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Tue 13 Sep, 2005 06:47 pm
American English is a dialect of the Queen's english. I'm sorry all you Americans but colour, honour and humour are spelt with a 'u' and I walk on pavements. Metres and Centres are spelt as previously shown!!! And I'll spell Civilisation with an 's' not 'z', Thank you!
Where did all these 'corruptions' as I'll call them come from??
Just to think at all the spelling bees they are spelling everything wrong....
I'll prepair for the flak because this site appears to be prodominately American...
I always say I speak "American", made worse by the fact that I grew up in NYC where I also learned a lot of Yiddish, Italian, Greek, German and Polish.
As the winners of The Revolution, we like to do things our own way.
If you can tell me which of the three dozen (rough guess) forms of English spoken in south London is proper, mebbe we can suss it.
In the mean time, variety is the spice of life, great homogenizing forces are pushing us all into the funnel of a cultural meat grinder, and it's too damn humid at the center of the North American continent for repartee, linguistic bangers, or clothing. Good day to you, sir.
I said Good Day.
I speak the best english, i don't sound like a british landlord or a chav, nor any of the American accents. And i prefer the British Spellings. Hell I didn't even know they spoke english in London nowdays!
My, my, you are opinionated cuss, aint'cha, Milfmaster? Myself, I have no horse in this race as English is a second language for me. But I will say this: some American spellings make much more sense than some British spellings and vice versa. For example, I see absolutely no reason for sticking an extra 'u' into words like color, flavor etc. On the other hand, it makes far more sense to spell 'kerb' rather than 'curb' when referring to a paved foot-path border. I disagree with your assertion that thatre and centre are preferable to the American versions -- unless you're trying to suck up to the French. Transposing the r and the e does not make logical sense, as nobody pronounces the words that way. But, again, I see no reason why Yanks stick an extra 'e' into a perfectly good word like whisky. Civilization or civilisation leaves me unmoved either way. It is pronounced as a 'z' sound but I have no brief in this matter. The same holds for 'defense' vs 'defence'. The letter 'c' is totally useless in English anyway. There's not a word I know of where it couldn't be replaced by either an 's' or a 'k.' (That's not true in some Eastern European languages where the 'c' actually has a distinctive sound, something like 'ts' in English.)
Do you speak Gaelic, Milf? There's an alphabet that confuses the bejazus out of me. I can never figure out how to pronounce anything by seeing it spelled (sorry, I'm used to the Americanism over 'spelt'). How one gets "fal-chay" out of failte is beyond me. Did I spell that corretly?
[edited once for an egregious typo]
yes we also speak the 'Queens' English and spell it differently from Americans...I suppose like anything give it time and it will eventualy evolve..
well firstly i love the conflict and thats why i started this..
Quote:Do you speak Gaelic, Milf? There's an alphabet that confuses the bejazus out of me. I can never figure out how to pronounce anything by seeing it spelled (sorry, I'm used to the Americanism over 'spelt'). How one gets "fal-chay" out of failte is beyond me. Did I spell that corretly?
Failte would be pronounced fall-che...
Is aoibhinn liom na cogaí a thosaigh mé!!! (not an insult whatsoever)
Quote:But, again, I see no reason why Yanks stick an extra 'e' into a perfectly good word like whisky.
You should probably ask a lawyer. Or perhaps a barrister. Or an attorney. Or at any rate a legal representative. Or an illegal representative who specializes in matters pertaining to laws, patents, and or labelling and bottling traditions and requirements. Surely the last people you should ask are the good folks in rather-more-ragged-than-craggy mountains of the eastern United States, for though they put corn and rye to good use, they surely weren't capable of labelling their product with our without Tom Lehrer's silent EEEEE, though jugs of the potable might have borne the XXX of Amsterdam's iron sidewalk/pavement phalluses, in the style of Lil Abner or Watermelon Rose.
Canajun English is preferable to the two poll options.
Thank you for your consideration of the matter.
Milfmaster9 wrote:well firstly i love the conflict and thats why i started this..
Quote:Do you speak Gaelic, Milf? There's an alphabet that confuses the bejazus out of me. I can never figure out how to pronounce anything by seeing it spelled (sorry, I'm used to the Americanism over 'spelt'). How one gets "fal-chay" out of failte is beyond me. Did I spell that corretly?
Failte would be pronounced fall-che...
Is aoibhinn liom na cogaí a thosaigh mé!!! (not an insult whatsoever)
Slainte agus saol fadha.
(I can spell it, but have no clue how it's pronounced!)
Milfmaster9 wrote:well firstly i love the conflict and thats why i started this..
Quote:Do you speak Gaelic, Milf? There's an alphabet that confuses the bejazus out of me. I can never figure out how to pronounce anything by seeing it spelled (sorry, I'm used to the Americanism over 'spelt'). How one gets "fal-chay" out of failte is beyond me. Did I spell that corretly?
Failte would be pronounced fall-che...
Is aoibhinn liom na cogaí a thosaigh mé!!! (not an insult whatsoever)
Slainte agus saol fadha.
(I can spell it, but have no clue how it's pronounced!)
Health and long life... thanks a million...
Cén áit a fhuair tú an teanga ag na Gael??? (Where the hell did you get the language of the Gaels (Irish). Now I'm curious! Nobody here speaks it and if you do people stare at you like your some sort of loon.
I live in Boston, Massachusetts. Does that explain anything at all?
a tad, large irish communities... well isn't half the states under the illusion there irish...
Blame Noah Webster for the u-less American language
Though I did read once that the English themselves didn't use the u in colour or favour but later adopted the u as a form of affectation, from the French.
Merry Andrew wrote:I will say this: some American spellings make much more sense than some British spellings and vice versa.
I find myself agreeing with you a lot.
I'm born in Holland and moved to Canada in 1956. Of course in school it was "British English" spellings all the way.
Some things just seem to make more sense spelled a certain way.
Merry Andrew wrote:But, again, I see no reason why Yanks stick an extra 'e' into a perfectly good word like whisky.
That's not our fault, that's the way the Irish spell it.
I'll raise a glass of Jack Daniels to that, good ol' Tennesee Whiskey!!!
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