American English Professor hates British English

[Midnight Crossroads]

Did you knowingly write what you wrote with the intention of mixing up some obscure difference in grammatical rules between British and American English? If not, he was calling you out for bad grammar, not because you were writing in the Queen's English. If you were aware, you still just mixed up two dialects while writing, which is a horrible fucking idea and a poor use of the English language.

When I write and speak in French, I use a Parisian dialect and I stick to it. I don't throw in things from Quebecois.

 

[Jaidenator]

British = Realise
American = Realize

little stuff like that, we use these in Australian English as well.

 

[Bouchie Bouch]

Well I'm sorry that you brits don't like how we're using "your" language, but you guys left it here after the Revolutionary War. We waited 90 days for someone to claim it, but nobody did, so it's LEGALLY ours.

 

[starwarsgeek]

Well I'm sorry that you brits don't like how we're using "your" language, but you guys left it here after the Revolutionary War. We waited 90 days for someone to claim it, but nobody did, so it's LEGALLY ours.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TylvUGJIi_w

 

[Irony's Acolyte]

That's pretty ridiculous. I mean the language is "English". So naturally those in England could claim to be speaking the "proper" dialect as opposed to the "improper" dialect that we Americans speak. I mean it wouldn't be that bad if you were using another dialect that was hard to understand, but using an English dialect? That really shouldn't be the problem. Although the English language is pretty weird in some ways.

Oh I know! Learn Old English and then rat on him about using a "corrupted form of the English language". Talk about how he's ruining the language by using his "new English".

 

[FaceFaceFace]

snip

There's a reason whatever word program you use has multiple language options, and American and UK English are separate ones. The vast majority, likely somewhere close to 99%, of Americans use pure American English. Punctuation inside the quotations, gray, saber, etc. If you are writing anything to be read by other Americans, then you are expected to use American English. He doesn't hate the British, he's just correct in his belief that he's not grading papers in Britain. And the fact that you mix the versions would make you wrong in Britain, too.

 

[elbrandino]

That teacher sounds like a massive asshole. But what exactly do you mean by "British grammar"? Like instead of "er" you write "re" and spell favorite like favourite? Because honestly I do things like that all the time without even noticing. Hell, I've done it in some essays and my teachers have never cared.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

What a narrow minded ****. That's all I have to say on the matter really. While we're on the subject as well: it's 'aluminium'. Pronounce the second U.

neither are wrong, its the same difference between color and colour, gray and grey, etc.. (haha kind of funny, its trying to spell check me on all the british spelled words) the different dialects are ever so slight. although aluminum and aluminium when pronounced in their dialects are quite different.

 

[joshthor]

i hate british english as well

 

[One of Many]

Well I'm sorry that you brits don't like how we're using "your" language, but you guys left it here after the Revolutionary War. We waited 90 days for someone to claim it, but nobody did, so it's LEGALLY ours.

I salute you!

 

[Terramax]

To be fair, here in the UK we're suffering from the continuous problem of people mixing American and British English also, and it does cause hell for examiners/ lecturers/ teachers.

Remember that if they let something like that slide, they'll get penalized by people who examine THEM.

So whilst it's all fine and dandy calling him names, he probably hasn't got a choice.

 

[manaman]

I've done that all the time; the problem may be that you're American, and it's much more obvious when you do it because the American lexicon has purposefully taken steps to remove itself from the original UK english.

Eh, yeah, say what again?

Approximately two-thirds of native speakers of English live in the United States. Yet the spoken language is actually more homogeneous then what you would find in the UK (less variance in accents and speech patterns). Most of the difference in the language since the split in the 17th century has come from the British side, not (like you seem to be thinking) a purposeful change on the part of people in the US. There is also the large decline in rhotic accents in the UK, while rhotic speech is pretty much still the norm in the US.

In other words the language has changed less since the 17th century in the US then it has in the UK, and there are more native English speakers in the US then anywhere else.

Then again who likes facts, they get in the way of all the snobbery.

 

[Dana22]

Accuse him of racism and discrimination

 

[espada1311]

must say, your professor would gouge my eyes out. i spell colour with a "U" goodness, i think he'd fail me on the spot

 

[bad rider]

I recently got had a go at for using "train station" because it's meant to be a railway station. Do trains get stationed there? Yes. So take your railway and shove it.

Railway- English
Train station- American, supposedly anyway

 

[PrototypeC]

I've done that all the time; the problem may be that you're American, and it's much more obvious when you do it because the American lexicon has purposefully taken steps to remove itself from the original UK english.

Eh, yeah, say what again? Approximately two-thirds of native speakers of English live in the United States. Yet the spoken language is actually more homogeneous then what you would find in the UK (less variance in accents and speech patterns). Most of the difference in the language since the split in the 17th century has come from the British side, not (like you seem to be thinking) a purposeful change on the part of people in the US. There is also the large decline in rhotic accents in the UK, while rhotic speech is pretty much still the norm in the US. In other words the language has changed less since the 17th century in the US then it has in the UK, and there are more native English speakers in the US then anywhere else.

Then again who likes facts, they get in the way of all the snobbery.

I think you got the wrong address mate, all I was saying was that there's a bigger difference between UK English and US English than UK English and Canadian English. I mixed up which country made the changes over the last century, though.

Maybe you were looking for this gentleman:

I *cannot* *STAND* the terms 'British English' and 'American English'. The Chinese language has about a million different dialects, and they all have different names. I think 'British English' should be called English (because it's the proper, ORIGINAL one), and that rubbish the Americans distorted it into should be called something else. As for your professor, as long as it is considered correct in 'British English', he shouldn't have marked you down, but morons will be morons

 

[Ardna Xela]

Native German speaker here, with English as a main subject in school.

We did have the whole American English or British English debate quite a few times, but my teacher has always been quite tolerant with it. Curricularly[footnote]Is this correct? I did look up the word but I'm still not convinced that it really means what I wanna say, being "what we were supposed to learn as told by the 'teaching plan'".[/footnote] we're supposed to learn British English, because, hey, it's the only "true" English (Don't flame me for that, it's what our teacher said). But actually she didn't give a fuck if we wrote "colour" or "color", or pronounced words like "can't" that way or the other.

My conclusion: The whole issue is waaaay too overhyped. English is English. Stop bitching about minor spelling, punctuation and pronunciation differences. Tell your English teacher to loosen the fuck up.

 

[Danzaivar]

He is kind of justified in his worry. If enough of you start speaking properly then we get our colony back (we totally called it). It's unAmerican!