American-British Q&A

[ThisIsSnake]

Noah Webster, the guy who wrote Webster's dictionary made quite a few changes to the language when he wrote it. Namely getting rid of spellings that he found illogical (i.e. removing unpronounced vowels like the 'u' in colour).

So the silent "k" in "knight" is logical? How about the silent "m" in "mnemonic"? The "w" in "sword"? Either you're lying to make North Americans seem better or this Webster fellow REALLY wasn't thorough AT ALL in his mission.

1. I'm from Yorkshire
2. We were taught that in A2 English Language class (from a David Crystal Documentary). It's also mentioned on his wikipedia page

"As a spelling reformer, Webster believed that English spelling rules were unnecessarily complex, so his dictionary introduced American English spellings, replacing "colour" with "color", substituting "wagon" for "waggon", and printing "center" instead of "centre". He also added American words, like "skunk" and "squash", that did not appear in British dictionaries. At the age of seventy, Webster published his dictionary in 1828."

Removing letters for logical spellings isn't superior, superiority is none existent in language.

 

[PureChaos]

what's the deal with the whole USA/Canada hatred thing? it's in a lot of shows but i don't know what the US ha against Canada. seems like a nice place

 

[BoredDragon]

To americans: Why are you letting your government throw in the towel for manned space missions, instead now relying on the russians for transport?

to be honest, I'm not sure why we even need to keep exploring space when our problems on earth are pretty big

 

[BaconPunch]

Dear: America

Wai U So FaT????

because our food taste good

"Your food" is burgers. Other than that pretty much all of your food is taken from another country

 

[JDKJ]

Here is a question as a British Scottish person how would an average American (if such a thing exists which I doubt) differentiate me from an English person?

I understand the whole English accent = snarky comic relief/villain thing but that is used so commonly in conjunction with "British" it leaves me curious.

Especially since I think Scotland has quite a strong and recognisable national identity for our size.

That's kinda weird because the Scots who migrated here tended to end up in the Blue Ridge Mountain area of Kentucky where they became stereotypical mountain men, distilling moonshine (if there's one thing a Scotsman knows how to do, it's making whiskey) and feuding between their clans (e.g., the "McCoys" in Hatfields versus McCoys). I don't think the Scottish ended up in large metropolitan areas in any significant numbers -- unlike the Irish in Boston and New York. Your typical American probably's never encountered anyone of Scottish descent. But he can differentiate between an Englishman and an Irishman. The Irishman's always the drunker of the two.

 

[BoredDragon]

what's the deal with the whole USA/Canada hatred thing? it's in a lot of shows but i don't know what the US ha against Canada. seems like a nice place

I think of it as a sibling relationship. We both poke fun at each other, but in the end we both love each other. Besides, what would our country do without its magical hat that gives us maple syrup

 

[aashell13]

Just how big is football (soccer) in America?

Professionally, it isn't. On a recreational basis it's huge though, almost to the point of being the standard sport of the elementary and middle school ages.

 

[BoredDragon]

Dear: America

Wai U So FaT????

because our food taste good

"Your food" is burgers. Other than that pretty much all of your food is taken from another country

that sounds like terrorist talk to me

 

[JDKJ]

Dear: America

Wai U So FaT????

because our food taste good

"Your food" is burgers. Other than that pretty much all of your food is taken from another country

That was stolen, too. It's more fully called a "hamburger," as in Hamburg, Germany, where it originated.

 

[drisky]

what's the deal with the whole USA/Canada hatred thing? it's in a lot of shows but i don't know what the US ha against Canada. seems like a nice place

There are Canadians that hate the US too, I've always considered it like a political sports revelry, we make fun of each other a lot but theres only a few crazy jerks with true animosity.

I want to ask to UK, my grandmother went there and came back with a few menus of the places she ate, many of them had pidgin on it. How common pidgin in restaurants?

 

[SiNCry]

What? no canadians? TT_TT

Because we are all knowing

no its just because I consider you our hat

We ARE warm and comforting

what's the deal with the whole USA/Canada hatred thing? it's in a lot of shows but i don't know what the US ha against Canada. seems like a nice place

They (stereotype Americans) make fun of us because we're to nice and polite and they see that as...a sign of weakness?

Here is a question as a British Scottish person how would an average American (if such a thing exists which I doubt) differentiate me from an English person?

I understand the whole English accent = snarky comic relief/villain thing but that is used so commonly in conjunction with "British" it leaves me curious.

Especially since I think Scotland has quite a strong and recognisable national identity for our size.

That's kinda weird because the Scots who migrated here tended to end up in the Blue Ridge Mountain area of Kentucky where they became stereotypical mountain men, distilling moonshine and feuding between their clans (e.g., the "McCoys" in Hatfields versus McCoys). I don't think the Scottish ended up in large metropolitan areas in any significant numbers -- unlike the Irish in Boston and New York. Your typical American probably's never encountered anyone of Scottish descent.

