Americans! Do the maths!

reply to post by ThePublicEnemyNo1

Wasn't directed at you.
The whole point of this thread was to show the idiosyncrasies between what is basically the same language, and hop to expand on it. As was pointed out before: potato, potato, tomato, tomato.
Paint it any colour you want, it's still the same color!

reply to post by nolabel


You mean idiots´ncrazies?

reply to post by nolabel


Ah ha....but, to elaborate more on your OP, why does it bother you that across the pond (if you're in Liverpool), we speak so differently? I mean, we find the way you speak some words to sound very strange and rather comical, but we don't refer to all Europeans as "lazy" because of it.

Ya think you might be treading on thin ice a tad bit?

reply to post by ThePublicEnemyNo1


As I said earlier I am not British, I am Scouse and we speak totally different to everybody else. What this thread has thrown up for me is how quick a lot of people have seen it as a personal attack on their language and just attacked me rather than try to explain why we say things differently even when we are using the same basic language. (i.e. English)

I suppose I shouldn't have put it in "rants" but I didn't know where else to put it.

I was just trying to get a discussion going as to why we have so many differences in our language. Probably haven't gone the best way about it, Didn't mean to offend or upset anybody.

Originally posted by nolabel
reply to post by DarthMuerte

 

Thank you for your eloquent reply and taking the time to compose it.
I still maintain that it is said that way through laziness.

And no, I am not British.

I am Scouse!

edit on 15-4-2012 by nolabel because: (no reason given)

It's alright if you still maintain that it is said that way through laziness.

Americans will still think you have a lisp.

Originally posted by nolabel
reply to post by ThePublicEnemyNo1

 

As I said earlier I am not British, I am Scouse and we speak totally different to everybody else. What this thread has thrown up for me is how quick a lot of people have seen it as a personal attack on their language and just attacked me rather than try to explain why we say things differently even when we are using the same basic language. (i.e. English)

I suppose I shouldn't have put it in "rants" but I didn't know where else to put it.

It's okay and I don't find it as a personal attack as I have travelled outside the US far and wide. Not so much in Europe as I find it to be a boring country, very gray and always cold (no pun intended and yes I have visited Europe, but not the UK, England or Ireland).

Example, I was in Egypt for a couple of months quite some time ago and I was asked if I was American and what race I was, so I replied "Yes I'm American and I'm mixed with Native American, Russian and Black". The person I was speaking to totally didn't recognize the term Black as being descriptive of African Ancestry, so I said "I'm African American", they still didn't get it....finally, I said "I'm mixed with African", then they completely understood me. America is just a melting pot of various cultures that have come together to make up what we call The United States of America.

Look at it this way..."It's just the dialect that we select when we hang"

this is the biggest FAIL on ats so far.
You let all brits down on this one. rofl@u
maths [mæθs]
n
(Mathematics) (functioning as singular) Brit informal short for mathematics US and Canadian equivalent math
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003


now tell us what chips are....lol

reply to post by manna2


I loved your post

To us "Lazy Americans", chips are anything like Lays, Ruffles, Doritos...ya' know potato or potatoe chips. What "they" call chips are what we call fries or potato steaks....totally different dude

I have never understood, "Knock you up", instead of "Pick you up". To knock someone up in America is to impregnate them. Also do not get "bangers" as a relevant term for sausages. What is up with a pudding called "Spotted Dick"? In America a dick is well, slang for an appendage.

When we immigrated cause we found your rules opressive, we changed your language to suit ourselves. Sorry, get over it.

reply to post by ThePublicEnemyNo1

It's okay and I don't find it as a personal attack as I have travelled outside the US far and wide. Not so much in Europe as I find it to be a boring country

Evidently I do not think you have ever been to Europe. If you had you would have noted that Europe is not a country...

reply to post by purplemer

I was sitting here grinning wondering whether to make that observation too. Fortunately you saved me the trouble. I'd just like to point out that most of Europe doesn't speak English either.

fancy some spag bol? You dont speak American so deal with it.

