Divided by a common language

[PLEIAS]

I hope you all realise how hillarious this is for all of us who took english up as a foreign language and while being taught one version we had to live with the TV or cinema or movie theaters (theatre) versions not to mention books and newspapers.Yes microsoft is bad not for english only but for every language and texting as well but on the other side a language that doesn't change with time is a dead language (LATIN) and personally as i'm fluent in foyr languages i find the differences fascinating.Keep it up.

 

[clouty]

Ooops

And don't try to compliment the owner of a New York apartment (thick carpets, blazing log fire, soft, deep comfortable sofas) by saying his place is really homely

 

[rtchina]

oed

I might well be wrong (surely are), but as I kept on seeing "its" written "it's" a lot of times, I checked on the Oxford English Dictionary and it said that "its" -the possessive pronouns- could also be written "it's", which was a bit surprising, like "it's speed is..." "it's colour is..." and the like



As I said I am surely wrong, but as I do not have access any more to the OED, could someone else check ?

Yes just checked the oed installed on my iphone(BRILLIANT APP) and it says 'be careful not to confuse "its with it's"'.

 

[Saguday]

I've noticed the following phrases, which I consider Americanisms (since I lived in Canada and the US and heard them there first years ago) now creeping into common use in the UK - I've heard them at work, on the TV and also written on this forum!

"exact same" - surely a tautology, never used to hear it here, Brits would normally say "the same" or "exactly *the* same". My young team at work (in their 20's) used it and I pointed it out to them - they didn't even realise they were saying it.

"off of" - as in "get off of my chair", I must admit I'm quite tolerant to language use but I really don't like this. I've seen it several times by UK posters on here. The use of "of" like this was not heard in the UK to my knowledge and seems to have come into fashion very recently.

And I have noticed things going the other way - "b*ll*cks" crept into the US vocabulary after punk rock of course and on a music forum I inhabit I watched w*nker get explained and adopted several years ago and now I've heard it used in a surprising number of places over there. It may not be common but the net can spread these things in more than one direction.

And what about bungalows and chuddies?

 

[cliffordpope]

"Off of" has been around as long as I can remember in uneducated English useage.

An interesting UK/US useage is "car".
I remember a family friend from America back in the 60s saying that the Americans didn't understand the word - they were universally called "automobiles" or sometimes "autos".
In America then, all car meant was an ancient horse drawn buggy.

 

[rwoofer]

I remember listening to a radio 4 program a few years ago where someone eminent in the field of language was explaining that American english is more like old english than UK english. For example the word fall (as in Autumn) is an old english word that was used before Autumn existed.

They were basically saying that UK English is one of the most constantly evolving languages, whereas US english is almost static in comparison. Maybe the US will start to change quicker with the advent of the internet and more exposure to British English.

 

[DavenHelen]

Nooooooooo! It is Yorkshire through and through, as depicted in the sit com Nearest and Dearest.

Unless it's Ozzy as in Oswaldtwistle...

 

[Dockhead]

I've noticed the following phrases, which I consider Americanisms (since I lived in Canada and the US and heard them there first years ago) now creeping into common use in the UK - I've heard them at work, on the TV and also written on this forum!

"exact same" - surely a tautology, never used to hear it here, Brits would normally say "the same" or "exactly *the* same". My young team at work (in their 20's) used it and I pointed it out to them - they didn't even realise they were saying it.

"off of" - as in "get off of my chair", I must admit I'm quite tolerant to language use but I really don't like this. I've seen it several times by UK posters on here. The use of "of" like this was not heard in the UK to my knowledge and seems to have come into fashion very recently.

And I have noticed things going the other way - "b*ll*cks" crept into the US vocabulary after punk rock of course and on a music forum I inhabit I watched w*nker get explained and adopted several years ago and now I've heard it used in a surprising number of places over there. It may not be common but the net can spread these things in more than one direction.

And what about bungalows and chuddies?

There's a tremendous amount of influence of Brit usage in the American language these days. This cross-fertilization goes both ways. Linguists say that the languages are closer now, than they were a century ago, because communication and travel is much more intense now, and we watch each other's movies and listen to each other's music.

As to "off of" -- this is not incorrect, at least not this century. We lost inflections for case in English some centuries ago, unlike other European languages. The "of" is the speaker struggling to show the genitive case of the chair -- the role of the chair in the sentence. "с этого кресла" it would be, in Russian, "kresla" not "kreslo", showing it's "off of that chair", not just "off that chair". I wouldn't be surprised if "off of" was incorrect at some point, and immigrants from other European countries just couldn't deal with that phrase without some indicator of case -- so introduced the "of".

Didn't the Rolling Stones sing "Get Off Of My Cloud"?

Of course they also sang "Can't Get No Satisfaction", so maybe not the best model.

 

[robp]

There's a tremendous amount of influence of Brit usage in the American language these days. This cross-fertilization goes both ways. Linguists say that the languages are closer now, than they were a century ago, because communication and travel is much more intense now, and we watch each other's movies and listen to each other's music.

As to "off of" -- this is not incorrect, at least not this century. We lost inflections for case in English some centuries ago, unlike other European languages. The "of" is the speaker struggling to show the genitive case of the chair -- the role of the chair in the sentence. "с этого кресла" it would be, in Russian, "kresla" not "kreslo", showing it's "off of that chair", not just "off that chair". I wouldn't be surprised if "off of" was incorrect at some point, and immigrants from other European countries just couldn't deal with that phrase without some indicator of case -- so introduced the "of".

