to hate the fact that people now say they are 'tan' not 'tanned'

[KarlWrenbury]

its like text and texted all over again

runs around screaming

[Muskey]

I have never heard this before but to me it just sounds like they are orange.

[SuburbanRhonda]

Do they really say that? Is this a thread about poor use of English?

[KarlWrenbury]

They do the young folk

adjusts pince nez

Its like the people on here who think it is quicker to type dcs than 'kids'

[BertieBotts]

It's an american dialect, I don't know where it comes from but in one area they don't use the past participle for the adjective, they use the base infinitive. It's odd.

Although tan is different, because tan isn't only a verb (to tan) but it's a colour and adjective on its own. So they might be saying "I am tan" meaning "I am light brown" rather than meaning "I am tanned".

[Canus]

I might describe a sofa as 'tan', but not a person.

What do they actually say - 'I've just come back from blah, and I am tan'?

Sounds weird.

[cardibach]

Karl it is quicker by one letter!
I have never heard anyone (in the UK) say tan instead of tanned. Most just say they have gone brown!

[Coumarin]

The only time I've heard this said is by Stewie on Family Guy. "Look at me Brian, I'm so tan."

[hackmum]

Yes! Americans also refer to "skim milk" and "box set", another one that has caught on here. I don't know why it's irritating (I realise it's unreasonable to be intolerant of variations in English usage), but it is somehow.

[SecretWitch]

I don't generally get too upset about other people's word usage. The one misuse of ice tea instead of iced tea causes me agita.

[phantomnamechanger]

never heard this but is it not just poor diction? As in they are saying 'tanned' but you are hearing 'tan' because the end of the word trails off/is not emphasised ?

Otherwise are they really saying I am tan, like you'd say I am black/white ?

[KarlWrenbury]

i hate everyone and everything then wait to be pleasantly surprised.

[KoalaDownUnder]

YANBU.

It is American, and I don't like it. Another one I keep seeing written is 'bias' instead of 'biased', as an adjective. Eg 'I'm bias, because I'm Australian'.

I missed the thread on 'text' vs 'texted' as past tense of the verb 'to text'. I can only assumed that 'text' won, since I keep seeing it on here, but I can't understand why. 'He text me last night' is just wrong.

[HoneyDragon]

i hate everyone and everything then wait to be pleasantly surprised.

And that is why you'll never be sucker punched by a kitten.


I like "I am tan" it's living in the moment of sun kissedness. I am tanned denotes that it happened. Tanned is much too much like withered, which is what happened when you've become too tanned.

"I am tan" sounds glowy and smells faintly of Malibu.

[ChelsyHandy]

YANBU I have a foreign friend who gets it wrong and says "tan" because her English isn't that good. Inexcusable for anyone else. Its a bit like "bias" instead of "biased" (I have an immediate image of someone tailored in a certain way) or people misspelling certain phrases because they have heard them but not seen them written down. The results are sometimes hilarious. e.g. "chuft" instead of "chuffed".

[Bogeyface]

DD said yesterday "Mum (it was almost Mom), can I get bangs?"

I have to admit that I launched into a lecture, which ended with her saying she didnt want a fringe now anyway :o

I am seriously considering a ban on all american kids shows. I have heard the tan thing on spongebob on an episode that is all about getting tanned, it drove me mad!

[MardyBra]

I've never heard it.

I do get quietly irate about the use of "text" as a past tense - for example "I text him yesterday". I want to shout ED very loudly.

[StephenManganiseverywhere]

Bogeyface all of our children will do/say things that shame us deeply from time to time. My heart goes out to you. All you can do is carry on loving her. She is STILL your DD

[MardyBra]

Oh sorry I didn't read the OP properly did I?

[WanderingOakensHoohoo]

Grr 'gotten' instead of 'got' annoys me. Americanisms creeping in. The day I hear a British person say 'I could care less' I'm emigrating!! And not to America!

[Redcoats]

I've never heard it, but then my hip'n' happening days are long behind me.
My sister drops an alarming number of americanisms into the conversation. I nearly slapped her when she asked me if DS was good at math.

[SconeRhymesWithGone]

Well, at least we don't say "I am/was sat."

[KarlWrenbury]

Argh!

[SconeRhymesWithGone]

And "gotten" is not technically an Americanism. It is an older English (as in country as well as language) form that was in use when the colonies were established.

[WanderingOakensHoohoo]

Scone I realise that, and there are times where I might say it (can't think of an example, mind you), but it's less common here now. I've started seeing it a lot on friends' Facebook statuses and it makes my eyelid twitch involuntarily!

[ouryve]

Can't say I've noticed.

Most people around here talk about the sunburn they've been out getting. Sad things is, they're not wrong.