Beware though that only learning words may leave you confused as in my experience Americans tend to overload the same word with a different meaning depending on the context. They also often resort to idioms and cultural references.

For reasons unknown to me, instead of using the word with the meaning they probably are trying to convey, they rather use vague analogies or metaphors.

It always made me question if Americans in contrast to the British are a bit afraid to be precise.

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alyeska2 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Interesting perspective, I'm used to seeing the exact opposite observation, that British people are famous for saying things meant as insults that sound positive at a surface level and that people are often unsure if they're being mocked/ridiculed or not.

Of course, American corporate-speak is unique from normal conversations, and people intentionally use vagueness to make sure there's general agreement before saying something concretely that might be contentious or cause problems.

	▲	TheOtherHobbes 2 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Different context. One social register is extreme understatement, which may be laden with passive aggression, but could also be approving. "That's not a bad idea" is likely to mean "Good idea, let's do it, or at least consider it seriously." But "Interesting idea" is likely to mean "You're an idiot." This is more corporate/middle class. There's also a working class register which is very direct and sweary, and extreme insults are actually meant affectionately. Even more confusingly, the two can overlap, and the same people will switch between them - sometimes in the same setting - with relative equals. Americans don't seem to do understatement. "My business died" becomes "My incredible journey." Relationships are cross-bred with hustle, so you can be friends with someone and they'll ask you to invest in their MLM scheme. Instead of using understatement US corporate speaks uses noise to act out hierarchy, to gaslight and to misdirect. I was talking to someone today who was asked to produce a report. They sent it on time, and then the team lead called a meeting to ask why it hadn't arrived. The report was literally sitting in their inbox unread. Everyone could see it, but they all went through the motions of pretending it wasn't there and developing an action plan for future delivery. It's all very David Graeber. So far as I can tell the US seems to specialise in situations where corporate insanity is happening but the sharp edges have been filed off, so it looks like productive activity higher up the pyramid.
	▲	climech an hour ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		>Interesting perspective I see what you did there!

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jonahx 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> Americans tend to overload the same word with a different meaning depending on the context. They also often resort to idioms and cultural references.

This is not specific to "Americans". Learn any language and you will have the same impression, and experience the same gulf between textbook usage and everyday usage.

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2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

[deleted]

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overtone1000 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra

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conductr 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

I always hear a phase that goes like “we have a word for it in Language, …”. You almost never hear it said where English is that language. We just don’t have many words or don’t like adding new ones very frequently, it seems.

	▲	eudamoniac 7 minutes ago \| parent \| next [-]
		English has more words than any language on earth. People don't learn or use use most of them because they will be labeled pretentious.
	▲	ndsipa_pomu an hour ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		English tends to just borrow/steal words from other languages if they're useful enough. It could also be something to do with the lack of consistency of english rules so it's not so easy to create new words.