Didn't the Rolling Stones sing "Get Off Of My Cloud"?

Of course they also sang "Can't Get No Satisfaction", so maybe not the best model.

Thanks for the enlightening answers, they're interesting.

For sure the Stones, with their anarchic prose are not the best models. As much as I love them!

What do we make of "Git aff o' moy laand!" sp? Sorry this is nothing to do with American English - I just love the sentiment in a West country accent. Sounds good coming from a Scot too.

 

[Norman_E]

An american colleague once fell off his chair, when I asked him if I could borrow his rubber. (Apparently means a condom over there).

An American friend had a daughter of about 6 or 7 who threw the occasional tantrum. asked what he did about it, his reply was "When she's really naughty I just spank her fanny."

 

[Dockhead]

An American friend had a daughter of about 6 or 7 who threw the occasional tantrum. asked what he did about it, his reply was "When she's really naughty I just spank her fanny."

fanny [ˈfænɪ]
n pl -nies Slang
1. Taboo Brit the female genitals
2. Chiefly US and Canadian the buttocks
[perhaps from Fanny, pet name from Frances]
Usage: Despite the theory that this word derives from the name `Fanny', its use in British English is still considered taboo by many people, and is likely to cause offence. In the US the word refers to the buttocks. Serious misunderstanding may therefore arise when what people in Britain know as a `bumbag' is referred to in the US as a `fanny pack'

LOL!

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/fanny

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/fanny

 

[David_Jersey]

I hope you all realise how hillarious this is for all of us who took english up as a foreign language and while being taught one version we had to live with the TV or cinema or movie theaters (theatre) versions not to mention books and newspapers.Yes microsoft is bad not for english only but for every language and texting as well but on the other side a language that doesn't change with time is a dead language (LATIN) and personally as i'm fluent in foyr languages i find the differences fascinating.Keep it up.

4 languages? LOL , now that you've learnt English I bet you feel silly in having wasted your time learning the others.......given that with English you can travel the world simply waving your arms and speaking LOUDLY to Foreigners.............it's how we built an Empire

 

[Roberto]

it's how we built an Empire

I thought it was thanks to tea drinking, essentially boiled water, hence not experiencing all sorts of debilitating diseases...


is it one more legend we are taught on the continent, like palm trees in northern scotland ?


:smile:

 

[Cruiser2B]

Most American pispronunciations (with due acknowledgement to Mr R Barker) are well known, but I never knew about boo-eys before. I knew an Englishman (married to an American) who called them that, and I thought it was just his own personal little foible. I didn't realise the foible belonged to a whole continent.

Only about a third of the continent - to the North, there's a whole other country called Canada, where it's largely pronounced "boy", although there are regional variations similar to the American "boo-ee". And on the other side is Mexico; the Mexican/Spanish comparison is a whole other thread.

Gosh - how quaint!!


"Buoyancy" -- "boy -- uns -- ee",
yet
Buoy is "boo -- ee"?

You'd never find such abominations in Queens English

"Breakfast" -- "brek - fast"
yet
"Break" is "brake"

 

[DogWatch]

fanny [ˈfænɪ]
n pl -nies Slang
1. Taboo Brit the female genitals
2. Chiefly US and Canadian the buttocks
[perhaps from Fanny, pet name from Frances]
Usage: Despite the theory that this word derives from the name `Fanny', its use in British English is still considered taboo by many people, and is likely to cause offence. In the US the word refers to the buttocks. Serious misunderstanding may therefore arise when what people in Britain know as a `bumbag' is referred to in the US as a `fanny pack'

LOL!

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/fanny

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/fanny

I have always thought it came from First Aid Nursing Yeomanry, presumably acquiring an N at some point to follow language rules..

 

[Nico]

Indian take away

I think Piri Piri is Indian via Portugal - Goa and all that.

I've also heard that the English spoken on the east side of the Chesapeake Bay is close to 18th century English English.

 

[Moodyjim]

It's not that difficult. For all the Ozzys, Yanks, Cannuks and Yarpies who have trouble with ENGLISH as a language - we were the very first people to have it and the rest of you followed on - so there!!!!!

 

[grumpy_o_g]

I thought it was thanks to tea drinking, essentially boiled water, hence not experiencing all sorts of debilitating diseases...


is it one more legend we are taught on the continent, like palm trees in northern scotland ?


:smile:

Interesting - I was always taught it was the quinine in the the Gin and Tonics that did it.

There's definitely palm trees in Northern Scotland - in fact there's a few sub-tropical gardens, Inverewe Gardens being one of the better known.

 

[DownWest]

I think Piri Piri is Indian via Portugal - Goa and all that.

I've also heard that the English spoken on the east side of the Chesapeake Bay is close to 18th century English English.

Interesting, as there were always many people from India in Southern Africa. Vis Amin screwing up his economy by booting them out. I knew lots of refugees from Angola and Mozambique and Piri was always a favourite sauce.

My wife's lot have a holiday spot on the Cheasapeak, I took the skiff up the creek to Dave's to buy crabs. The one time I had no idea what was being said to me. Luckily Dave was nearby to translate for his workers.
Smith Isl over on the east side is well know for it's dialect.
Andrew