[Nickwiz]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11697665

Interesting. Is America better at making people feel American that the EU countries?

Another interesting topic?

Or How about Office speak?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7457287.stm

This is funny! Are you Guys worse at this? With your Burglarised homes and such other monstrous misuses of language?

 

[g0bgb]

I hate the fact that more American sayings and pronunciation are creeping into spoken English in the UK by everyone , no doubt this is mainly because of American TV .
I Love Canada for sticking with Z as zed and not zee.
American English is fine when spoken by Americans but not by Brits

 

[propforward]

On the other hand I have spent the last 10 years educating America to use the word "arse", and it is catching on. So it's not all bad.

 

[Nickwiz]

He He

True. I've even caught them using words like W*nker and Bollocks! And bloody seems in common usage now! Cultural exchange is a wonderful thing.

They do seem better at making people feel American though? Your an immigrant to the USof A would you say you feel that or do you still feel like a foreigner there?

 

[propforward]

Interesting question.

Minnesota is a very welcoming state, I was made to feel at home straight away. In fact I have always been made welcome everywhere I have gone in the states. I've been here long enough that I am well into the day to day activities, so I don't feel like a foreigner generally. However, every now and again something will come up where I am reminded that I am not from here originally. Usually when I travel somewhere / meet new people, who are intrigued by my accent and so on. But th edge has worn off it now, having been here 12 years, so people are confused as to where I am from. Peoples first guess is usually Australia, funnily enough.

Also, I have found it necessary to adopt some American pronunciations. This has been necessary just to go day to day easily. Slightly different ways of pronouncing common words cause people to ask "what", "excuse me" and "can you repeat that" so frequently that you really have to adapt. I think that's fair enough though.

Still working on getting "Aluminium" back.

 

[tangomike]

I(an American living in America) use wanker and bollocks a lot because nobody here considers them "cuss words". I work in a very conservative office environment where cursing is not tolerated, but in two years nobody has called me on wanker, bollocks or bugger. They think I'm being funny.
I have a question for all you British. If you don't like American English spoken by the British there( I assume because we "bastardize" proper English) how can you stand to listen to Cockney? I've spoke English for 53 years and cannot understand a word they say. Please explain how that is acceptable and "our" English spoken by a Brit is not?

Thanks
TangoMike

 

[propforward]

how can you stand to listen to Cockney? I've spoke English for 53 years and cannot understand a word they say. Please explain how that is acceptable and "our" English spoken by a Brit is not?

Thanks
TangoMike

Because

a) We own it

and

b) we can't understand what they are saying either.

 

[kraftno]

Creeping in

It does work the other way around. That Australian term "no worries" is popping up a lot here in the US. And I"ve heard "straight away" a few times recently from otherwise home-grown Americans.

On a slightly different tangent, I was at a party recently where a Haitian woman was intrigued by the word "scuttlebutt" and all the Americans were speculating on its possible source. After a few drinks you can come up with some pretty amusing theories on the origin of "scuttlebutt."

 

[tangomike]

Not to go off the curse word topic too much. Riding a triumph I have always been amused by two words. Twistgrip and Paraffin. I actually had to look up both of them to understand the first Triumph manual I read. Twistgrip sounded like it might be the throttle, but there was no f-ing way I was going to soak my carburetor in Paraffin until I found out it was Kerosene. Paraffin here is wax, as you know. Can you imagine melting a pot of wax, soaking your carb in it, then pulling it out and let it cool?

 

[spank86]

nope, but equally I can't imagine referring to liquid as gas, thats just wierd.

 

[Old Scratcher]

English is a language that has been evolving since the Angles & Saxons crossed the Nth Sea 1500 years ago. For the past 500 years much of that evolution has happened outside of England. This expansion saw English battle French as the international diplomatic language throughout the 19thC. The reason that English won that battle, & is STILL the international lingua franca, is because of Americas prominence in the World. So, IMO, we no longer speak English. We speak American. & I, for one, welcome the US contribution to our expanding lexicon (& the Aussie contribution for that matter). People who want to lock the language into some kind of timewarp would still have us talking with thees & thous. Move on people. The Empire died decades ago!

 

[spank86]

I'd modify that to since the celts rocked up to meet the britons.


And the remnants of the empire still live on, 14 territories left.

 

[g0bgb]

I have nothing against Americans speaking American English or Australians speaking Australian English, Canada etc.
and I think it is wonderful that Britain has a multitude of Regonal Accents, ( Cockney, Geordie , Scouse, Irish, Scotland, To name but a few ) all which are very different and we sometimes struggle to understand each othertimes, But I think the world will be a sadder place if we all end up speaking with American English
Long Live the differences between us

 

[Old Scratcher]

I'd modify that to since the celts rocked up to meet the britons.


And the remnants of the empire still live on, 14 territories left.

I believe the Celts & the Britons spoke Gaelic.

As for the 14 remaining territories, that's pretty pathetic, compared to what's been lost. Even the United Kingdom's falling apart. If this keeps up England might break up into the ancient kingdoms of Essex, Wessex, Cumbria, Northumbria & Cornwall!

 

[Irishguy]

English is a language that has been evolving since the Angles & Saxons crossed the Nth Sea 1500 years ago. For the past 500 years much of that evolution has happened outside of England. This expansion saw English battle French as the international diplomatic language throughout the 19thC. The reason that English won that battle, & is STILL the international lingua franca, is because of Americas prominence in the World. So, IMO, we no longer speak English. We speak American. & I, for one, welcome the US contribution to our expanding lexicon (& the Aussie contribution for that matter). People who want to lock the language into some kind of timewarp would still have us talking with thees & thous. Move on people. The Empire died decades ago!

I was always under the impression that the English language was a mingling of the Germanic language spoken by the Saxons and the Romantic French language spoken by the Norman conquerors.

 

[hlmiskelly]

Arse is replacing Ass mostly because it will slip by "Big Brother" censoring software in most offices!!

 

[Old Scratcher]

How arsey is that?

 

[spank86]

I wish it would, although thats a bit of a simplification.

The briton language has pretty much disappeared now but in the early days of the anglo-saxons there was a fair amount of influence although you're right since it is the anglo language roots that define the start of english, it was still around before the country though.

 

[hlmiskelly]

Also, I like the fact that English has the largest vocabulary of any language. We are not ashamed to borrow specific words with specific meanings from other languages. I am always amazed at the way the French and the Germans try to keep their respective languages "pure". Language is about communication, so the more precise the meaning of a word the better it should be at communicating.

Having said that, I am not amazed that high school students today have a vocabulary that is about 60% of high school students in the fifties and sixties.

 

[Thruxtonbill]

I have nothing against Americans speaking American English or Australians speaking Australian English, Canada etc.
and I think it is wonderful that Britain has a multitude of Regonal Accents, ( Cockney, Geordie , Scouse, Irish, Scotland, To name but a few ) all which are very different and we sometimes struggle to understand each othertimes, But I think the world will be a sadder place if we all end up speaking with American English
Long Live the differences between us

Ever been to Mississippi?