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Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,814 posts, read 34,684,299 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Weatherguru
Have a look at my grandmothers old recipe book. We used to use identifical baking terms as America, we are familiar with "cups" and ounces etc.
You went metric when you joined the EU. There was a huge controversy. The US was going to go metric but backed out. However, before the changeover, if you went to Canada, if you bought a gallon of gas it was an Imperial gallon, not a US gallon.
No we didn't. I am from this country, we still use some imperial measurements so we know what American recipe books mean when they ask for "two cups of sugar".
Just because the bag is in metric doesn't mean we talk in metric. We still talk about how many miles to the gallon our car does.. It is only because of foreign EU regulations that we are forced to comply with the metric system. If it was not for the EU we would still be using imperial measurements.
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,814 posts, read 34,684,299 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Weatherguru
I don't think American English is all that different. I can understand Americans and I am familiar with their vocabulary, if it was so hard I would not be able to have conversations with them. I also use some American words. To be honest, i'm fine with American English - the only thing I don't like is when they say "off of" or "erbs".
I think some Americans try to be different to remove the British association with the English language. Globalization means that it will be harder for Americans to differentiate their words.
We say 'erbs you write colours. You go on holiday, we go on vacation. It's just details.
When someone is missing we used to say just that, so & so is missing. In recent years the British term has crept into use in the US. Sometimes now it will be announced that so & so has gone missing. Because I'm older, I still think of it as a quaint English term. Younger people don't think of it that way. It's just evolution of the language.
Last edited by southbound_295; 04-02-2016 at 10:02 AM..
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,814 posts, read 34,684,299 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Weatherguru
What are you talking about?
Have a look at my grandmothers old recipe book. We used to use identifical baking terms as America, we are familiar with "cups" and ounces etc, infact we still use them to an extent.
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,814 posts, read 34,684,299 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Weatherguru
No, we use those measurements. A yard is 3 foot and a metre is 3.3 feet etc.
Ask your parents or grandparents about the discussion leading up to adaptation of metric before joining the EU. People were loud & vocal enough that it was covered in the US newscasts. Then the federal government thought that it would be a good idea to follow the British into metric world. That took the focus off the ruckus in the UK & focused it directly on DC.
The whole concept of this thread is not so much how many major dialects of the English language are there & how strong are they, but will nonEnglish speaking people have problems dealing with native English speakers.
I have been in areas of continental Europe where the American version of English is taught in schools. I was told that they switched because they found that it was easier for the children to learn. I know Dutch people. Their English is usually remarkable. However, unlike many other countries on the continent, they watch English language TV programming in English with Dutch subtitles. That's why they "get" intonation etc.
British & American films & TV programming have been crossing the Atlantic for a long time, but sometimes the British TV shows are adapted for the North American audience. When I say American English I am including our Canadian neighbors.
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,814 posts, read 34,684,299 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by easthome
We ALSO say apartment, we ALSO have subway, a subway means subterranean way ie underground, the tube IS a subway system that we happen to call the 'tube', it doesn't mean it isn't a subway (English word) and therefore we understand perfectly when you say subway (there are signs all over the country with subway written on them). Santa Claus is easily as common as father Christmas in the UK if not more so, OF COURSE WE HAVE COLESLAW lol, this is what I am saying, your post is full of English words that have their origins in England. To describe something big you could call it big, large, gigantic, enourmous, massive etc and although all the words are different they are all English words for the same thing. Every area (and not just countries) will have a preference for certain English words, but from what I see your posts are all in English (English words from England) and they all have English gramma (English gramma from England) this is why I can understand 100% everything that you post. There is no such thing as 'American English', American 'slang' perhaps but its still English words, its still English.
Not all English words originated in England. You will, obviously, never admit that. There is no way that English words that are corruptions of Native American words originated in England. It doesn't make them English words from England. However, they are still English words as in the English language. A lot of American words were not commonly used in the UK one, two, or three generations ago. Globalization has changed that.
Then there's your pronunciations. Linguists speculate that pronunciations in a particular area of the east coast of the US is probably closest to original Modern English pronunciations before certain pronunciations were adopted during the Hanover kings' reigns.
They do actually call it "Scottish" English, it is a legitimate term.
Scots and Scottish aren't the same.
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