It's English.

[cyce3]

Yeah language just generally changes in different ways in different places. What i do get annoyed about though is when we (the english) have to start using american spellings. For example we are strongly encouraged (by teachers/government by splelling it the other way in textbooks etc.) to spell the chemical sulphur as sulfur.

Well i say i get annoyed, I'm really not that bothered its just a point i wanteed to make.

 

[BeeRye]

I'm less worried about minor spelling changes than the overall degradation of our language with the advent of "text speak". It's appalling to see some of the "English" put down by students in the state exams here.

 

[JWRosser]

Also I think massively due to accent.

If you look study it phonetically in great detail, there is a slight different between the pronunciation of "colour" and "color".
It's like how Northern Brits pronounce words like "class" as "cl-ass", similar to America, whereas us Southern Brits say "cl-arse"

 

[Dexiro]

I think the more pressing question should be:

Why, despite our languages being so similar, do we find it so hard to communicate between England and America?

After all, we are two countries separated by a common language-George Bernard Shaw

Who finds it difficult? I'm English and don't have a problem understanding American terms.

I've seen people get confused about culture, like different laws and education, but never about language.

 

[MelasZepheos_v1legacy]

I think the more pressing question should be:

Why, despite our languages being so similar, do we find it so hard to communicate between England and America?

After all, we are two countries separated by a common language-George Bernard Shaw

Who finds it difficult? I'm English and don't have a problem understanding American terms.

I've seen people get confused about culture, like different laws and education, but never about language.

That's...

the entire point.

The point of Mr Bernard Shaw's quote is that it is easy to think of Britain and America as being similar because they share a language. This is because in people's heads we equate anything similar to us as being on the same side as us via social conditioning. However, it's very dangerous to assume that because we have the same language we have the same views and opinions. That we are in fact very different in culture is the basis of that statement, it's entire raison d'etre is to draw awareness to the fact that despite our shared language, we have difficulty really communicating because of our different cultures.

There's a massive difference between being able to talk to someone and being able to communicate with them.

And now I've had to go and explain my literary pun, so I guess what little joke there was has been destroyed now.

And seriously? That's one of the most famous quotes with regards to Britain and America ever! And it's got such a clear meaning as well. It's satire, sarcasm, wit, irony, the entire foundation of British culture summed up into a single line. Oof.

 

[RN7]

It's a cultural thing, different dialects and such. It's kind of like how Mexican Spanish and Spanish Spanish is different. Different cultures will develop the same thing in a different way.

 

[Leviathan_]

hello fellow escapists, i was thinking today, why do Americans spell some words different to the English, yet they say they speak English? i'm not having a go at anyone, i think that it is good that we have cultural differences but i just think it is interesting that the same language is spoken, yet it is different. Also, what are the origins of words like 'soda' which is in the English language but the English never use?

French in Canada is different from French in France
Dutch in Belgium is different fromt Dutch in the Netherlands
French in Belgium is different from French in France

English is English, it's that simple.

 

[Brandon237]

It's accents. Except that accents are also in your hands and fingers. Also, I demand that the BB code becomes friendly to Brits. I die inside when I write "COLOR" instead of "COLOUR". Also, I want World Peace. No wait, that's too easy compared to that other one. A'ight, just the first one, and make it snappy boy!

Calumon: Jack's been playing Saint's Row 2. : /

THIS so much. I couldn't figure out how to do it for 15 minutes because of that!

I think it is just the way that the languages changed. The initial isolation in America and the whole rebellion thing were also not good on the education system, so some knowledge may have been lost here and there.

 

[esperandote]

It happens all the time, spanish is different in Spain, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Cuba, Guatemala, Puerto Rico, Etc.

 

[joshuaayt]

"Oh YEAH!?
Well WE don't even NEED most of these crummy 'u's! Unlike YOU guys"- America

"...Fuck. He's right..."- Everywhere else.
I myself prefer using Americanised usually, except when z's come into it.