You're probably right. I'm Scotish (living in Canada) and when I tell people I'm Scotish, they seem amazed .
Ha, aactually, I told one of my friends that I was Scotish, and he now says that I'm the last of my kind and that I'm part of an endangered species

 

[JDKJ]

what's the deal with the whole USA/Canada hatred thing? it's in a lot of shows but i don't know what the US ha against Canada. seems like a nice place

I think of it as a sibling relationship. We both poke fun at each other, but in the end we both love each other. Besides, what would our country do without its magical hat that gives us maple syrup

And 80% of the petroleum we import.

 

[MisterM2402]

Noah Webster, the guy who wrote Webster's dictionary made quite a few changes to the language when he wrote it. Namely getting rid of spellings that he found illogical (i.e. removing unpronounced vowels like the 'u' in colour).

So the silent "k" in "knight" is logical? How about the silent "m" in "mnemonic"? The "w" in "sword"? Either you're lying to make North Americans seem better or this Webster fellow REALLY wasn't thorough AT ALL in his mission.

1. I'm from Yorkshire
2. We were taught that in A2 English Language class (from a David Crystal Documentary). It's also mentioned on his wikipedia page

"As a spelling reformer, Webster believed that English spelling rules were unnecessarily complex, so his dictionary introduced American English spellings, replacing "colour" with "color", substituting "wagon" for "waggon", and printing "center" instead of "centre". He also added American words, like "skunk" and "squash", that did not appear in British dictionaries. At the age of seventy, Webster published his dictionary in 1828."

Removing letters for logical spellings isn't superior, superiority is none existent in language.

It just sounds odd to me that he did a half-assed job of it - why not just remove the redundant letters from *every* word with weird spelling, eh?

I didn't mean that the alternative spellings are "superior". I meant that I assumed you were making something up so that it looked like there was a *reason* for the alternative spellings rather than "just cause..." - this would make North Americans look better (and I assumed you were one). That explanation wasn't great, but do you see where I'm coming from?

 

[BaconPunch]

Dear: America

Wai U So FaT????

because our food taste good

"Your food" is burgers. Other than that pretty much all of your food is taken from another country

that sounds like terrorist talk to me

Accusing you of stealing food isn't a sign that I want to lay explosives everywhere. I think you may need to check your definitions.

 

[aashell13]

To americans: Why are you letting your government throw in the towel for manned space missions, instead now relying on the russians for transport?

That's a good question. I live in Texas, where NASA's based, and we'll give you a good answer as soon as we get one from Mr. Obama. Bush actually secured authorization for a new NASA moon program called "Constellation", but it got the axe almost immediately after he left office. I guess a lot of people currently in charge just don't see space as being very important.

 

[SuccessAndBiscuts]

Spoiler: snip

Noah Webster, the guy who wrote Webster's dictionary made quite a few changes to the language when he wrote it. Namely getting rid of spellings that he found illogical (i.e. removing unpronounced vowels like the 'u' in colour).

So the silent "k" in "knight" is logical? How about the silent "m" in "mnemonic"? The "w" in "sword"? Either you're lying to make North Americans seem better or this Webster fellow REALLY wasn't thorough AT ALL in his mission.

Here is a question as a British Scottish person how would an average American (if such a thing exists which I doubt) differentiate me from an English person?

I understand the whole English accent = snarky comic relief/villain thing but that is used so commonly in conjunction with "British" it leaves me curious.

Especially since I think Scotland has quite a strong and recognisable national identity for our size.

This is a pretty good question.
I'm Scottish too, so I feel a high-five is in order, good sir.

Spoiler: click here

Its funny but I think there are actually quite a few Scottish escapists.

The national identity thing does bug me, I was at a themed party with a bunch of exchange students to my uni (theme was dress in a fashion that is sterotypical of your country/wrapped in a flag) and the kilt I wore and by extension me got a lot of attention. Don't think I've ever been felt up by so many women in my life, was... interesting if disconcerting.

I kinda think Scotland has this bizarre combination of major patriotism and extreme cynicism.

 

[BoredDragon]

Dear: America

Wai U So FaT????

because our food taste good

"Your food" is burgers. Other than that pretty much all of your food is taken from another country

that sounds like terrorist talk to me

Accusing you of stealing food isn't a sign that I want to lay explosives everywhere. I think you may need to check your definitions.

*deploys air-strike*

now who needs to re-define their definitions now *****!!!!

 

[xchurchx]

why do you Yanks call it football?
i mean common? u kick the ball like a few times in a game?

 

[aashell13]

"Your food" is burgers. Other than that pretty much all of your food is taken from another country

Sort of. Yes, we've borrowed extensively, but it's more a conglomerate of derivatives than anything else. Tex-Mex for example is based off of mexican food, and uses a lot of the same names, but any Mexican will tell you that it's a lot different. Same goes for Italian and Chinese food.

Also, I'm told that Italian pizza is nothing like a proper American pizza.