Americans saying stuff wrong...

[myfringe]

...really does my head in.
The worst example being 'I could care less'!

It's COULDN'T care less....not COULD!
If you could care less, then you must care some for the could to be valid and therefore you aren't as 'not bothered' about the thing/subject as you could be!

If you couldn't care less, then you care as little as possible about the thing/subject and therefore COULDN'T CARE ANY LESS ABOUT IT.

Right that's what annoys me. What annoys you?

[Quizmonster]

Click here for some explanation.
What about 'Does my head in'? Pretty annoying, eh?

[joko]

interesting QM, though I have never heard it used in a sarcastic way, only in place of couldn't.

if that is how its is supposed to be used, can someone tell the americans please!

[Clanad]

Of all the things we Americans did acquire from England, the Mother Country, subtle sarcasm wasn't one, joko. Sarcasm here is dished out with a 16 pound sledge hammer...

[mycats]

People who say
"I dont know nothing" aaarrrrggghhhh!
Or
"the bigger half" shut up you fool! If it's half they are the same size!
ooh oh people saying
"I'll take that off you" WHAT?? "FROM" You idiot not "OFF"

(oh I feel better now ha ha)

[yinyang]

I was watching Sesame Street a couple of weeks ago and they were doing a thing about front and back. Instead of 'behind' they kept saying'in back of' e.g I'm standing in back of my friend. Drove me crazy and Sesame street is now banned from our house!

[mycats]

"I axed you a question" *scream*

[noxlumos]

"Revert back" is mine, and I don't know why I hate it so much as other than that, I quite enjoy the amazingly diverse way people seem able to corrupt language, I think it's quite interesting and amusing.

[Narolines]

Never mind Americans - what drives me to distraction is Southerners saying "off of". You jump OFF a bridge, not OFF OF it! It's a preposition, you know......

[THECORBYLOON]

Narolines The Concise Oxford English Dictionary says about "off of"
"(USAGE The use of off of rather than off in phrases such as she picked it up off of the floor is considered to be incorrect in standard modern English. Interestingly, however, off of is recorded from the 16th century, and was used commonly by Shakespeare.) "

[volks76]

How about I am sat here instead of I am sitting here, or I am waiting on a bus instead of for a bus..

[Quizmonster]

For Mycats...
Until around 1600, the regular literary form of the verb meaning �ask' was 'ax', based on earlier forms 'acsian' or 'axian'. 'Ax' remained until then the commonest form throughout the Midlands and Southern England, whilst 'ask' was essentially just the Northern form of the word.
It is, therefore, not just confined to specific racial groups but - even now - largely dialectal. I believe 'aks' is still quite commonly used in Lancashire, for example.

In a way, therefore, 'ax' has the longer pedigree!

[mycats]

Well there you go Quizmonster, I never knew that!! ha ha Though somehow I doubt these ignorant fools that can barely string a sentence together know that! :-)

[Zevon]

Can I just point out that nearly everyone of you has used incoorect standard English.

Also I think Americans can talk how they like they fought and won independence, they have their own country and they don't say that they speak English, they accept the differences nad admit that they speak American or American English.

Languages have to change, none of you use the structure verb-eth and place the verb after the subject as in 'I hate words'. If languages didn't change you would use the Latin style of' 'words I hate'.

Just feel that someone should try and stop this being a one sided slagging match I do.

P.S. Our accents are much worse than Americans, at least they accept they don't speak proper English, my own scouse accent is a travesty and as for Brummies...

[BBWCHATT]

Here in the Southern US - we use many of the same phrases you do. I live in Chattanooga, Tennessee and we call the hose to water the garden a "water hose" or simply a hose. 129 miles from me in Birmingham, Alabama they call the same thing a "hose pipe" - just like you guys do!!! I didn't know that until I dated a guy who lived there and he asked me to give him the "hose pipe" to wash a cooler. I had no idea what he wanted.