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Author Topic:   Question on English Language to British Members
Parasomnium
Member
Posts: 2224
Joined: 07-15-2003


Message 16 of 79 (542307)
01-08-2010 6:09 PM
Reply to: Message 10 by Briterican
01-08-2010 5:20 PM


Re: Brit Vs American - Written Vs Spoken
Briterican writes:
Centre or Center? How is one more right than the other, apart from a declaration on which came first?
I think it's a good thing to preserve to British English spelling of words, because it yields a better insight into the history of Latin (and Latinate) influence in the English language. English has a much larger vocabulary than most other languages, because it Anglicized so many foreign words. If you lose the original spelling, you lose part of the history of English.
Edited by Parasomnium, : No reason given.
Edited by Parasomnium, : No reason given.

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Huntard
Member (Idle past 2295 days)
Posts: 2870
From: Limburg, The Netherlands
Joined: 09-02-2008


Message 17 of 79 (542308)
01-08-2010 6:13 PM
Reply to: Message 15 by Parasomnium
01-08-2010 5:58 PM


Re: Brit Vs American - Written Vs Spoken
Parasomnium writes:
thousand billion.
Shouldn't that be a trillion? Which of course only adds to the confusion with our own "triljoen", which is one milion times their tirllion (and they call a quintillion).
Oh so very confusing....
Edited by Huntard, : No reason given.

I hunt for the truth
I am the one Orgasmatron, the outstretched grasping hand
My image is of agony, my servants rape the land
Obsequious and arrogant, clandestine and vain
Two thousand years of misery, of torture in my name
Hypocrisy made paramount, paranoia the law
My name is called religion, sadistic, sacred whore.
-Lyrics by Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead

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cavediver
Member (Idle past 3644 days)
Posts: 4129
From: UK
Joined: 06-16-2005


Message 18 of 79 (542309)
01-08-2010 6:13 PM
Reply to: Message 15 by Parasomnium
01-08-2010 5:58 PM


Re: Brit Vs American - Written Vs Spoken
In Dutch, we have 'miljoen', 'miljard', and 'biljoen', for a million, a billion, and a thousand billion.
Likewise, we strictly have milliard for 1,000,000,000, though I don't think we teach anyone that anymore, and I always teach a billion instead. Which is odd, given my reticence in giving an inch to American (or French!!!) nomenclature. And as for Straggler's thought that us Brits at EvC are utilising a written verbosity that we would not otherwise vocalise, he is talking out of his arse

This message is a reply to:
 Message 15 by Parasomnium, posted 01-08-2010 5:58 PM Parasomnium has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 20 by Parasomnium, posted 01-08-2010 6:25 PM cavediver has replied

  
Parasomnium
Member
Posts: 2224
Joined: 07-15-2003


Message 19 of 79 (542310)
01-08-2010 6:23 PM
Reply to: Message 17 by Huntard
01-08-2010 6:13 PM


Re: Brit Vs American - Written Vs Spoken
Oh so very confusing....
And then we haven't even mentioned the billiard. Speaking of confusing...

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Parasomnium
Member
Posts: 2224
Joined: 07-15-2003


Message 20 of 79 (542311)
01-08-2010 6:25 PM
Reply to: Message 18 by cavediver
01-08-2010 6:13 PM


Re: Brit Vs American - Written Vs Spoken
cavediver writes:
given my reticence in giving an inch
There's another can of worms: inches and centimetres...
he is talking out of his arse
You probably mean he is making conversation with his rectum.
Edited by Parasomnium, : No reason given.
Edited by Parasomnium, : No reason given.

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Replies to this message:
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cavediver
Member (Idle past 3644 days)
Posts: 4129
From: UK
Joined: 06-16-2005


Message 21 of 79 (542315)
01-08-2010 6:49 PM
Reply to: Message 20 by Parasomnium
01-08-2010 6:25 PM


Re: Brit Vs American - Written Vs Spoken
There's another can of worms: inches and centimetres...
As the BBC reported this week, 20 cm of snow fell in parts of ####, but in ####, there was over 1 foot of snow... love just how confused we are happy to be

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purpledawn
Member (Idle past 3458 days)
Posts: 4453
From: Indiana
Joined: 04-25-2004


Message 22 of 79 (542316)
01-08-2010 7:00 PM
Reply to: Message 2 by Straggler
01-08-2010 3:20 PM


