Which parts of the dialog indicate that this is not American English ?

Question

Hi,I've been watching Family Guy cartoon recently (episode "Former lif of Brian") and there is funny dialog which goes like this:Stewie: Brian, this is painful. It's like listening to those two foreign guys down at the coffee shop who've been living in the US almost long enough to sound American.(scene cuts to coffee shop)Guy #1: Oh man, what a good bunch of partying at that disco-tech. They played one of my audience requests.Guy #2: Way awesome! I myself drank like five liters of beer. Any more and I would have ended up in hospital man.Guy #1: Oh you said it friend, but I wanted to stay, because I almost had sex on this girl.Guy #2: Oh yeah, but it was so expensive. Each drink was like six dollars forty!Now, it is far beyond my skill to resolve which parts of the dialog / expressions indicate that these guys are not American.  I would appreciate if anyone could also explain what words/expressions would a US native use instead.Thanks !mg

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

The dialogue is in fact composed primarily of Americanisms.  No doubt the humour is in the accent and awkwardness with which the characters speak them.

Anonymous · Answer

Every sentence in that dialogue is rife with strange phrasing and wording. There are exchanges between these 2 guys in at least 2 other episodes too, they crack me up!

"good bunch of partying" - No one says this!

"audience requests" - The 'audience' is unnecessary and awkward.

"Way awesome" - No one says this!

"I myself" The 'myself' is unnecessary and awkward.

"liters" - Americans don't use the metric system, especially not liters!

"in hospital man" - in THE hospital.

"you said it friend" - friend is a fairly uncommon way to refer to someone you're talking to.

"had *** on" - had *** WITH this girl.

"six dollars forty" - The 'dollars' is unnecessary and awkward.

Anonymous · Answer

I also forgot to mention: "disco-tech".  An american would call it a club <img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' alt='Emotion: smile'/>

Mister Micawber · Answer

I don't think you get out much, Anon. Discotheques (note spelling) or discos and clubs are different, though we might consider a disco one kind of club. As an American partier, I have been to both many times.

Your earlier post also shows considerable parochiality. Many younger people say 'Way awesome', while older folks like me address friends as 'friend', for instance. As I said in my first post, the dialog is riddled with Americanisms. The humour is in how the speakers butcher them.

Anonymous · Answer

Hi, my perspective comes from northeastern America. I have no formal education in English, but my mother did her best to teach me right.

1. "what a good bunch of partying..." - This might be normally said as "what a great party...".

2. "They played one of my audience requests" - In this case, 'audience' is redundant. That is implied by the use of the word 'my', and the understanding that the speaker is a member of the audience as opposed to an employee of the discotheque. Might normally be said as "They played one of my requests", or "They played one of my song requests".

3. "Way awesome!" - In this case 'way' is redundant. The word 'awesome' already incorporates the notion of extremity.

4. "I myself drank like five liters of beer." - In this case 'myself' is redundant. Also, 'liters' is not a commonly used unit of measurement, particularly for beer. American speakers would likely use 'gallons', 'quarts', 'ounces', or 'pints', or they would tell you the number of glasses consumed.

5. "I would have ended up in hospital man." - This sentence omits the word 'the' (a definite article), just before the word 'hospital'. Definite articles do not exist (or exist in a different form) in many languages, therefore a new speaker might omit them without noticing that they've just exposed their foreignness.

6. "Oh you said it friend." - This one just sounds awkward due to context, as well as the speaker's delivery (emphasis and excitement).

7. "because I almost had *** on this girl." - Unless the speaker meant to say that he had *** with someone whilst on top of a girl, the correct phrase would be "I almost had *** with this girl".

8. "Each drink was like six dollars forty!" - An american would likely simplify this as "Each drink was six-forty", or round the number to be "Each drink was like 6 bucks/dollars". Also, an american is not likely to use the word 'like' in reference to a specific amount. Something that costs 6.85$ would "be like 7 bucks." It would not be 'like' six-eighty-five, because it is exactly six-eighty-five.

Summary: this skit seems to make use of subtle redundancies, and syntax oversights that can be expected of a speaker of a foreign language.

Anonymous · Answer

This is in fact not American English, despite what the above poster said. Here is a list of the reasons:

1) We do not use the word disco-tech. We use the word "club" to refer to a bar where dancing and drinking are the main forms of entertainment (as opposed to a "bar", where there is no dancing or the dancing is not as prominent).

2) We do not say "a good bunch", and we do not usually refer to a "club" as a "party". Occasionally we may refer to drinking as "partying", but usually we mean drinking at a house party. Instead of that whole phrase we might say "That club/bar was awesome/crazy/insane!"

3) "Way awesome" is outdated. Now just use the word "awesome" alone.

4) Americans do not quantify liquids in liters.

5) The word "the" is missing in the phrase "ended up in (the) hospital"

6) We do not have *** "on" a girl. We have *** "with" a girl.

7) We do not say the word "dollars" between the dollars and cents. We would just say "six forty" for $6.40. Even for $640.00 we might say "six forty", but you can usually figure out from the context what we mean (For example, a beer is never going to cost $640.00).

I think that's it. Feel free to correct me if I misunderstood anything.

Anonymous · Answer

I'll translate the excerpt you posted into "native sounding" American English.

Guy #1: Oh man, that club last night was crazy. I even got the DJ to play [insert song name].
Guy #2: Yeah, it was awesome. I was totally wasted, though. A couple more beers and I'm pretty sure I would've ended up in the hospital.
Guy #1: Haha, yeah, definitely. I actually wanted to stay a little longer and see if I could hook up with that girl.
Guy #2: Yeah, but that place was overpriced. Drinks were like six fifty each.

Notes: The last comment (from Guy #2) is a bit out of place. Guy #1 is talking about trying to take a girl home (to have *** with her), so I'm not sure why Guy #2 would respond by talking about drink prices.

Which parts of the dialog indicate that this is not American English ?

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