Americanisms, Australianisms and English

A month or so ago I was sitting next to a girl at work on exchange from Arizona, the United States of America. Gradually we got onto the topic of language and it opened my eyes to a few things I hadn't realised about both American English and its relationship with Australian English.



- Reckon -

Used frequently among many Australians, in the US “reckon” is bad slang and seen as sloppy language. This is true for Canada as well who see the use of “reckon” as a country hick Americanism.



- Rhyme -

In Australia Pizza Hut has a “cheaper Tuesday” as that is the closest rhyme to our pronunciation of Tuesday. However in the US Tuesday is pronounced with an “oo” sound and thus Pizza Hut has “two for Tuesday” as that is the rhyme that their pronunciation gives. They also rhyme Hyundai with "Sunday", in fact there is a whole advertising brief designed around that rhyme specifically.



- Dodgy -

Is used by a lot of Australians meaning something that is not quite right, something to be wary of. In the US though such a usage is seen as old hat and dates the user significantly to the extent that they find it very strange that it is still used so frequently here.



- Extra Comma -

One of the most obvious differences between Australian and American English I have always been taught is in the use of commas. For Australians a list of three things would be transcribed as “agave, pumpernickel and a rose” while in the US it would be “agave, pumpernickel, and a rose.” However, according to my friend this is a usage that is becoming obsolete and we may even see the disappearance of it eventually.



- Brilliant -

Apparently “brilliant” is used very rarely in the US and is seen as something very British. Even though Australians speak British English it is not seen as Australian in the least and so even inadvertent usage may confuse people as to where you are from.



Rosalind for dotdotdash



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