• American and British English
    463 replies, posted
British accents are sexy. [editline]5th March 2011[/editline] Mother of fuck, where'd my posts go
Canadian English is like a mix of American, British and the bloody French. We mostly use British spellings.
Chinese accents are sexy
I never understood why there was a 'u' in some words, like color/colour. I also never understood why some words, like 'Idea', are pronounced 'idear' in British English. Personally, I think American English is simply a more proper and simpler form of English.
[QUOTE=SoaringScout;28428882]What's American English? I've heard of American terminology but not American English.[/QUOTE] There's a reason the dictionaries that we use in America are often called American Dictionaries, not English ones. Example: [img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/a3/NOAD3.jpg/220px-NOAD3.jpg[/img] [b]Oxford American Dictionary[/b] Mostly for reasons like the fact that American English has many words that come from the Native Americans also.
Okay, this is stupid, but how similar are some Canadian western accents to American southern accents? I've never actually heard a good example of a western accent before (I've never left Ontario) so I just wonder.
[QUOTE=Trumple;28435205]One that really pisses me off is "centrifugal" CENT-RIFICAL??? WHAT?? :gonk: Cent-ri-fuge-al[/QUOTE] You should be more angry when they use the word itself improperly. [editline]5th March 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=redBadger;28438903]I never underst[B]oo[/B]d why ther[B]e[/B] w[B]a[/B]s a 'u' in som[B]e[/B] w[B]o[/B]rds, lik[B]e[/B] color/colour. I [B]a[/B]lso never underst[B]oo[/B]d w[B]h[/B]y som[B]e[/B] w[B]o[/B]rds, lik[B]e[/B] 'Idea', ar[B]e[/B] pronounced 'idear' in British [B]E[/B]nglish. Personally, I think American [B]E[/B]nglish is simply a mor[B]e[/B] proper and simpler form of [B]E[/B]nglish.[/QUOTE] If you're going to claim that American English is more proper because a few redundant vowels are expunged, then why not edit the entire language so that it's consistent? I've bolded the parts of words in your post that aren't pronounced the way they should be. The fact is, the vowels in English words are at best guidelines as to how the word should be pronounced. More often there is no relation between the vowel and the sound. Compare: M[B]ea[/B]t Gr[B]ea[/B]t Thr[B]ea[/B]t 3 vowels (well, dipthongs, but w/e), 3 different pronunciations.
[QUOTE=Arctic-Zone;28441233]Okay, this is stupid, but how similar are some Canadian western accents to American southern accents? I've never actually heard a good example of a western accent before (I've never left Ontario) so I just wonder.[/QUOTE] Well, everyone around where I live in Saskatchewan has some heritage in Eastern-European countries like Ukraine, Russia, and Poland, so we all speak with some sort of Eastern-European accent in my little town. As far as I'm aware, the accents in big, diverse cities are fairly the same throughout the country, but I could be wrong.
For the longest time I have been told I sound British. For that reason I want to learn a British accent so I can tell them off in it. Having a southern/northern US mix accent makes it hard.
I'm American, but having lived in Britain for so long I've forgotten many American words or the American counterparts to British words. For example, I don't know what a caravan is in America. ;_;
Tissue: tiss-ew tish-uw H: Hh-eightch eightch Fuck the war against American and British English, THIS IS THE REAL WAR.
Despite being American, I generally use British English at least in pronunciation.
[QUOTE=Xenoyia v2;28233535]Americans stole british english and ruined some pronunciations.[/QUOTE] no americans speak AMERICAN get it right
I love how British people seem to act all elite over their accents.
[QUOTE=SoaringScout;28450175]I love how British people seem to act all elite over their accents.[/QUOTE] Many people with thick accents in America do, too. I'm incredibly defensive of mine, and it's not even that thick.
I feel inferior because I have a neutral American accent. :smith:
We in America have different names for somethings, like we say Garbage while British people say rubbish. I'm pretty sure we have a different word for cars than British people.