I had to google "whats a scouse"......

Now that I know, I'd like to politely inform you that although we call it English, because its a branch of English, we don't actually speak English in America.

We speak American.


There are no U's following our O's, we spell using Z's when an S sounds like a Z, we don't put the R before the E, we don't add extra A's or any other unnecessary vowels (isn't it bad enough we got all these silent G's and K's running around?), we end title abrevations with a period, we don't watch our dangling participles, and we quite frequently do the math.


There are googles of sites with more lists, just ask google "American English vs. British English"

And you should also just be glad that English of any brand is your first language.

If I'm writing anything important, I still double check my nearest dictionary (google! ) to see if I'm doing my ie's right (or is it ei's? is that comma wrong? is it comma or coma? omg thats not even a comma its an apostrophe, slap me now.... I need sleep, blame insomnia!)

"i before e - except after c - and when sounding like a - as in neighbor and weigh - and on weekends and holidays and all throughout May - and you'll always be wrong no matter what you say"

Originally posted by ThePublicEnemyNo1
reply to post by manna2

 

I loved your post

To us "Lazy Americans", chips are anything like Lays, Ruffles, Doritos...ya' know potato or potatoe chips. What "they" call chips are what we call fries or potato steaks....totally different dude

I love this! had to comment - my son and I for a while were trying to keep a list - I can't remember them all now but I know .....
we call them cookies, they call biscuits - we call them fries, they call them chips - we call them chips, they call them crisps - and then typing that out got me thinking... what do they call biscuits... so I started to type that into google "what do british call" and I didn't even have to finish apparently its a common question.

Google says, if they have a biscuit they either call it a biscuit or a muffin.

Yeah I know, I google too much. Soon as there's a 12-step program for it, I'll join.

reply to post by Forevever


A biscuit is a biscuit and a muffin is a muffin Fries are the thin ones you get at MacDonald's. Chips are the thick deep fried pieces of potato were all brought up on. Yummy

Originally posted by nolabel
It is "MATHS"
It is NOT "MATH"
The long form is mathematics, not mathematic!
The only reason Americans use the word "math" is because they are too lazy to say "maths".
Is it so bloody hard for you to add the extra "s" at the end of the word?

Well, American English and English English are different.

Languages are not stable, and there is no right or wrong.

Bet you wouldn't be concerned about the differences between Mandarin and Cantoneese Chinese...but because English is "your" language you get all worked up....take a deep breath, step back, and smell the objectivitiy.

Originally posted by Grifter81
reply to post by nolabel

 

Why are you bothered? Both spellings serve their purpose. What's next? Putting all the U's back in color at gun point?

edit on 15/4/2012 by Grifter81 because: (no reason given)

Damn good idea! And why stop there, how about also getting rid of stupid z's in words (ie, sanitise not sanitize). I get bloody fed up of having to correct my computer at every turn! And i even have set to UK English, not US English.

Also, aluminium - there, only an extra letter for our American cousins to deal with!

Stone the crows mate! We speak Lizz's english here in Aussie too. Is this all the OP has in their kanga pouch! Stwuth! Gotta say it proppa like, we can use whatever spellin we like now. We can blame it on Lizz, we can blame it on the Yanks. We blame it on FB or the mobile. As a last resort we blame it on the drop bears!

Cripes you wanna see the Language torn up, try Canada. They put Frenchy words in.

Gotto love such a usable language!

reply to post by Flavian


Was wondering when Aluminum would rear its shiny head. Have a digestive and chill! There is a wonderful series of books, mysteries, with a Scotland Yard Detective one of the men he works with is always eating charcoal digestives. We eat cookies or crackers, not some sort of warped combination. All in fun mate.

reply to post by Iamschist


What is a charcoal digestive? Sounds blooming horrible!

Keep telling my US relatives they can't spell.........they just don't seem to listen (or care)! Wonder why.....

Chill pill doesn't come into action when it is my computer........bloody stupid thing should do as it is told, not try to think for me. Bloody jumped up abacus......