Why/How is British English different from American English?

[GammaGlobulin]

Dear Men of Honor,

 

Or, when an American Man of Honor refers to himself as such, why not just say:  I am an honorable man?  Why make things so florid and stilted?

 

I am an Anglophile, and so there is no need to ask me whether or not British English is far superior to American English.

And, this is not the point of this Topic,

Moreover, the question of which, American English or British English, is superior is pointless, because...

Such a judgement is merely a matter of taste.

In English, they have more taste, obviously.

Still, let's, temporarily, not quibble about it, and just assume, wrong as we may be, that...

American Society is as genteel as English Society.

 

The far more interesting pursuit is to find and discuss the many ways that English English and American English are the same, or are different.

 

Here is an example of why American English is superior:

 

British Example:

 

a. She let her hair down. 

b. She let her pants down.

 

American Example:

 

a. She let her hair down.

b. He took her pants down.

 

You see?

American English is both superior and far more interesting.

 

Of course....

There are many more examples of differences.

 

And, anytime I dream about letting her hair down, just before taking her pants down, 

I am reminded of the first few times, when I was young, reading D.H. Lawrence's book,

Lady Chatterley's Lover, a book I highly recommend for young mothers to read to their boys,...

Before bed,...Instead of ...

Fanny Crosby: The Girl Who Couldn't See But Helped The World To Sing (Inspiring children's Christian biography of one of the world’s most famous hymn ... to gift kids 4-7) (Do Great Things for God).

 

In the book, Lady Chatterley's Lover, we read about many interesting things, and we find many interesting examples of How/Why British English differs from American English.

 

Surely the Irish readers on this Forum, being the Farang whose English Skills are peerlessly next to none, will have many examples of differences that make British English more interesting and sometiems more descriptive compared with American English.

 

In closing, I will say that book covers are fun to look at, and I loved to look at book covers when books were books, and not bytes.

 

Here are the covers of the two books mentioned above...

 

The Fanny Book:

 

 

And, The Chatterley Book:

(before the days of the chattering classes)

 

 

 

Regards,

Gamma

 

Note:  I like this cover, too.....

 

 

 

 

So unfortunately, here in Thailand, I have no space or climate-controlled environment...

To keep my First Editions.

 

 

=============

Lastly:

 

This man, this "shaman" has referred to himself.....  A Man of Honor, and not an honorable man....but why, I wonder....

 

 

 

 

 

[CharlieH]

 

[Crossy]

There is no such thing as "British English" there is just English and the US version developed by British-hating Noah Webster.

 

Neither is "better", neither is "correct" (many will disagree with me on that point), both work equally well provided the context is understood and clear.

 

What irks me is when someone mixes the two, particularly in technical documents (evidently just copy/paste). Example from a recent document "The Initialize screen is used when the operator wants to initialise cards". 

 

Grrr.

 

[GammaGlobulin]

1 minute ago, Crossy said:

There is no such thing as "British English" there is just English and the US version developed by British-hating Noah Webster.

 

Neither is "better" both work equally well provided the context is understood and clear.

 

What irks me is when someone mixes the two, particularly in technical documents (evidently just copy/paste). Example from a recent document "The Initialize screen is used when the operator wants to initialise cards". 

 

Grrr.

 

 

What drives me mad is the way Peterson continually drops in the 'bloody' word, since it is obviously just an affectation for him, and used, presumably, to try to make himself sound more...."learned".

 

As Peterson states, "Evil Bloody Well Exists".

(Well, in my opinion, that's all bloody-well for him to say. But, for sure, I do not personally believe in Good and Evil, not by a bloody longshot!)

 

 

This guy is not even British, for bloody sake!

 

[VocalNeal]

^ Can i get a coffee?

[GammaGlobulin]

32 minutes ago, CharlieH said:

 

 

Exquisitely Hillarious!

 

 

[EVENKEEL]

Proper English my ass. Brits who pronounce water as waheh have no place teaching an English course in Thailand.

