Mangled language

[johnalison]

Susie Dent was talking about this only yesterday on Countdown. She made the point that the division between the languages was deliberate on both sides at the time of the US secession. For myself, I quite like hearing ‘gotten’ and other mediaeval relics but most of their modern adoptions grate somewhat.

One pronunciation that winds me up is their use of ‘rowt’ for route, but this is only because there is so little to worry about these days.

 

[Neeves]

Then there is their perverse attachment to their notions of Imperial Measure.

I may have gone native now but:

As a country, UK, that has adopted metrication for years

How heavy are you, kg not stones

and how far is it from London ..... to anywhere, miles or km

Now - how do you measure alcohol in a pub? Do you buy a pint or a litre.

Does water freeze at 32 degrees F, or 0 degrees C

How do you measure rainfall or snow - inches of cm

Do you buy a tin of baked beans in a nice round 500gms or some totally forgettable measure in gms (like 455gms) that is actually - one imperial pound.

How long is a cricket pitch between the stumps (I know the answer to this one - a bit too long apparently based on current Ashes examples.....

How are yachts defined, do you buy a Benny 35 or a Benny 10.2 (or whatever).


Interestingly the American complained and worked to ensure the Empire was dismantled but then ensured that the empire over which they controlled, Japan, Hawaii, Guam, Philippines used their standards - their ideals are biting their backsides now (and 'us')



And not ignoring there idea that if we all drove on the same side of the road the initial pain might be large but within a short time the financial savings might be large.

Jonathan

I'm sure this should be in the Lounge - but do Americans have a 'Lounge' ?

And taking on board the previous post do we speakers of the Queens English have an expression like:

Vive la difference

 

[ctva]

...
It's their language now, and it's the global version of English thanks to the Internet. As such British English is a dying language and we may as well get used to the fact.

True, and one of the best outcomes of English being the global language (in whatever form) is that it annoys the French. ?

 

[whaup]

...., IIRC Red Right Returning is the fault of the Admiralty. Red on the left coming home was standard, then some bright spark decided that leaving America was coming home ...

The buoyage history I read (online somewhere) suggested that "standards" were not internationally agreed until recently; so there were different systems in use in different areas. Rationalising this mess into a reasonably consistent international system was challenging, especially given the obvious national sensitivities about who was going to have to change and the mechanics of implementing whatever was agreed... Hence the IALA A+B setup was a workable compromise after years of discussion on the pros and cons of alternative ways forward. IIRC, the tipping point was reached after a series of nasty shipping incidents in the Channel, where buoyage used to mark hazards (specifically green wreck markers?) caused confusion and further wrecks.

 

[sarabande]

I support Zoidberg's frustration with the assault on the richest language in the world.


I can see him kneeling in the machicolations of Zoidberg Towers, hurling iron-bound volumes of the Oxford English Dictionary on the heads of the incoming barbarian hordes, with a lusty "Have at thee, varlet."

 

[Rappey]

On the other side of the coin, since the first car was in America then a trunk and tailgate fits, so how did we end up with a boot and bonnet , or even driving on the opposite side of the road ?

 

[Slowtack]

不用担心。这只是暂时的...

 

[lustyd]

it annoys the French

While true, it always amuses me that it actually annoys the British a lot more. I'm sure a lot of French people would agree

 

[mjcoon]

Susie Dent was talking about this only yesterday on Countdown. She made the point that the division between the languages was deliberate on both sides at the time of the US secession. For myself, I quite like hearing ‘gotten’ and other mediaeval relics but most of their modern adoptions grate somewhat.

One pronunciation that winds me up is their use of ‘rowt’ for route, but this is only because there is so little to worry about these days.

And I was only just listening to "Quote, Unquote" repeating the old saw about the countries being divided by a common language... BTW I wonder if they have a word for a "rout"?

 

[rotrax]

While true, it always amuses me that it actually annoys the British a lot more. I'm sure a lot of French people would agree

Well, I dont know of any British person who is unhappy with English being the language of the world.

As Stephen Fry said, English has a certain Je ne sais quoi about it.....................................

 

[lustyd]

Well, I dont know of any British person who is unhappy with English being the language of the world

Pretty much everyone on this thread is unhappy that US English is the global language, pay attention ?

 

[ctva]

Pretty much everyone on this thread is unhappy that US English is the global language, pay attention ?

We cut the ex-colonials a bit of slack as we are happy they are doing their bit to annoy the French also.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

I have read that Booee is the way the English once pronounced the word. American English has preserved this, similarly herb is pronounced ‘erb. And gotten is probably good Anglo Saxon? There is an island off the East coast of the USA that is full of people who speak Old English.

That's true. In many ways, American's preserve English the way it was spoken before the 19th century - see Great Vowel Shift - Wikipedia. America was colonized partway through the shift, so they often preserve the older pronunciation, and sometimes and earlier grammar, though that's harder to separate from slang usages.

Many years ago, I heard a passage from the King James Bible (17th century English) read well by an American lady. The combination of her accent and the archaic English worked extremely well together.

As far as IALA A and B go, my understanding was that America and its satellites had adopted their system before any global consensus had arisen, and that the cost and confusion of changing it was regarded as too great. But IALA A is pretty new; red and black were the usual colours when I were a lad!

 

[oldmanofthehills]

A scottish playwright told me that the pronunciation in Shakespeares time was more like modern US than 'English, but every one would complain if Macbeth was done US style on a UK stage

 

[BobnLesley]

Mention above of green wreck buoys reminded me that I don't believe I ever saw a cardinal mark in US waters, though saw lots of instances where they'd have been useful. Re: the OP, US friends advise that the word 'whilst' is unused there.

 

[BobnLesley]

I made some comment during a multinational gathering of yotties in Cuba, in response to which a girl from South Carolina turned to her boyfriend and enquired: 'What did he say, in English?'

 

[johnalison]

I wonder how long it will be before the Americans cotton on to the fact that they refer to their language by calling it a foreign name and change it to 'American'?

 

[Slowboat35]

On the other side of the coin, since the first car was in America then a trunk and tailgate fits, so how did we end up with a boot and bonnet , or even driving on the opposite side of the road ?

Er -surely you're not claiming that the 'first car' was invented or made in America - are you?

Additionally, a bit of research into which side of the road traffic uses is instructional, it looks as though initially well over half the world drove on the left once, and the USA was one of the many that 'ended up' driving on the opposite side...

Left- and right-hand traffic - Wikipedia

 

[Rappey]

Er -surely you're not claiming that the 'first car' was invented or made in America - are you?

Nooo. I was thinking more along the first to mass produce

 

[Kelpie]

I wonder how long it will be before the Americans cotton on to the fact that they refer to their language by calling it a foreign name and change it to 'American'?

Well they don't really have the right to do that, any more than the Brazilians could change Portuguese to 'American'.