 

[Latino Gamer]

Even within the US, people speak differently on the west coat than in New York or in the south, because language is continually evolving. My family is from Mexico and our Spanish is no longer the same that Spaniards speak. Puerto Ricans, Salvadorians, etc have different words and sayings than us too.

Similarly, couldn't you add Australia and the English-speaking part of Canada to your comparison?

 

[Escapefromwhatever]

Yeah, there are differences, but only in dialect. The language is still basically the same in both countries. For example, if I, an American, weren't writing English right now, you couldn't understand me.

 

[ultimateownage]

Because Americans are idiots and can't spell.

 

[Woodsey]

There's British English, and then there's American English (in terms of spelling). Obviously that gets broken into different dialects across the country just the same as it is here in England..

What's difficult to understand?

Because Americans are idiots and can't spell.

I'm worried that this is said without (seemingly) any inclination of sarcasm.

EDIT: 5000th post!

 

[ultimateownage]

There's British English, and then there's American English (in terms of spelling). Obviously that gets broken into different dialects across the country just the same as it is here in England..

What's difficult to understand?

Because Americans are idiots and can't spell.

I'm worried that this is said without (seemingly) any inclination of sarcasm.

No need to worry, it was sarcastic. I do dislike the spelling though. I find it is a bit pointless omitting some of the extra letters just to further themselves from us. Also, congrats on 5,000 posts.

 

[GrinningManiac]

It's accents. Except that accents are also in your hands and fingers. Also, I demand that the BB code becomes friendly to Brits. I die inside when I write "COLOR" instead of "COLOUR". Also, I want World Peace. No wait, that's too easy compared to that other one. A'ight, just the first one, and make it snappy boy!

Calumon: Jack's been playing Saint's Row 2. : /

Jack's right

It's basically a combination of poor spelling defintions circa 1776 and accents

As the American accent defines itself, Americans spell things how they sound (as there is no "proper" spellings (or at least, they're not taught properly to the masses))

Thus, whilst a Brit might say "Cuh-lurr" and spell it as such, the Americans got their own accent and, therefore, their own words

Of course, by the time this finished "happening", spelling was widely standardised, so it came to be "Color" instead

 

[Woodsey]

There's British English, and then there's American English (in terms of spelling). Obviously that gets broken into different dialects across the country just the same as it is here in England..

What's difficult to understand?

Because Americans are idiots and can't spell.

I'm worried that this is said without (seemingly) any inclination of sarcasm.

No need to worry, it was sarcastic. I do dislike the spelling though. I find it is a bit pointless omitting some of the extra letters just to further themselves from us. Also, congrats on 5,000 posts.

OK then - it's pretty hard to tell in writing.

And thanks, I didn't even notice until you pointed it out!

 

[capnpupster]

This is actually a stupid question, I don't say that often but in this case it's true. You have an ocean and over 200 years between two peoples that split from each other, it's a wonder we can understand each other at all. Languages change quite arbitrarily, they always have and always will.

By the way, my definition of a stupid question is: 1. a question where the answer is obvious 2. a question which an individual has asked before and received the correct answer.

 

[TheDrunkNinja]

You have no fucking clue what it used to be like. It was an illegible mess of a language back 200 years ago. Around the time of the colonies, we had to build on what we had and teach kids what we only perceived as common terms rather than a slur of slang-like words. I know this because I got a early 19th century children's school book that was passed down from my mum's side, and it is the biggest spelling and grammar mess I have ever seen. I mean, we didn't have some huge library or university right there, we had to build that shit ourselves, use whatever books we may have brought over from jolly old England or write them ourselves with our screwed-up, compiled understanding of english. And, things got even worse when immigration took off. Being a "melting pot", we have so many different cultures mixing together into one nation that it's nearly impossible to keep everything straight while having a huge influence from many different countries impact our way of life. Trust me, it wasn't easy, but we've done the best we can.