Poll: American English or English English?
- Thread starter NewClassic_v1legacy
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I speak American English because I'm an American--it'd be pretentious to cop the pronunciation and spelling patterns of another country.
That being said, I love expressive words so I'm occasionally prone to using "British-isms" because they are eloquently expressive of a certain idea. It's kind of like someone saying "je ne sais quoi" or "quod erat demonstrandum".
There's a book out there called "The Meaning of Tingo" which is about very specific words that arise in some language. Tingo itself means "to borrow a friend's belongings, one at a time, until they have nothing left". Since we usually don't create words or specific phraseology for things that don't happen fairly often, the odd hyper-specific words in your language say a LOT about the nature of your culture.
Your language usage is only "incorrect" if you're unintelligible or you're expressing something you didn't intend to express.
That being said, I love expressive words so I'm occasionally prone to using "British-isms" because they are eloquently expressive of a certain idea. It's kind of like someone saying "je ne sais quoi" or "quod erat demonstrandum".
There's a book out there called "The Meaning of Tingo" which is about very specific words that arise in some language. Tingo itself means "to borrow a friend's belongings, one at a time, until they have nothing left". Since we usually don't create words or specific phraseology for things that don't happen fairly often, the odd hyper-specific words in your language say a LOT about the nature of your culture.
Your language usage is only "incorrect" if you're unintelligible or you're expressing something you didn't intend to express.
In all honesty, I find it important to point out something that hasn't really been mentioned yet. American English (which I typically refer to as American) and British English (which I typically refer to as British) are currently in a sort of juxtaposition. In my view, American is really more "true English" than British is. When the Americas were colonized, Americans and Britons obviously spoke the same form of the language. Starting from the same essential form of the language, natural evolution of the language continued to progress, and given the technological limitations of the era the development of American and British were relatively independent. It's somewhat of a wonder that we can understand each other as well as we can.
However, in the United States - while dialects developed - the *general* pronunciation of words has remained closer to what it was when the nation was colonized. That is to say, Americans today speak more like Britons in the 17th century. Due to some "movements" in the United States during the 18th and 19th centuries to standardize the spelling and grammar of American, we've seen significant changes in the spelling of our words in the new world. Movements like phonetic spelling never really caught on, but their impact can be felt in the profusion of the -ize suffix in this very post I'm writing. As a consequence, British is *generally* more true to the original spelling and grammar of English circa the 17th century. Personally I consider the pronunciation aspect to be the more representative measure of the language, thus the statement that American is more "English" than British.
HOWEVER, that being said, given the relatively recent developments in technology, American and British are moving closer together. I myself say to-more-o rather than to-mar-o like most Americans do. No particular reason, other than I spent some time in the U.K. and came home saying it the British way. That trend is why I say that American and British are in juxtaposition at the moment - the two sides are caught in their camps on opposite sides of the pond and we, the English speakers of the world, are starting to mix and match the two in our daily lives as we're exposed to the opposing side.
Just my two cents, but I thought it was important to sit down and address all the people who refer to American as a bastardization of British. It's not, it never has been, and aside from a few attempts to change our spelling and grammar not much has changed over here. The British accent is a new development that started in the Victorian era, and the American way of writing began during our transcendental period. Neither of us are wrong or right, we're just different.
- Evan
However, in the United States - while dialects developed - the *general* pronunciation of words has remained closer to what it was when the nation was colonized. That is to say, Americans today speak more like Britons in the 17th century. Due to some "movements" in the United States during the 18th and 19th centuries to standardize the spelling and grammar of American, we've seen significant changes in the spelling of our words in the new world. Movements like phonetic spelling never really caught on, but their impact can be felt in the profusion of the -ize suffix in this very post I'm writing. As a consequence, British is *generally* more true to the original spelling and grammar of English circa the 17th century. Personally I consider the pronunciation aspect to be the more representative measure of the language, thus the statement that American is more "English" than British.
HOWEVER, that being said, given the relatively recent developments in technology, American and British are moving closer together. I myself say to-more-o rather than to-mar-o like most Americans do. No particular reason, other than I spent some time in the U.K. and came home saying it the British way. That trend is why I say that American and British are in juxtaposition at the moment - the two sides are caught in their camps on opposite sides of the pond and we, the English speakers of the world, are starting to mix and match the two in our daily lives as we're exposed to the opposing side.
Just my two cents, but I thought it was important to sit down and address all the people who refer to American as a bastardization of British. It's not, it never has been, and aside from a few attempts to change our spelling and grammar not much has changed over here. The British accent is a new development that started in the Victorian era, and the American way of writing began during our transcendental period. Neither of us are wrong or right, we're just different.
- Evan
That post was long, and kinda cool. Although, just chiming in to say I've always said two-morrow. I believe "maro" sound is more Boston-ish, with the word "Car" sounding more "Caa".cosmocanyon post=18.70217.687315 said:
I'm from the midwest and we have our "midwestern twang" here in the Chicago area (for those who haven't spent much time in the midwest - or who are from the midwest and may not notice it since it's normal to us, we have a tendancy to morph other vowels into the short a sound, giving our speech a "twangy" quality). I'm not overly familiar with the north east's accent, but I have noticed that there are many similarities between Bostonian and Chicagoan speechNewClassic post=18.70217.687322 said:
.