[VocalNeal]

 

4 minutes ago, EVENKEEL said:

Brits who pronounce water as waheh

 

 

[HappyExpat57]

Just think of the millions of gallons (or litres if you wish) of ink saved by dropping the "u" from words like color, flavor, etc.

 

Also:  The first recorded use of the word "soccer" to refer to the ball was in 1486, and the first use as a verb in 1599. The word "soccer" originated as an Oxford "-er" slang abbreviation of "association", and is credited to late nineteenth century English footballer, Charles Wreford-Brown.

[HappyExpat57]

 

[transam]

8 minutes ago, EVENKEEL said:

Proper English my ass. Brits who pronounce water as waheh have no place teaching an English course in Thailand.

Many accents in the UK, where words my sound different, especially in London, which has a language of its own for many.............

 

 

[Yagoda]

Most of my Friends overseas are Brits mostly Mancunians. So anything I understand about British English comes from them.

 

My big problem with the Mancs is that they mumble with their heads down and a little turned away from you. They tell me thats a head butt  (Glasgow kiss) defense. The dudes from London all sound like BBC presenters, my Manc friends tell me thats because they learned to speak English from a guy named Jimmy Saville. Plus, they remind me that lots of folks in London arent really human, like "Gooners" and "Hammers" and that there is an area in London called Millwall where all the bestial degenerates they forgot to ship to Australia have reproduced.

 

I have always had a problem understanding the Welsh dudes, especially when drunk. My friends say thats because they learn to talk with sheep guiding them into manhood. And then there are Geordies? is it, and supposedly they are retarded.

 

I have trouble with Scots too, I have to use subtitles when watching Trainspotting. My friends tell me Jocks havent been truly civilized yet.

 

And then Liverpool. I listen to some of them on footy shows and I get lost. My Manc friend told me thats because they arent speaking English but instead, a language known as Scouse, which is a seperate language born in Council Houses. He said Liverpool is not really a part of England, for example they have their own holidays like Giro Day.

 

I get ragged to death of course, if I say I have to take a p**s, they say, where ya taking it.

[EVENKEEL]

14 minutes ago, HappyExpat57 said:

Just think of the millions of gallons (or litres if you wish) of ink saved by dropping the "u" from words like color, flavor, etc.

 

Also:  The first recorded use of the word "soccer" to refer to the ball was in 1486, and the first use as a verb in 1599. The word "soccer" originated as an Oxford "-er" slang abbreviation of "association", and is credited to late nineteenth century English footballer, Charles Wreford-Brown.

Yes, now my kid and I speak with the same stupid dialect for fun. 

[toofarnorth]

There was an episode of Married with children a few years ago when they all went to England and Kelly had a book titled English to English.

[stoner]

1 hour ago, GammaGlobulin said:

And, this is not the point of this Topic,

Moreover, the question of which, American English or British English, is superior is pointless, because...

Such a judgement is merely a matter of taste.

 

then goes on to make the entire topic about why american english is superior. 

 

 

[GammaGlobulin]

"Why Do you assume we are all bloody yanks here?"

 

 

"Pretty much equivalent to walking around with a fake British accent. Its just viewed as cringeworthy and childish."

 

 

 

 

[GammaGlobulin]

2 minutes ago, stoner said:

 

then goes on to make the entire topic about why american english is superior. 

 

 

 

Irony is a fact of life, thankfully.

 

[Ben Zioner]

This happened everywhere in the world, here some of the British dialects blended into the proper English spoken by the American colonisers.

[stoner]

10 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said:

"Pretty much equivalent to walking around with a fake British accent. Its just viewed as cringeworthy and childish."

 

what about scottish ? 

[GammaGlobulin]

26 minutes ago, Yagoda said:

Most of my Friends overseas are Brits mostly Mancunians. So anything I understand about British English comes from them.

