education.  I may just not know how a city is pronounced and I rely on him to tell me.  Same for him, with American things.  But on occasion, the BF does correct my accent and that is when I get mad!!
 

ut that is soooo different from Marsha versus Mar-see-uh.  Those are just clearly different words.

Not really - they're both the same word: Marcia, it's just the way that the last 3 letters are pronounced that is different... just as with Graham.

It's no different from pronouncing Alicia as 'Ali-see-uh' vs. 'Al-ee-sha' (i.e. Alicia Silverstone (Ali-see-uh) vs. Alicia Keys (Al-ee-sha)).

I always love listening to people (who have never heard the correct pronounciation) say Leicester.  I kinda snicker to myself but only because I pronounced it the same (incorrect) way myself.  Lei-che-ster 

I will say though, I think some concession should be given for accents.  Like the Gray-um versus Gram pronounciation.  I have a really hard time saying it the English way and my mouth just doesn't say Gray-um.  I am not trying to be rude, it is just my accent.  But that is soooo different from Marsha versus Mar-see-uh.  Those are just clearly different words.

I totally agree!

As somebody who's spent the better part of the past 20 years eyeball-deep in British literature, music, film, and general pop culture, I get the colloquialisms.  I know all the slang, and I know, for the most part, how things are pronounced.  

But, with a few exceptions, I tend to stick with my Americanisms.  It's not because I don't know any better, nor even that I can't pronounce things in the 'correct' way.  It's just that, when I try, I feel ridiculous!  It seems like such an affectation. It sounds completely wrong and unnatural coming out of my mouth, with my Wisconsin accent.

Code-shifting is one thing.  Most people do that, and of course I speak slightly differently (both in accent and vocabulary) when I'm hanging out with my family than I do in a business meeting.  But they're relatively subtle changes.

When I try consciously to use British slang or pronunciations, I feel like a pretentious git.  Except I'd never actually describe it that way, because doing so would make me sound like an a$$hole. :p

Not really - they're both the same word: Marcia, it's just the way that the last 3 letters are pronounced that is different... just as with Graham.

It's no different from pronouncing Alicia as 'Ali-see-uh' vs. 'Al-ee-sha' (i.e. Alicia Silverstone (Ali-see-uh) vs. Alicia Keys (Al-ee-sha)).

The last 3 letters of 6 letter names - that's half the name.

In the 1980s I got laughed at by a girlfriend for pronouncing Mica Paris' first name like the mineral.

I think we should flood the comments section of the Daily Mail article with examples of things we'd like to see integrated into British everyday speak. 

I immediately thought of the classic Americanism "butt-ugly" when I saw the author's mug in that pic. 

(I do apologize if I'm being rude, but at least I know people can just ignore me)

Not really - they're both the same word: Marcia, it's just the way that the last 3 letters are pronounced that is different... just as with Graham.

It's no different from pronouncing Alicia as 'Ali-see-uh' vs. 'Al-ee-sha' (i.e. Alicia Silverstone (Ali-see-uh) vs. Alicia Keys (Al-ee-sha)).

My point was that Marcia (pronounced Marsha) and Marcia (pronounced MarCEEa) are very distinctly different.  There is no difference attributable to an accent.  If someone refuses to call Marcia (pronounced Marsha) as MarCEEa, they are just being rude.  They are clearly different names.  It isn't like the above poster forgot how her name was pronounced.

Honestly, I think that it should be a when in Rome attitude. We're in the UK, they pronounce things differently than in the US.

Do you think many Americans would call someone named Anthony Ant-hone-ey? Probably not, and within weeks he'd be Anth-ony.

I always love listening to people (who have never heard the correct pronounciation) say Leicester.  I kinda snicker to myself but only because I pronounced it the same (incorrect) way myself.  Lei-che-ster 

Try this one: Chichester. I saw an advert for it in the train station last year and came home to ask my bf about visiting "Cheechester". That's still a joke between us! (It's more like Ch'chester.)

And how can anyone argue with how someone says their own name?

Honestly, I think that it should be a when in Rome attitude. We're in the UK, they pronounce things differently than in the US.

