Smoke
Done here.
I find your use of "u" excessive, but it may cheer you to know that many Americans think, for some reason, that you just can't spell honour or Saviour without it.
I'm with you on the z's, though.
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Do the British own English?
- Thread starter Copernicus
- Start date
I'm with you on the z's, though.
I like to think we have added invaluable contributions to the English language, especially in the area of insults. I feel we turned insulting people into an art
route =pronounced root English,American pronounced rowt is this word blindness
you say tomayto i say tomato
you say potayto i say potato
Ha its a catchy song,it makes sense letting you use our language as its saves us learning a new language
you say tomayto i say tomato
you say potayto i say potato
Ha its a catchy song,it makes sense letting you use our language as its saves us learning a new language
Copernicus
Industrial Strength Linguist
All those u's come to you from French spelling conventions, as does your overuse of the suffix "re" for the more sensible "er". It's OK with us if you want to change your spelling to make it look more like French, but even the French now prefer to spell English our way. So all of your effort to cozy up to them just didn't pay off.
As for the letter "z", your neglect of it has gotten so bad that you have forgotten how to pronounce its name properly. Your name for it doesn't even sound like any of the other letters, but I suppose it comes in handy for poems that have verses ending in "Ned", "shed", and "dead".
Yerda
Veteran Member
I used to think it hilarious when my grandfather described a laborious method of achieving something "the Irish way". I had this idea of an entire nation outdoing each other in feats of idiocy. Tying your shoelaces each day with 18ft pliers and travelling from Cork to Galway via the plane to Durban.tut tut Stephen your laying yourself wide open to either a flood of Irish jokes
When I should have been relieved that Irish people were much the same as me, I was thoroughly disappointed that a place and people I thought truly magical didn't exist.
Eh, the topic. Language an stuff.
Smoke
Done here.
You know very well you have. A fine art, too.I like to think we have added invaluable contributions to the English language, especially in the area of insults. I feel we turned insulting people into an art
I pronounce the noun as root and the verb as rowt.
Rowt the package through Denver.
Get your kicks on Root 66.
My wife's good friend is from S. Africa and I really like her accent as well. But she's acclimated to a West coast accent over the years so she just has this hint of an inflection in her voice that comes out more when she's angry.
I find most European accents are dull- I'm a sucker for a Nigerian accent. I find it sexy as hell.
As for language and lit', it's hard to say, but I find Russian's use of language fascinating.
I pronounce it like that as well.
U serious? W T F dwd.
(just kidding)
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sarahjane127
Scientific Mind
Although the english language spoken by americans is almost the same, they are way different in a sense too. Not alot of americans tell people to "stop taking a ****" when they are joking, or use the phrase 'bloody hell'.
misanthropic_clown
Active Member
Spiritone
Active Member
English is derived from many languages, of course, and Americans have used their own style, so to speak, as have Irish, Scottish, Australians and Canadians. But American English is more different than all the others with new wording and expressions that the English have started using a lot recently. Probably because of TV and movies. It's a pity it was not called something else than English since there are more French, German, Greek, Latin and many other languages' words used as derivatives than old English. Anyway, everything changes all the time as different places become the focal point of world affairs. The last shall be first and the first shall be last....
Deist David
A serious Deist!
Interesting debate!
Firstly, my standpoint; I'm English.
For me, there are two seperate things here; one is about the natural evolution of a language. Languages are not owned by any nation or country. And they are subject to a journey of evolution just like anything. As they evolve, their features change. They become more suited to their environment.
I will openly admit that many aspects of American English agitate and annoy me, as a Brit, because the driving force of the evolution of American English seems to be laziness. Dropping letters to save time or effort;
Colour ...... becomes Color.
Or, even worse in my irrational, unreasonable, patrio-egocentric view on this subject, they drop entire words, to save effort;-
"One hundred and forty"......... becomes "One Hundred Forty".
Of course, in reality, this 'laziness' is perfectly reasonable and rational - what is the point or benefit in 'protecting' the old, historical iteration of a language? ... there's none at all is there?
The objective of a language should be nothing other than to aid communicaton as effectively and efficiently as possible. In which case, the evolution of English from British to American persuasions is a natural and reasonable occurance. Laziness = Efficiency!
.......what this is really about for me, is whether or not the English language, and it's place in this debate, is part of the wider discussion around whether the US is taking over the whole globe in terms of cultural invasion, based on economic power. It is a shame to bring mainstream, geo-politics into an otherwise prettier discussion about language but the heart of the debate (in my opinon) lies in whether the demise of orginal English, in favour of US English in a part of the take-over of the world by the US. In England, modern day versions of MS software, does not even have a spellchecker that acknowledges British English any more. The (correctly spelled for us!) word "colour" will now always raise an 'error' and a suggestion to 'correct' the spelling to 'color'.
For me, that is frustrating and annoying!
None of this is squared at individuals from the US, (nations are artificial political boundaries, we're all just people in my eyes), this is a political assertion and view ....... but there is a perhaps reasonable statement that says that the US is absorbing the rest of the world, culturally.
Firstly, my standpoint; I'm English.
For me, there are two seperate things here; one is about the natural evolution of a language. Languages are not owned by any nation or country. And they are subject to a journey of evolution just like anything. As they evolve, their features change. They become more suited to their environment.
I will openly admit that many aspects of American English agitate and annoy me, as a Brit, because the driving force of the evolution of American English seems to be laziness. Dropping letters to save time or effort;
Colour ...... becomes Color.
Or, even worse in my irrational, unreasonable, patrio-egocentric view on this subject, they drop entire words, to save effort;-
"One hundred and forty"......... becomes "One Hundred Forty".
Of course, in reality, this 'laziness' is perfectly reasonable and rational - what is the point or benefit in 'protecting' the old, historical iteration of a language? ... there's none at all is there?
The objective of a language should be nothing other than to aid communicaton as effectively and efficiently as possible. In which case, the evolution of English from British to American persuasions is a natural and reasonable occurance. Laziness = Efficiency!
.......what this is really about for me, is whether or not the English language, and it's place in this debate, is part of the wider discussion around whether the US is taking over the whole globe in terms of cultural invasion, based on economic power. It is a shame to bring mainstream, geo-politics into an otherwise prettier discussion about language but the heart of the debate (in my opinon) lies in whether the demise of orginal English, in favour of US English in a part of the take-over of the world by the US. In England, modern day versions of MS software, does not even have a spellchecker that acknowledges British English any more. The (correctly spelled for us!) word "colour" will now always raise an 'error' and a suggestion to 'correct' the spelling to 'color'.
For me, that is frustrating and annoying!
None of this is squared at individuals from the US, (nations are artificial political boundaries, we're all just people in my eyes), this is a political assertion and view ....... but there is a perhaps reasonable statement that says that the US is absorbing the rest of the world, culturally.
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According to Jasper Fforde's delicious Thursday Next novels, all the u's that got dropped in American English were the result of a severe shortage of the letter in book-world.
Makes sense to me.
Makes sense to me.
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Father Heathen
Veteran Member
That really isn't common, or at least not considered professional.
It's "stop taking the ****"
Another example of cultural differences. From my understanding, "****" in the Commonwealth means to joke or to be intoxicated, while in the U.S. it means to urinate or to be angry.