Do they teach American language in Primary schools nowadays?

[gavroche]

I was telling my grandson that the temperature was -1 this morning and he said: " You mean negative 1?" Where does that come from? I asked him why he said
negative 1 and he said this is what his teacher taught him. He is in year 5.
So, are there any primary school teachers on here to advise on why they teach the American way?
Personally, I will stick to the proper way and use minus for lower than 0 temperature.

 

[All uphill]

Sounds like he is cleverly taking his maths learning and applying it to temperatures.

In any event you understood him

 

[FishFright]

I believe negative is actually correct but we use minus colloquially when talking about temperature.

 

[T4tomo]

minus 1 is something that belongs to someone who digs for coal.

 

[DaveReading]

Not especially American - in fact they don't often encounter negative/minus temperatures, because they mostly express weather in °F.

 

[Alex321]

I was telling my grandson that the temperature was -1 this morning and he said: " You mean negative 1?" Where does that come from? I asked him why he said
negative 1 and he said this is what his teacher taught him. He is in year 5.
So, are there any primary school teachers on here to advise on why they teach the American way?
Personally, I will stick to the proper way and use minus for lower than 0 temperature.

I don't think that is anything to do with Americanisms.

I presume he had just been learning about positive and negative numbers.

Calling it "minus 1" is the sort of common usage that kids might not pick up on that early.

 

[bluenotebob]

When did "gotten" become English English as opposed to US English?

I hear it quite a lot now and it even appeared in some BBC LiveText reporting last night.

Yes - I'm sure "gotten" was used in Elizabethan times and exported to the US a few hundred years ago - but why has it come back?

And when did macaroni cheese become 'mac and cheese'?

Just curious .. and vaguely worried about what's happened to the English I was taught in the 1950s/60s.

 

[Jody]

When did "gotten" become English English as opposed to US English?

Mis use of the word gotten really grates on me.

 

[byegad]

'Two times' instead of twice really gets to me. It's illogical that I get so upset about it, after all my Grandad, born before powered flight became a thing used thrice where I'd say three times.

 

[Red17]

When did "gotten" become English English as opposed to US English?

Seems used a lot in US, but referring to I'll gotten gains is one I've heard a lot over the years.

The one that really grates with me is when an athlete or team is described as the winningest

 

[Teamfixed]

Season 1,2,3 etc😤

 

[FishFright]

I can't wait until next OED is published , that'll get you frothing

 

[bobzmyunkle]

What about 'can I get' - illiterate yobs yobs corrupting the English language. There's no hope.

 

[Alex321]

Season 1,2,3 etc😤

That has always been the way they describe TV programmes with multiple series.

 

[Alex321]

What about 'can I get' - illiterate yobs yobs corrupting the English language. There's no hope.

That one does annoy me, but I don't think it is anything to do with "illiterate", it is just a modern evolution, probably imported from American. I was thinking of bringing it up, because I agree it is an annoying one.