British VS American English

The Canajuns are "conflicted"--they are never sure which language they should speak. They're all mixed up, eh?

Ay????? :wink:

Walk into an American hardware store and ask for a spanner.
Walk into a British outfitter and ask for a crescent.
Some adjustment may be needed.

Nevermind that.
Ask if you can borrow the Irishman's dolly.
Duck.
Tell them that your lorry is in the park around the corner.
We'll have no truck with that kind of talk.

The American says he only has a Stilson.
What is that, some kind of cheese?

The Allen keyes are hexed.
The Canadian drives look squared off against the Phillips,
no one can say when the worm will turn.

Odd looks fly about,
words fail,
There are hand motions made.
Thumbs and fingers
gyrate in the silence.

Meeting at the edges of the great waters,
we are
two
tribes,
semaphoring
with our eyebrows.

Joe(Do you want that in a bag or a sack?)Nation

did you write that Joe?

yep
yeah
uh hn
si
oui
yshesh


Joe(( ) Nation

That would be British. Canada uses many of the British words and phrases, but not all. As we became less of a colony and more multi cultural, we have also become more multi lingual :-)

Even the U has some into some disrepute. True colonialists use the U as in colour, favourite etc but as more and more of Canada business is bought up by Americans, it is becoming much more common to see the American spelling. Pity.

Those Canadian drives are called Robertson screwdrivers. Invented by a man named Robertson, dontcha know.

Bonnet in the UK, hood in the USA.
Boot in the UK, trunk in the USA.

You say lint, we say fluff........

You say Hoover, we are now just about getting used to saying Dyson.

Gotta go, as I've got to dyson the carpet.

I suggest we are seeing your obsessive hatred of the United States and all things American once again. It was Noah Webster who sought to simplify spelling, and removed the unnecessary "u" in those words. I see other English-speakers whining about that silliness all the time, but i don't see them complaining about changing "magick" to magic, or "musick" to music, two other Webster innovations of which other English-speakers seem to be ignorant. You have absolutely no sense of proportion in your view of things American--you're obsessed.

The use of "Hoover" for vacuum cleaner is both an antique form, and a regionalism. Most Americans whom i have heard simply say vacuum cleaner.

What about using a "Kleenex" to wipe your nose, or "Jell-O" for gelatin dessert? My grandmother used to say that she was going to get some food from out of the frigidaire!

Well, it looks as though things are moving here. Great (marvelous)!

I found out in British English abbreviations in which the final letter is also the last letter of the word, no period (fullstop) is used. Mr, Dr, ... But where it is not the last letter, a period is used. ave., no., tel., etc., etc. I'm not sure about 'street'.

Except for expressions like "ill-gotten goods..." "got" is almost universally used by British. "He has got the book." But in America we can say, "He has got or gotten...", each having a different nuance. Americans also tend to say, "Do you have..." rather than "Have you got..."

In Kenya a "hotel" was a place to eat and an "inn" was where you lodge.

American English and that of Britain were nearly the same during the colonial period. But after that minor row we had, the language started to differ. And just as in other languages (Spanish in Honduras), the newly planted language changes more slowly in some respects than at its mother's location. In other words, the dialect of Boston today, is more like what Londoners spoke 250 years ago than what they speak in London today.

British tend to take a franco approach to spelling, programme. British say, "He's at hospital." not 'the hospital' but Americans say "at school, at work"...

billions, trillions and above... I still have a hard time accepting. So you could have 44-billion-trillion? Right? It always expands expotentually.

As for automobile parts' names (along with wireless communication devices), there is a logical reason why they are different. Until 1890s long-distance communication was slow (telegraph and sail-mail) and local lexicons were expanding without cross influence. Technology was deveolping quickly, however. Both sides of the pond were developing engines at such a rapid pace that terms to fit their own vernaculars stuck.

Then during that pesky squabble with the Kaiser, the Yanks appeared and a co-ordination in communications was necessary through a new media called the radio (the wireless). Soon talkies, films, movies, "the tele", videos, and , yes, the internet has actually drawn the two dialects closer.

Now if we can only get those guys in Quebec to fall in line....ooops. That's another story.

Have FUN!
Andy

Don't you Brits queue up? We Americans stand in line unless we are New York Cityites, then we stand on line.

Joe("Watch your back". -New Yorker for excuse me.)Nation

I think that's really good are you published? It should be. Perfect for this thresd you got lucky.

BRITISH Vs AMERICAN Vs CANADIAN ENGLISH.

I for one do not dispute that i speak the American language, and that it has a life apart from the English language from which it descends, and has had for two centuries or longer. The same can be said of English vis a vis French, although the separation is of longer duration.

This one a quite a few threads on this topic which we've had here, and i never tire of the childish delight afforded me in pointing out that y'all consistently misspell center, color, honor, humor . . . etc., etc. . . .

I think the reason America has it's own way of spelling certain words and using veriations in terminology is because its America's way of showing its independance. America wants to be able to make its own choices. The off-spring has graduated and has flow the nest, leaving its aged parents with their tried and trusted ways.

Americans talk about "going downtown"
Brits are content to say they are "going into town"
Americans wear "pants",,, Brits still wear "trousers"
Americans wear a "vest",,, Brits wear a "waistcoat"
Your automobiles run on "gasoline" and wear tires.
We drive motorcars, run 'em on petrol and they wear "tyres"

We generally just say cars . . . and if we're out of town, then we say we are going into town . . . there have been quite a few assertions made in this thread about what Americans do or don't say which are completely without foundation . . .

Lost in the lint/dust/fluff:



In this neck of the woods, Good Housewives run The Cleaner at least three times a week.


My son started school in a London Classroom. His "Infant" teacher (an description that was unpopular with my son) didn't recognize the term "upchuck" as in, "Mrs. B, Anthony is upchucking all over the floor."

We use a tissue to wipe our nose, Jelly is the wobbly stuff that kids have at birthday parties and we keep food cold in the fridge.