Dear Americans: A lesson in proper English.

Americans use American English,
We use English, two different languages.

Their language derived from our English, but changed over time, just like our language has.

Our language is nothing like it was a few hundred years ago, how can we expect it to follow exactly the same over the pond? To be fair its good that the two languages are still very similar, but they will never (or should ever be expected) to be exactly the same.

Even in our country right now words are pronounced differently, even if you only travel 20m up the road.

20m away from me people say book like normal, get to stoke and it turns to bouk as for Scotland, just read trainspoting and its there right in front of you,lol.

I work with an English man, I'm not sure where in England he is from.

I can't understand a word he says, I just nod and smile as if I do understand him

He could be calling me a wanker I dont know

Well, I was gonna comment, but Trollocks actually said what I was going to, so instead, I will ask you all to read the Cumbrian dictionary....this is how I and my county folk talk, the last county before Scottishland.

The Cumbrian Dictionary

An example:

chore 1.(verb. chor) To steel, or pinch. e.g. I chored a yat on Sat'day when I was gattered = I stole a gate on Saturday when I was under the influence of alcohol. (I chore, you chore, he is a chorer, it is chored.)

2.(noun. chor) Stolen item. e.g. That's a good chore = That was a good item to steel. See also choredy.

3.(noun. chor) boy, or lad. Short for charver, esp younger boys. e.g. Deek at that la'l chor lowpin ower t'yat = Look at that younger boy jumping over the gate.

Originally posted by eightfold
Unlike David & the Queen, "aloominum" and "tomAAto" do get on my nerves a tiny bit.

What's wrong with the pronunciation of aluminum? It is a faux Latin word, coined by the man who discovered it. We pronounce it more or less according to Latin rules (although the classical pronunciation might have dropped the m and nasalized the final u). Or do you object to the word itself? Davy discovered it, he called it aluminum, and so will I. I will say aluminium the day platinium becomes a word.

Americans, sort it out. At very least put the U back in colour? Please?

U is a medieval addition, from the French, I believe. It is not found in the Latin color, coloris, and we will not (further) debase the classical roots of our shared language by putting it where it does not belong. Someone, after all, has to stand up for the purity and dignity of the language.

reply to post by Trolloks

Okay, look Sassenach,
American English is Limey, Paddy, Jock, Spic, Wop, Dago, Ebonic, with some Toad thrown in.

Before I was ten years old I had learnt how to spell that great American river Miss iss ippi and I'm from the UK and really at the time heard of the USA but geographically didn't know the location......much like Iraq is now for the highschool students of America.......joke.....well sort of lol

The slight differences in spelling don't sit well with me but lets be honest text speak is the all mighty dumbing down factor of any language.

Wolfie

reply to post by eightfold


A couple questiond for the OP:

Do you understand what a living language is?

Do you understand the meaning of regional dialect?

Originally posted by getreadyalready
reply to post by Chamberf=6

 

Huh? I was ready to jump in on your side, but according to the Periodic Table and International Chemistry designations, it really does have an extra "i"!! I would have never believed it.

Web Elements

It's spelled both ways...with the "i" in the UK, without it in the USA.

btw: I'm from Missouri, too, and I've never pronounced it "Missoura" either.

Though for laughs sometimes I say, "I live in Misery."

reply to post by DisIllusioned PatRiot

Towns are some of the worst words mispronounced around my house there are two towns Tesla and Tioga. But the older people especially say Teslie and Tiogie. Bugs the crap out of me

Try some of these messed town names

Town Name --- Pronunciation

Selmeston --- Simson
Henfield --- Envul
Pevensey --- Pemsy
Heathfield --- Heffel

I swear it is just done to be awkward and annoy but those are the correct pronunciation for those words documented from the 17th century onwards in local dictionaries.

Originally posted by thoughtsfull
reply to post by DisIllusioned PatRiot

 

Towns are some of the worst words mispronounced around my house there are two towns Tesla and Tioga. But the older people especially say Teslie and Tiogie. Bugs the crap out of me

Try some of these messed town names

Town Name --- Pronunciation

Selmeston --- Simson
Henfield --- Envul
Pevensey --- Pemsy
Heathfield --- Heffel

I swear it is just done to be awkward and annoy

but those are the correct pronunciation for those words documented from the 17th century onwards in local dictionaries.

How about Worcester being pronounced "wooster"??

reply to post by eightfold


Don't you guys drive on the wrong side of the road...?