[QUOTE=crackberry;28451946]We in America have different names for somethings, like we say Garbage while British people say rubbish. I'm pretty sure we have a different word for cars than British people.[/QUOTE] Not for cars, for trucks. We say truck, they say lorry.
yo yo yo whaaat up i's postan' on dis thread here to say that african american english is here to stay. And is also considered a valid form of English. So can't we all just get on along, and hate on an even more perverted form the language. Engrish perhaps? [editline]6th March 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=Mr. Someguy;28452253]Not for cars, for trucks. We say truck, they say lorry.[/QUOTE] I know Yanks call Utes - pickups, but what do the British call them? [editline]6th March 2011[/editline] [b]sidenote: I fucking loathe how americans fail to pronounce the h! The rest of english changed for a reason![/b]
[QUOTE=Contag;28452282] [b]sidenote: I fucking loathe how americans fail to pronounce the h! The rest of english changed for a reason![/b][/QUOTE] What do you mean? The actual name of the letter H or the letter H when it appears in words?
[QUOTE=b4nny;28452347]What do you mean? The actual name of the letter H or the letter H when it appears in words?[/QUOTE] When they talk about 'erbs and 'istory.
[QUOTE=Wiggles;28233710]You yanks keep forgetting the second 'i' in aluminium.[/QUOTE] Aluminum is actually correct, look it up
[QUOTE=Amplar;28453606]Aluminum is actually correct, look it up[/QUOTE] Actually: "The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) adopted aluminium as the standard international name for the element in 1990, but three years later recognized aluminum as an acceptable variant. Hence their periodic table includes both.[51] IUPAC prefers the use of aluminium in its internal publications, although nearly as many IUPAC publications use the spelling aluminum"
[QUOTE=Contag;28452282] I know Yanks call Utes - pickups, but what do the British call them? [/QUOTE] The Top Gear presenters call them pickups.
[QUOTE=Contag;28453480]When they talk about 'erbs and 'istory.[/QUOTE] No-one here skips the H, I don't know what you're talking about. [editline]6th March 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=Amplar;28453606]Aluminum is actually correct, look it up[/QUOTE] They're both right. Aluminum is old school, the Brits changed it to Aluminium to make the name 'fit in' with the other elements.
[QUOTE=Mr. Someguy;28453848]No-one here skips the H, I don't know what you're talking about.[/QUOTE] It's a very American trait, trust me. [quote]Herb is standard American English; a 1993 pronunciation survey, ~90% of Americans said herb without the 'h'. (The proper name, Herb, keeps it pronouced.) Herb is a fine example of a type of linguistic conservatism found in American English. Until the sixteenth century the word was usually spelled "erb"-- it was a French word, who didn't say the "h" either. Right up until to the nineteenth century, long after the 'h' had been added due to further icky French influence, that was also the way it was said. "erb." Seventeenth- and eighteenth-century colonists toward the Americas took their pronounciation with them. During the nineteenth century, the British people started to sound the first letter, in a "spelling pronunciation." So, the Americans are saying it the old fashioned way, and the Brits are playing around with their new-fangled words.[/quote]
[QUOTE=Contag;28453964]It's a very American trait, trust me.[/QUOTE] I've never, not once in my life, heard an American skip the H in words. [editline]6th March 2011[/editline] Okay apparently Erb is an example. I always thought "herbs" and "erbs" were different words. Didn't realise Erd was a mispronunciation. [editline]6th March 2011[/editline] Oh, and when people go "'ey" as a greeting. Other than that though.
[QUOTE=DainBramageStudios;28441484]You should be more angry when they use the word itself improperly. [editline]5th March 2011[/editline] If you're going to claim that American English is more proper because a few redundant vowels are expunged, then why not edit the entire language so that it's consistent? I've bolded the parts of words in your post that aren't pronounced the way they should be. The fact is, the vowels in English words are at best guidelines as to how the word should be pronounced. More often there is no relation between the vowel and the sound. Compare: M[B]ea[/B]t Gr[B]ea[/B]t Thr[B]ea[/B]t 3 vowels (well, dipthongs, but w/e), 3 different pronunciations.[/QUOTE] In terms of irregularities, the English language is an absolute nonsense. For example, the word "ghoti" could be pronounced "fish" using "gh" as in rough, "o" as in "women" and "ti" as in "mention".
[QUOTE=roflcakes;28454339]In terms of irregularities, the English language is an absolute nonsense. For example, the word "ghoti" could be pronounced "fish" using "gh" as in rough, "o" as in "women" and "ti" as in "mention".[/QUOTE] Ghoughpteighbteau is far superior.
I like British English more, it sounds awesome, but since I'm around AE people and listen a lot to AE speakers, the English I learned has become a fucked up mix. I hate it.
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.