Non Americans: Does seeing American English bother you?
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What would you have us call ourselves? United Statians? American is the only identifier we have that both makes a little sense and doesn't sound ridiculousCastian Blake said:
Not at all, let the baby have their bottle as long as they recognise they are speaking English, not American, American is not a language. I'm much more pissed off by butchered phrases like 'I could care less'. They lose their initial meaning and it grates at me.
One exception is 'lazer'. Laser is an acronym, and unless you spell stimulated with a z, you're spelling it completely fucking wrong.
The only time American spellings annoy me is when my fellow Brit uses them, like saying asshole instead of arsehole. Those people deserve to be drawn and quartered for treason.
One exception is 'lazer'. Laser is an acronym, and unless you spell stimulated with a z, you're spelling it completely fucking wrong.
The only time American spellings annoy me is when my fellow Brit uses them, like saying asshole instead of arsehole. Those people deserve to be drawn and quartered for treason.
Why would you insult us by calling us Englishmen? I'm pretty sure that Canadians, Australians, and New Zealanders wouldn't like it if you called them Englishmen.Jacco said:
Out of all the English-speaking countries that were once part of the British Empire, America was the one that turned out to be completely different. Hell, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand are still part of the British Empire, and I genuinely feel sorry for them.
So please, if you are going to be talking about American history, at least know what you are talking about! My fore-fathers gave their lives to establish this wonderful country we call America; so, as I have stated above, please don't insult us by calling us English!
The whole attitude is childish and ignorant.
People who are upset or offended by minor regional differences of a shared language should perhaps get a few more languages under their belt before they complain about US English. A few spelling differences and minor variation in word choice is pretty negligible compared to the differences found in many other languages and their dialects (which can be mutually unintelligible).
People who are upset or offended by minor regional differences of a shared language should perhaps get a few more languages under their belt before they complain about US English. A few spelling differences and minor variation in word choice is pretty negligible compared to the differences found in many other languages and their dialects (which can be mutually unintelligible).
What are you even talking about?DefinitelyPsychotic said:
I AM American and history is my major. I didn't call Americans Englishmen. I said after the war they were essentially displaced Englishmen- which is true. Colonial society was essentially British society. After the war, there was a movement to separate the States from British society and create a new national identity. The changing of word spellings was a part of that.
I just get slightly miffed when I find out things like the Harry Potter books having to be basically retranslated into American English for the American audience, since JK Rowling wrote them with UK English. What a waste of money. I think the average American reader could handle having to read about bins, colours, and footpaths.
And they changed the actual title of the first book, from "Philosophers Stone" to "Sorcerers Stone". Because they thought it would be easier to market. That is just mind-numbingly stupid.
And they changed the actual title of the first book, from "Philosophers Stone" to "Sorcerers Stone". Because they thought it would be easier to market. That is just mind-numbingly stupid.
Most of the time they are not translated. The only reason HP was is because it's a kids book and the alternate spellings would confuse them. I started reading HP in 3rd grade (around 8 years old) and having the alternate spellings from the words I was still taking spelling tests on would have utterly killed me.Hero in a half shell said:
I do sometimes but i don't like it when american english meanings of words take over the british english meaning. For example, 'fag' and '******'. A 'fag' is a cigarette not a gay person, and a '******' is a meatball or a bundle of sticks. Yet some british people use them for the american meaning while there are plenty of perfectly good words in our language for showing your dislike of homosexuals.
My friend even "United statians" its wrong since every union of city states are called United States, just like half the cuntries in the globe are named;theevilgenius60 said:
"United States of (insert country name here)"
Maybe "Capitalistians" or ... err.... sorry, i dont wanted to troll, but its how i think.
I think anyone complaining about spelling that doesn't actually change the pronunciation of a word can get bent. Brits have no right to complain, not when you can go from county to county (or equivalent) and hear vastly different spoken accents.
I learnt English at an american-influenced school, so no trouble here. But since it is my second language, I don't find Canadian/British/Aussie or any other variation strange unless its some weird form of literal cockney accent. In other words, unless its written in a bizarre way, it won't bother me.
No, It doesn't bother me. I prefer the spellings I use, but I don't care if someone else spells differently.
But I don't like that firefox corrects 'colour', 'favourite', 'organise', etc. But that's just because the language settings are set to American by default and since this isn't my computer, the person who installed it just clicked on through.
But I don't like that firefox corrects 'colour', 'favourite', 'organise', etc. But that's just because the language settings are set to American by default and since this isn't my computer, the person who installed it just clicked on through.
As an English guy the don't really notice till I see "centre" and "center", I think you guys spell it correctly.Jacco said:
Although my spelling is pretty terrible, I actually didn't know Americans and English have different spellings for favourite.
that's not really correct in regard to the linguistic differences between American and British English. Some of the things accepted as 'changed' by America are actually the way it used to be in the Britain.Jacco said:
What actually happened is that, due to distance, the American colonies fell behind some very big linguistic shake-ups occurring in Britain at the time. Additionally, the colonies, largely isolated, were naturally following their own divergent linguistic development. There wasn't a concerted effort to change the language 'just enough' to claim uniqueness. It was just the natural process of a living language, and it is very similar to other isolated colonies such as Australia. Was there some reveling in the differences after the fact? Sure, but the the change itself was a natural process.
I must note that, I have never heard an Australian say that their brand of English and idiom was a coordinated effort to stick it to the Empire. Australia is still technically part of that empire, but its origins lay largely with people whom that empire either rejected or forgot. There is a lot about the origins of the great U S of A that are mythical, and while there would some basis in fact for Americans deliberately trying not to 'speak English', the extent of that movement is one of those myths. This is shown quite clearly in the iconic manner of speech that lasted long after independence and which was quite similar to the British mode.
Anyway, people who claim to have 'proper' English are people ignorant of the language's rich and ever-changing history. So many of the 'rules' are founded on compounded mistakes, yet they are proper at the time.
It annoys me when Americans say Melbourne, because they pronouce it really weirdly. It's not "MEL-born" it's "mel-burn".
Doesn't really bother me, as I know most people who are on this site are American. I just put up with it.