 

My big problem with the Mancs is that they mumble with their heads down and a little turned away from you. They tell me thats a head butt  (Glasgow kiss) defense. The dudes from London all sound like BBC presenters, my Manc friends tell me thats because they learned to speak English from a guy named Jimmy Saville. Plus, they remind me that lots of folks in London arent really human, like "Gooners" and "Hammers" and that there is an area in London called Millwall where all the bestial degenerates they forgot to ship to Australia have reproduced.

 

I have always had a problem understanding the Welsh dudes, especially when drunk. My friends say thats because they learn to talk with sheep guiding them into manhood. And then there are Geordies? is it, and supposedly they are retarded.

 

I have trouble with Scots too, I have to use subtitles when watching Trainspotting. My friends tell me Jocks havent been truly civilized yet.

 

And then Liverpool. I listen to some of them on footy shows and I get lost. My Manc friend told me thats because they arent speaking English but instead, a language known as Scouse, which is a seperate language born in Council Houses. He said Liverpool is not really a part of England, for example they have their own holidays like Giro Day.

 

I get ragged to death of course, if I say I have to take a p**s, they say, where ya taking it.

 

nice

 

[transam]

Did I read somewhere that the European settlers, of many languages, to North America had to decide on a common language, it was a toss up between English and German, obviously English won, except for its grammar........... 🤭

[Andycoops]

1 hour ago, GammaGlobulin said:

Dear Men of Honor,

 

Or, when an American Man of Honor refers to himself as such, why not just say:  I am an honorable man?  Why make things so florid and stilted?

 

I am an Anglophile, and so there is no need to ask me whether or not British English is far superior to American English.

And, this is not the point of this Topic,

Moreover, the question of which, American English or British English, is superior is pointless, because...

Such a judgement is merely a matter of taste.

In English, they have more taste, obviously.

Still, let's, temporarily, not quibble about it, and just assume, wrong as we may be, that...

American Society is as genteel as English Society.

 

The far more interesting pursuit is to find and discuss the many ways that English English and American English are the same, or are different.

 

Here is an example of why American English is superior:

 

British Example:

 

a. She let her hair down. 

b. She let her pants down.

 

American Example:

 

a. She let her hair down.

b. He took her pants down.

 

You see?

American English is both superior and far more interesting.

 

Of course....

There are many more examples of differences.

 

And, anytime I dream about letting her hair down, just before taking her pants down, 

I am reminded of the first few times, when I was young, reading D.H. Lawrence's book,

Lady Chatterley's Lover, a book I highly recommend for young mothers to read to their boys,...

Before bed,...Instead of ...

Fanny Crosby: The Girl Who Couldn't See But Helped The World To Sing (Inspiring children's Christian biography of one of the world’s most famous hymn ... to gift kids 4-7) (Do Great Things for God).

 

In the book, Lady Chatterley's Lover, we read about many interesting things, and we find many interesting examples of How/Why British English differs from American English.

 

Surely the Irish readers on this Forum, being the Farang whose English Skills are peerlessly next to none, will have many examples of differences that make British English more interesting and sometiems more descriptive compared with American English.

 

In closing, I will say that book covers are fun to look at, and I loved to look at book covers when books were books, and not bytes.

 

Here are the covers of the two books mentioned above...

 

The Fanny Book:

 

 

And, The Chatterley Book:

(before the days of the chattering classes)

 

 

 

Regards,

Gamma

 

Note:  I like this cover, too.....

 

 

 

 

So unfortunately, here in Thailand, I have no space or climate-controlled environment...

To keep my First Editions.

 

 

=============

Lastly:

 

This man, this "shaman" has referred to himself.....  A Man of Honor, and not an honorable man....but why, I wonder....

 

 

 

 

 

There is no such thing as British English.

There is only English

 

and then there is a variety of other people's that speak a type of English based on the actual English language.

As per your example, American then there are Australian, New Zealand etc the list goes on.

[GammaGlobulin]

3 minutes ago, Andycoops said:

There is no such thing as British English.