Hilarious video by the way.

I COULD care less about what the bloody Queen has to say, and I think Brits should burn her at the stake for sorcery. I mean come on... she thinks she was appointed to rule the throne and you by god. That sounds like the babbling of a witch if I ever heard one. And besides, it's not her English, just like those aren't her deer in her forest. It is all of ours. Let's take it back together. And for petesakes put your steering wheel on the left side of your car, you wankers!!

reply to post by Chamberf=6

"Wooster" shows how the English have got lazy over the centuries.
Similarly, you meticulously pronounce the "H" in Birmingham and the second "W" in Warwick, which we've given up doing.

reply to post by woogleuk


It's great you guys still have a strong dialect mine has been wrecked by the DFLs.. I think the last dictionary that was produced for foreigners and those in the sheeres was in the early 20th century.. now stuck with something more akin to a wishy washy nothingness *shakes head*

reply to post by tooo many pills


Actually no we don't, we drive on the right side of the road.

The way we drive, our eyes are always as close to the middle of the road so we have a better reflex to dodge on coming traffic if needs be. This is the reason that we drive on the side of the road that we do.

reply to post by Chamberf=6


cool...
I guess it would be easier to find examples of towns that sound like they are spelt

I remember a war that was fought in the name of England not telling us what to do. =p

So just because I can:
Irregardless
Supposebly
Loose (instead of lose)


People aggravate me too, but there's certainly no reason to spell them colour, flavour etc.

reply to post by Chamberf=6




I don't know if its off-topic or not, but here goes any how... (I'll only post the ones I have done, or seen with my own eyes)

You May Be From Missouri....

You end your sentences with unnecessary prepositions, e.g., "Where's my coat at?"

Everyone in your family has been on a "float trip."

You’ve seen people wear bib overalls to funerals.

To you, "Vacation" means driving to Silver Dollar City, Worlds of Fun or Six Flags.

When asked how your trip was to any exotic place, you say, "It was different!"

You can’t think of anything better than sitting on the porch in the middle of the summer during a thunderstorm.

You know that Concordia is halfway between Kansas City and Columbia, and Columbia is halfway between St. Louis and Kansas City, and the Warrenton Outlet Mall is halfway between Columbia and St. Louis.

You know that Harry S. Truman, Walt Disney, George Washington Carver and Mark Twain are all from Missouri.

You know what "Home of the Throwed Roll" means!

You think that “deer season” is a national holiday.

Your kids get out of school for the opening day of trout season.

You've seen farmers stop work and remove their hat as a funeral passes by.

You frequently see unoccupied cars idling in a parking lot, no matter the time of year.

Source

I've personally seen classrooms empty on the opening day of deer, trout season, and hay baling days! I've seen school cancelled for snow, ice, and heat. My parents were on their front porch on May 22 of this year when the Joplin Tornado devastated the area. They didn't go inside, they watched the whole thing! (from about 5 miles away)

This goes toward dialect and such..... I think.

reply to post by tooo many pills


We drive on the right side of the road, which is the left. We invented the internal combustion engine, you're welcome to put it on whatever side of the road you like.

reply to post by Trolloks

Actually no we don't, we drive on the right side of the road.

The way we drive, our eyes are always as close to the middle of the road so we have a better reflex to dodge on coming traffic if needs be. This is the reason that we drive on the side of the road that we do

No, you drive on the left side of the road...

You realize that we drive with our eyes closest to the middle of the road too right...? That can't be the reason.

reply to post by eightfold




Mon, since me liwe in a British D'pendency Ter'tory, y'g'wan hawe da hard time wit' our kina English.... it g'wan mek ya wexed, m'tell ya, WEXED! (Caribbean dialects often substitute "w" for "v" sounds).

Good thread, and funny, which is a plus

Whilst we're on this bent, however, let us briefly discuss the word "schedule". Note the SCHK intention. It's not a SHED-ule.

I'm still confused about how people got from "toilet" to "loo". NEVERmind.

And what about "program"? I mean, really............ PO'gram?

Other than those wee lil' quirks, I find a British pronunciation and accent delightful; it's one of the reasons I watch the BBC in the morning for my 15 minutes of "news". For me, hearing the worst of things seems somehow better and less somber when spoken properly with the Queen's, and I can often do without the studio banter and forced tittering between commentators that often occurs in American-based news.