Do you think many Americans would call someone named Anthony Ant-hone-ey? Probably not, and within weeks he'd be Anth-ony.

I pronounce the names of British people named Anthony Ant-hone-ey because that is how they pronounce it.

I pronounce the names of American people named Anthony Anth-oney because that is the way that those people pronounce it.

I pronounce people's names the way they tell me they are pronounced.

Carlos from Queens is Car-lose

Carlos from Stoke is Car-lahs

Names are different than other words.

Your name doesn't changed when you move to another country.

When Jose from Madrid moves to Leeds his name doesn't automatically change to Joseph.

Try this one: Chichester. I saw an advert for it in the train station last year and came home to ask my bf about visiting "Cheechester". That's still a joke between us! (It's more like Ch'chester.)

DH insists on calling Poughkeepsie  "Puffy Peeks" -in New York State, really pronounced P'kipsy

I wonder if sometimes people might repeat the name because it took them a moment to connect it with a familiar one in their head? I mean, I did that when I first moved here, not correcting anyone, but I wasn't used to hearing the name Mark or Martin the English way and it always confused me at first. So the conversation would go something like them repeating their name because I didn't get it the first time, me staring blankly at them while I tried to index the name to connect it to something in my brain, then the light bulb going off in my brain and me saying "Oh... Marrrk." Haha. Usually they would just smile when I worked that out, but I think they must have realised I just moved here. I still can't really seem to bring myself to say their name the proper English way with my accent. It's just too hard for me and feels unnatural, for instance, to call someone named Carl "Cahl" instead of "Car-rel." I know some people might not like it, but I just don't feel I can help it. So maybe that's how the Brits also feel when faced with a similar situation. 

Yeah, the name thing gets me, but I have gotten used to answering to whichever simply because I can't go around being irked all the time.  My name is Carolyn, the last syllable rhymes with 'pin' not 'pine'.

"My name is Carolyn."

"Oh - Caroline, is it?"

"No, it's Carolyn."

"Yes, Caroline."

   I don't know what to make of it really - maybe it's like what Jewlz said.  I even have a good friend that often gets it wrong, and I'm sure she doesn't mean any slight by it.

At work, I will often answer to either, which can get confusing because there is also a Caroline in the office who sits not far from me.  For that reason, the people I work with have gotten really good about saying my name correctly, because it does help to distinguish me (Carolyn) from her (Caroline).

My 2p...

A name is YOUR name no matter where you are from - you tell someone how to pronounce it - I am Jennifer NOT Jenny - there is a reason I said Jenn or Jennifer

but on to the article which he is on about Americanisms not pronunciations I think he can shove it.  You cant say you like baseball which I am sure is American and then go on to say we need to take our language/culture back.  UK language is not perfect as I know up here in the North the word "my" is gone as a pronoun - I said check Cambridge the correct word is "my" not "me". This is my coat is correct - This is me coat is not correct by UK college standards. We are a multi culture generation and it is only getting larger.  You can't pick and choose what you want to seep into your country or culture - it just happens.  Words, Dress, Technology, Food and People which I think is what makes this world so great.  I love to be somewhere and be able to get X type of food and I am not in that local country.

Sorry that was a bit of a rant but - wake up and smell the coffee is right - The world evolves and if you don't like it go live somewhere remote and make it your own.

Sorry that was a bit of a rant but - wake up and smell the coffee is right - The world evolves and if you don't like it go live somewhere remote and make it your own.

LOL!

Agreed that if someone says their name is Michael, I don't just assume its ok to call them Mike. People usually introduce themselves by the name they wished to be called, or will tell you otherwise if they like something different. And I don't mind that my name sounds slightly different when an English person pronounces it than when an American does (and there are LOTS of names that sound totally different between those two pronunciations - Mark and Carl are good examples). So hopefully someone named Mark here doesn't mind if I pronounce their name the way I normally do, because I feel odd if I try to say it with an English pronunciation. I just can't help the way I talk. But, I do think there IS a clear difference between Carolyn and Caroline that doesn't really rely on pronunciation differences. I guess in that case maybe it's harder to remember a name that is similar, but slightly different, from a name you are used to?