There is only English

 

and then there is a variety of other people's that speak a type of English based on the actual English language.

As per your example, American then there are Australian, New Zealand etc the list goes on.

 

100-Percent AGREE.

This is the way it should be.

 

[connda]

From a teaching perspective, most US NES speak English without an accent.   Yeah, there are regional US accents, but in my experience most of the Americans showing up here are US city-dwellers and are pretty much accent free.  If I'm around family I can drop into a regional dialect.  Outside of the family I speak clear, accent-free US English.

Now compare that to someone from the UK.  Snobby-Cambridge-educated-upper-crust accent, Newcastle accent, Liverpool accent, rural nowhereville accents, Welsh accent, Scottish accent, and on and on and on.  English is difficult enough to understand without trying to decipher someone's accent as well.  Phraseology?  Who cares?  If a student studying English can get their meaning across to the average English speaker, then they are speaking English.

[GammaGlobulin]

7 minutes ago, connda said:

From a teaching perspective, most US NES speak English without an accent.   Yeah, there are regional US accents, but in my experience most of the Americans showing up here are US city-dwellers and are pretty much accent free.  If I'm around family I can drop into a regional dialect.  Outside of the family I speak clear, accent-free US English.

Now compare that to someone from the UK.  Snobby-Cambridge-educated-upper-crust accent, Newcastle accent, Liverpool accent, rural nowhereville accents, Welsh accent, Scottish accent, and on and on and on.  English is difficult enough to understand without trying to decipher someone's accent as well.  Phraseology?  Who cares?  If a student studying English can get their meaning across to the average English speaker, then they are speaking English.

 

I thought that it was the Toronto-English accent which was most prized by Americans.

 

 

[DrJoy]

1 hour ago, Crossy said:

There is no such thing as "British English"

British English (BrE, en-GB, or BE)[3] is the set of varieties of the English language native to the island of Great Britain.[6] More narrowly, it can refer specifically to the English language in England, or, more broadly, to the collective dialects of English throughout the British Isles taken as a single umbrella variety, for instance additionally incorporating Scottish English, Welsh English, and Ulster English.

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_English

 

https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/grammar/b1-b2-grammar/british-english-american-english

 

https://www.unr.edu/writing-speaking-center/writing-speaking-resources/british-american-english

 

British English

noun

: the native language of most inhabitants of England

especially : English characteristic of England and clearly distinguishable from that used elsewhere (as in the U.S. or Australia)

 

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/British English

 

https://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/british-english

 

https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/learning-english/parents-and-children/how-to-support-your-child/should-my-child-learn-american-or-british-english/

[Yagoda]

8 minutes ago, connda said:

From a teaching perspective, most US NES speak English without an accent.   Yeah, there are regional US accents, but in my experience most of the Americans showing up here are US city-dwellers and are pretty much accent free.  If I'm around family I can drop into a regional dialect.  Outside of the family I speak clear, accent-free US English.

Now compare that to someone from the UK.  Snobby-Cambridge-educated-upper-crust accent, Newcastle accent, Liverpool accent, rural nowhereville accents, Welsh accent, Scottish accent, and on and on and on.  English is difficult enough to understand without trying to decipher someone's accent as well.  Phraseology?  Who cares?  If a student studying English can get their meaning across to the average English speaker, then they are speaking English.

All those accents and slang make for fun conversations. I learn something new every day. Know what a Scrappy is?

[simon43]

I was brought up by my academic parents to speak RP - Received Pronunciation English, or perhaps some may call it 'Oxford English'.  Nowadays, you could never get a job in broadcasting if you speak RP, it must be Mancunian, Scouse etc etc.  

 

Happily for me, my accent has proven very popular with my students.  Just added some more young Chinese students who want to learn to speak 'proper English' !

[VocalNeal]

 

[NoDisplayName]

2 hours ago, GammaGlobulin said:

Dear Men of Honor,