Why do Brits Hate the Letter 'Z?'

[oldbadger]

Because British English is closer to the French it came from, I think.

All the short guttural words (like swear words) have Saxon ancestry.

I know this because my Mum taught me loads of 'em, especially when she was inebriated.

But I see Latin, French, Saxon, Scandinavian churned in to our language.

 

[oldbadger]

That is I am proud of my language

I wish I could be proud of mine...... But it is based upon the language of various bunches of looting, pillaging, thugs and morons, all who came and messed about here before clearing off or getting zapped by the next wave of nutters.

And we collected their bits of writing, artwork, weapons and shoes etc and now glorify them as treasures.....

Thing is.......... some of the earliest folks (that we know of) who lived here (Kent, England) like the Cantii..... they were probably just as crazy as the ensuing hordes that came after. Many of our hamlets and villages have ancient names from that far back......

 

[Estro Felino]

I wish I could be proud of mine...... But it is based upon the language of various bunches of looting, pillaging, thugs and morons, all who came and messed about here before clearing off or getting zapped by the next wave of nutters.

And we collected their bits of writing, artwork, weapons and shoes etc and now glorify them as treasures.....

Thing is.......... some of the earliest folks (that we know of) who lived here (Kent, England) like the Cantii..... they were probably just as crazy as the ensuing hordes that came after. Many of our hamlets and villages have ancient names from that far back......

Seriously speaking...the English language has been evolving restlessly for centuries, phonetically and etymologically.
Actually..as you know in Italy we have several regional dialects. When Dante wrote the Divine Comedy in 1300 we decided the language of that work had to be standard Italian. Italian hasn't changed a bit since then.

 

[oldbadger]

Seriously speaking...the English language has been evolving restlessly for centuries, phonetically and etymologically.
Actually..as you know in Italy we have several regional dialects. When Dante wrote the Divine Comedy in 1300 we decided the language of that work had to be standard Italian. Italian hasn't changed a bit since then.

Wow! That's stability.

Ours has changed out of recognition since the 13th-14th centuries. Our children, those that will learn about early English, need to learn how to understand and translate Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.

Our language is changing rapidly now. Our teenagers are changing the language. The word 'Sick', when used with the word 'Well' before it (Well sick) means 'outstanding'. The word 'Sick' on its own can mean 'oddly nasty' as well as 'unwell'. etc etc........

English moves.........

 

[exchemist]

All the short guttural words (like swear words) have Saxon ancestry.

I know this because my Mum taught me loads of 'em, especially when she was inebriated.

But I see Latin, French, Saxon, Scandinavian churned in to our language.

Yes indeed. Though there are some excellent Capt. Haddock style terms of abuse from French, such as cretin, imbecile, idiot, etc. Halfwit, on the other hand, is definitely Germanic.

But the spellings in which an s is replaced in American by a z will be the ones of French (i.e. derived from Latin) origin.

 

[oldbadger]

Yes indeed. Though there are some excellent Capt. Haddock style terms of abuse from French, such as cretin, imbecile, idiot, etc. Halfwit, on the other hand, is definitely Germanic.

But the spellings in which an s is replaced in American by a z will be the ones of French (i.e. derived from Latin) origin.

Thanks for that info....
Earliest English seems to exist in the names of hamlets, villages and towns, although I cannot offer examples just now.

And our various districts have their own terms from distant past.

This could make for a most interesting hobby.

 

[exchemist]

Thanks for that info....
Earliest English seems to exist in the names of hamlets, villages and towns, although I cannot offer examples just now.

And our various districts have their own terms from distant past.

This could make for a most interesting hobby.

Slightly tangentially, I am reminded of the passage in "1066 And All That", describing various Saxon kings:

"Canute had two sons, Halfacanute and Partacanute, and two other offspring, Rathacanute and Hardlincanute, whom however he would never acknowledge, denying to the last that he was their Fathacanute".

("Canute", or nowadays Cnut [sic] - in fact had two sons called Harthacnut and Harold Harefoot).

There's also a poem:-
"Beoleopard*, or the Witan's Whail"

Whan Cnut Cyng the Witan wold enfeoff
Of infangthief and outfangthief
Wonderlich they were enwraged
And word war waged
Swaere Cnut great scot and lot
Swinge wold ich this illbegotten lot

Wroth was Cnut and wrothword spake
Well wold he win at wopentake
Fain wold he brake frith and crackë heads
And than they shold worshippe his redes

Swingéd Cnut Cyng with swung sword
Howléd Witanë hellë but hearkened his word
Murië sang Cnut Cyng
Outfangthief is Damngudthyng

*presumably a reference to Beowulf, something anybody reading English at Oxford had to study, in English very much like the above, until fairly recently.

(Infangthief and possibly outfangthief were apparently real terms in Saxon England.)