Americanisms

[Southerndown]

Or generally things that make you want to heave.
Unfortunately though it doesn't only seem to be Americans we seem to be going the same way, particularly in the office environment...

E.g. putting stupid w@anky sayings at the bottom of your email ffs, saw this one today...

"Obstacles are in our way simply to test our desire to achieve greatness"

[pfclassof61]

There's a church near us that specializes in posters with cute, witty, stomach-churning sayings.

This week: 'What's missing here, CH..CH ?'

[lovedeanblue]

Y'all have a great day

[chiswickmart]

There's a church near us that specializes in posters with cute, witty, stomach-churning sayings.

This week: 'What's missing here, CH..CH ?'

Sweet, a homage to my hometown Chichester!!

A quick look through my inbox confirms that my company seems to have finally seen sense and banned these hideous email phrases.

Worst I ever saw was some Welsh tosspot who had a signature that said something like "That's the last time I buy a keyboard from ebay" with all the letters written upside down.

I guess it was a kind of pictorial humour from Wales...

[Corkhead]

E.g. putting stupid w@anky sayings at the bottom of your email ffs, saw this one today...

"Obstacles are in our way simply to test our desire to achieve greatness"

I think you've gotten this all wrong SoDo.

The one that pisses moi is my Yank bro-in-law who holds a phone shape made with his hand to his ear every time he talks about calling someone.

[pfclassof61]

My pet-hate are the '...do it in/on/by...' sayings:

'Squash players do it on courts'
'Gardeners do it in beds'
'Posters do it on Fratton Faithful'
'Lassie does it with pictorial humour'
'Corky does it by himself'

and so on...

[Corkhead]

Yeh, Lassie, GrumpyPete, Aloysius, McannCann and so on ...

does it with others.

[Scoular1]

Heads up...WTF does that mean

[lovedeanblue]

Gotten

[b_u_l_c]

Heads up...WTF does that mean

Origin
Several of the meanings of this phrase allude to holding one's head up high and concentrating on what one is doing. Residents of the USA will have come across heads up as an advance warning; for example, 'The boss was coming. Jim gave us a heads up to get on with some work'. That usage is fairly recent and hasn't yet become commonplace outside America. The first example that I can find is from The Washington Post, August 1979:

"In a message characterized as a 'heads up alert', intelligence officials warned ... that Arab diplomats had suggested that Ambassador Andrew Young meet with a Palestine Liberation Organization official."

This meaning is a modification of an earlier meaning of heads up, that is, look alive! - watch out. The earliest I can find for that is also from the Washington Post - from November 1914:

"Heads up". A baseball and football term signifying alertness, action,

Many of