You think you're speaking English but you're actually speaking American!

[Ace of Pop]

John Cleese English seems the clearest to me At least the Germans understood his Dont Mention the War.Angie Merc cant understand were leaving.?


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[jenny2017]

On 9/27/2017 at 9:31 PM, Naam said:

i alvays zought i kann speak English till i got murried und mein vife told me zat i speak zome sort of Angel-Suckson Tcherman. i zink she is pooling mein leg. 

 

    And I was wondering why the "Hamburger Sparkasse" didn't accept my cheeseburgers. 

 

       

[jenny2017]

On 9/23/2017 at 1:20 PM, pennine said:

Americans don't speak English proper like what we do.

 

 They don't have to, because they have god on their side. Please ask George W. Bush/. 

[oldhippy]

9 minutes ago, jenny2017 said:

 

 They don't have to, because they have god on their side. Please ask George W. Bush/. 

Somehow I can not imagine god speaking posh or with a cockney accent. He probably has an American accent. But then again, he might speak Arab.

 

[jenny2017]

4 minutes ago, oldhippy said:

Somehow I can not imagine god speaking posh or with a cockney accent. He probably has an American accent. But then again, he might speak Arab.

 

 

.  Did you not know that he was Native American?

Edited October 1, 2017 by jenny2017

[George FmplesdaCosteedback]

Well His son apparently spoke in Latin Roman, ancient Hebrew and the local Arabic. (Not another miracle.)

And I would have thought He was like multilingualised by now LoL ...

 

 

Edited October 1, 2017 by George FmplesdaCosteedback

[Dustdevil]

On 9/14/2017 at 6:38 PM, craigt3365 said:

Thank you.

"A <deleted> of low standing." I wish you guys would stop talking about me.

Edited October 2, 2017 by Dustdevil

[Dustdevil]

On 9/14/2017 at 9:06 PM, Baerboxer said:

 

Yes, Kiwi's are nice. We eat them regularly and the juice is also good.

 

As to your comments on the English Language:

 

"English is a pluricentric language, which means that no one national authority sets the standard for use of the language. But English is not a divided language, despite a long-standing joke originally attributed to George Bernard Shaw that the United Kingdom and the United States are "two countries separated by a common language". Spoken English, for example English used in broadcasting, generally follows national pronunciation standards that are also established by custom rather than by regulation. International broadcasters are usually identifiable as coming from one country rather than another through their accents, but newsreader scripts are also composed largely in international standard written English. The norms of standard written English are maintained purely by the consensus of educated English-speakers around the world, without any oversight by any government or international organisation.

Source: Wiki

 

I can find no reference to you hiso / loso English as classifications. Perhaps you could supply some references for us?

Yes. And we're talking about native speakers here. Indians from India, for example, are not native speakers. Some starry-eyed naive young people confuse EFL/ESL in countries like India and the Philippines are also native speakers of English. No, they aren't, and it's still not correct to put "graduate of a reputed university" in a job ad.

[Dustdevil]

On 9/14/2017 at 9:16 PM, jenny2017 said:

 

 The language some people speak to sound "intelligent."?

No, to sound like Lady Mary in "Downton Abbey." In any case, linguists do not use the term "Queen's English." It's called Received Pronunciation or RP.

[Dustdevil]

On 9/15/2017 at 6:01 AM, Lokie said:

I prefer my Anglo Saxon roots and one of their best expressive words being Boll ocks! and that is really what a load of this thread is about....

 

 Middle english termed as used by news readers and such (not as much nowadays mind) more back in the days of when the Beeb ruled the airwaves back in good ol blighty, so no accents then allowed.

 

Accents are our heritage and one should be proud of where you hail from, I am a true Mancunian and bloody well proud of the fact pal, as I am sure any Scousers, Geordies, Yorkshiremen and Wigan'ers (they are classed as unique entity lol) 

I applaud you, sir, and I might add I am proud of my NEW England heritage. It may not be 1,000 years old, but Harvard was founded in 1636--not too shabby. (But at that time it was just a high-school-level religious school! It's come a long way.) Oh--no, I didn't go there. But my maternal grandmother went to Yale (which is in Connecticut) in 1917. What a great gal, and perhaps post-WWI women in England also began their own liberation.

[Dustdevil]

On 9/15/2017 at 3:24 AM, maxcorrigan said:

Yes "Take Away" Anglo English or British Similarly i asked a girl in Tescos here in Thailand for Batteries in my best pronunciation, she did'nt have a clue what i was asking for, when i said battaly she knew immediately!  

"Take out" is also used, less commonly, in the U.S.

[Dustdevil]

On 9/15/2017 at 9:07 AM, Slip said:

Surely this isn't the case.  The final syllable in all of those words is a schwa- the schwa in Brit English is far more common and far more pronounced than in U.S. English.  The difference is between -er (uh) and -or (awe).

 

For anyone who wants to speak posh English English just say to anyone you meet "Air hair lair", if they are equally posh they should reply "Hello to you too".

You're right. I completely forgot about that obvious fact. I made a mental typo--I was thinking there was no "oor" sound as opposed to "or."

[Dustdevil]

On 9/16/2017 at 6:57 PM, bazza73 said:

I think some respect is in order. Obviously, you have none for the blood and treasure spent in support of America.

 

Yes we did get a mutual defence treaty as part of the deal. However, given America's record with other pacts, permit me to doubt if it will be honoured if push comes to shove. The USA has always acted out of self-interest.

 

I've travelled to the USA numerous times, and met Americans from many walks of life. For the most part, they were very hospitable. I used to play golf with an American who was one of the most affable people I've ever met. Sadly, he was killed here in a motorbike accident. I still miss him.

 

I hope it's a minority; however, there are the blowhards and braggarts who typify the Ugly American. A term invented by Americans, it does have a wider meaning now. Welcome to the club.

Yes, we have a famous movie with Marlon Brando from 1963 or so to thank for that unfortunate phrase. Takes all kinds. What do you call the stereotypical Chinese tourist in Chiang Mai, I wonder?

[Dustdevil]

We have a defect in our English grammar. There is no plural second person. As a "Yankee" I can't stand that Texas and southern "Y'all" but sometimes I'll catch myself saying "you guys" even to a couple of women--because the women themselves call each other "you guys" as well. And I also can't stand "you folks." Too folksy for me. Obama, much as I like him, overdoes it on the "folks" a bit. He could try people, citizens, the public, etc. once in a while. Meanwhile I also can't really say "you people" very often, as it can sound rude and exclusive (intolerant). Help! "You two" suffices in addressing two people, or use their names, in a pinch. But with three or four people?

Edited October 2, 2017 by Dustdevil

[Dustdevil]

On 9/27/2017 at 7:34 AM, ExpatOilWorker said:

Sort of.....

 

 

Sum ting wong?

[Naam]

47 minutes ago, Dustdevil said:

"You two" suffices in addressing two people, or use their names, in a pinch. But with three or four people?

how about "you three" or "you four"?

[George FmplesdaCosteedback]

Interesting Harvard was established in 1636 under Colonial rule and modeled on?

Anyway, I'll leave you two to squabble.

 

[Dustdevil]

Muddled on, I guess. Gradually became a proper university as did our second one, the College of William and Mary, founded in 1693 in Virginia.