I'm american, and never been to England. Thus, American-english.
I LOVE the Irish accent, though (the girlfriend does, too).
in b4 "Lol no girlfriend enjoy ur hand" or whatever.
I LOVE the Irish accent, though (the girlfriend does, too).
in b4 "Lol no girlfriend enjoy ur hand" or whatever.
Errgghh, I hit backspace after accidentally clicking outside the text box and it sent me back !O_< ugh... lets see how much of this I can remember...
One thing I find very interesting is accents. You see, no matter which language you speak, how you speak it, and where you speak it, every single person on earth has their own specific preference as to what speech should sound like. You could walk up to a british native and tell them that their accent is strange, but to that person, they don't have an accent, their way of talking is the purest form of speach for them, and speaking any other way seems stranger to them. At the same time, you could tell a US native that THEY talk funny, and they too will dismiss your outside opinion, as THEIR way of talking is most natural to them.
The greatest part of this conundrum is that no one can really say which accent is better, because any answer other than the one they speak is an outright fabrication, otherwise they would not speak it. Even if you were to be born, lets say for the sake of argument, to parents in the armed forces, and were moved around to 20 different locales with 20 different ways of saying things, you wouldn't grow to accept all of them as natural, you would either reject 19 and stick with 1, or you would develope your own accent and reject all 20.
Personally I just find it very humorous that we are told to omit arrogance, and yet conditioned to do just that. I am very interested in seeing a response to this, as well as reactions and interpritations.
As for the whole "US v. Brit." thing, I prefer US normally because most people with british accents seem snooty.
But don't get me wrong, I would gladly drop both 6 ways from sunday for Russian
Crosseyes
X_X
One thing I find very interesting is accents. You see, no matter which language you speak, how you speak it, and where you speak it, every single person on earth has their own specific preference as to what speech should sound like. You could walk up to a british native and tell them that their accent is strange, but to that person, they don't have an accent, their way of talking is the purest form of speach for them, and speaking any other way seems stranger to them. At the same time, you could tell a US native that THEY talk funny, and they too will dismiss your outside opinion, as THEIR way of talking is most natural to them.
The greatest part of this conundrum is that no one can really say which accent is better, because any answer other than the one they speak is an outright fabrication, otherwise they would not speak it. Even if you were to be born, lets say for the sake of argument, to parents in the armed forces, and were moved around to 20 different locales with 20 different ways of saying things, you wouldn't grow to accept all of them as natural, you would either reject 19 and stick with 1, or you would develope your own accent and reject all 20.
Personally I just find it very humorous that we are told to omit arrogance, and yet conditioned to do just that. I am very interested in seeing a response to this, as well as reactions and interpritations.
As for the whole "US v. Brit." thing, I prefer US normally because most people with british accents seem snooty.
But don't get me wrong, I would gladly drop both 6 ways from sunday for Russian
Crosseyes
X_X
Actually we have a mix. We spell quite a few things in the same way as americans.Stephness post=18.70217.687527 said:
I always wonder why a stereotypical British person on American shows always has that annoying Southern/Londoner accent.
From what I've heard, there are more different accents and dialects in Britain than there are languages in the world, so why are British people always shown with London accent?
Then again, to use the term 'London accent' is probably wrong too with the amount of different people and accents used down there. I remember when going there once my sister asked what language they spoke in London because of the amount of French and German tourists and the mix of differently accented British people walking around.
From what I've heard, there are more different accents and dialects in Britain than there are languages in the world, so why are British people always shown with London accent?
Then again, to use the term 'London accent' is probably wrong too with the amount of different people and accents used down there. I remember when going there once my sister asked what language they spoke in London because of the amount of French and German tourists and the mix of differently accented British people walking around.
American. Not much to say; I haven't had much chance to talk to people with different accents. English literature usually doesn't spill over into my own speech and writing. I did read this entire thread though, I find the differences fascinating.
Despite the OP's excellent job moderating the discussion, a few jabs got through against American's that weren't called for. Can't let it go for one minute?
Despite the OP's excellent job moderating the discussion, a few jabs got through against American's that weren't called for. Can't let it go for one minute?
For me, American English is much easier to understand (I'm Dutch). But English English just has the awesome funny accent, so that's getting my vote.
To many Americans, The United Kingdom of Great British Englandland consists of London in the south, and not much else bar grass. Oh, there's a couple of small tribes to the north (The Scots) and the west (The Welrish. Yes, you read that right), but apart from that everyone speaks either "Ye Olde English", BBC Mockney or RP.
Also, it's because you can do lots of things on TV with an English character without looking outside London. For example, an RP accent can be used by an evil mastermind, while BBC Mockney works well for evil thugs. And then there's Ye Olde English, which is what the unwashed masses of the Scots and the Welrish apparently speak.
...Hmm.
I've always used distinctly British English. Not to belabour the point or anything, but I find that I am better able to discuss things in this language style. And to be honest, nothing annoys me more than being asked "When are y'all gonna learn to spell?" by some American hick on a chatroom after putting 'u' in words, or spelling programme as it should be.
I speak english english...because...I am english...
(however, this tends to get me voted off TF2 servers)
(however, this tends to get me voted off TF2 servers)