Originally Posted by Nefeli

i know exactly what you mean and i agree.
when i listen to non-english people using british-neo slang (i just made that up. i mean words like cheers, blimey etc) expressions, it feels unnatural and disturbing. at the same time, i have to give it to them for trying*to speak everyday english and trying to be part of it, the society, reality.

*it feels like they try too much! thats what bothers me.

cheers.
i used to hate it. not so much when it is about toasting, but when its used instead of thank you.
from my recent and frequent visits to london, i have come in terms with that.
still, if i use it, it feels like i discribed in the first paragraph.

another thing that irritates me and its off topic, is the usage of The wife etc, instead of my wife. it isnt used only from the english or americans, so im very off topic.
normally i should prefer the "the" over the "my", since "my" shows ownership and ownership of a person isnt my thing, but i dont. ok, i dont like "my wife" either, but the "the wife" feels to me formal in a puritan, old fashion, completely of a person who has swallowed a stick- way.

edit. "my girlfriend" isnt bother me. i guess its the ownership ^2, in the case of my wife, since wife alone indicates "ownership".
and yo to me, if i managed to get accross to you what i mean by all that.