Write Better Than You Speak
quote:
I would not dream of speaking the way I write here in common parlance (there is a good example - I don't think I have ever uttered the word "parlance". And nor do I intend to do so anytime soon).
I always advise people to write better than they speak. I think it does take some practice and skill. IMO, avid readers tend to have a larger vocabulary base.
As a secretary, I have read and corrected many letters, papers, memos, etc. written by people with college degrees. There are those who can write and those who can't.
Besides the avid readers, those who take more English classes in college than the required usually do a better job.
I find that most people have a problem with tenses and words that sound the same but spelled differently. Example: their and they're - your and you're. These are not pushed in the schools. I had to retrain my husband on tenses in his speech.
Whether I use larger words in speech, depends on who I'm talking to. I used the word "foibles" once and my family gave me the deer-in-the-headlight look.
When we speak, we don't have to worry about punctuation. When someone dictates a letter, there are times I have to reword the sentence because it can't be punctuated properly or doesn't read well.
Here at EvC, I can use language that isn't generally used in day to day conversation. Again, it depends on who I'm conversing with.
I find it enjoyable, especially when some non American terms pop into the conversation. More words to stump the family.
My niece is an advanced student in high school and an avid reader, so I do like to stump her. Keep her humble. She didn't know what foibles meant.

Scripture is like Newton’s third law of motionfor every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
In other words, for every biblical directive that exists, there is another scriptural mandate challenging it.
-- Carlene Cross in The Bible and Newton’s Third Law of Motion

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cavediver
Member (Idle past 3644 days)
Posts: 4129
From: UK
Joined: 06-16-2005


Message 23 of 79 (542318)
01-08-2010 7:13 PM
Reply to: Message 22 by purpledawn
01-08-2010 7:00 PM


Re: Write Better Than You Speak
I was actually going to post on a similar topic recently: at EvC, I punctuate as I would speak, not as I would if I were writing gramatically. This is most often seen in my over abundance of commas - often before conjunctions - my punctuation of clauses, and my over-use of hyphens
Does this make my writing better or worse???

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Briterican
Member (Idle past 3949 days)
Posts: 340
Joined: 05-29-2008


Message 24 of 79 (542320)
01-08-2010 7:29 PM
Reply to: Message 23 by cavediver
01-08-2010 7:13 PM


Re: Write Better Than You Speak
cavediver writes:
at EvC, I punctuate as I would speak, not as I would if I were writing gramatically.
At work I am involved in the preparation of asylum appeals, and we have many judges who do exactly this. I find that those judges who use this style are often more clear and specific in their statements. I believe such punctuation provides for a more organised presentation, helping avoid mistakes in interpretation.
I think it makes your writing better.
Edited by Briterican, : No reason given.

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hooah212002
Member (Idle past 802 days)
Posts: 3193
Joined: 08-12-2009


Message 25 of 79 (542321)
01-08-2010 7:43 PM
Reply to: Message 20 by Parasomnium
01-08-2010 6:25 PM


Re: Brit Vs American - Written Vs Spoken
There's another can of worms: inches and centimetres...
Metric is more precise. It's time for the U.S. to get on board with the rest of the world.

Who are we? We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a humdrum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people
-Carl Sagan
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
-Carl Sagan

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purpledawn
Member (Idle past 3458 days)
Posts: 4453
From: Indiana
Joined: 04-25-2004


Message 26 of 79 (542322)
01-08-2010 7:53 PM
Reply to: Message 23 by cavediver
01-08-2010 7:13 PM


Re: Write Better Than You Speak
quote:
at EvC, I punctuate as I would speak, not as I would if I were writing gramatically. ...
Does this make my writing better or worse???
IMO, that is writing better than one actually speaks.
From what I've read of your large posts, your writing usually flows well. You don't give me a headache.
There are some people whose work is not a pleasure to read.
If the work flows and is easily understood, then IMO, the punctuation used is doing its job whether it's grammatically correct or not. Even perfect punctuation can't help poor writing.
I usually notice missing or too much punctuation when the sentence doesn't flow or doesn't make sense.
The whole point is for others to understand what we write and hopefully enjoy reading what we write.
Edited by purpledawn, : No reason given.
Edited by purpledawn, : No reason given.

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InGodITrust
Member (Idle past 1670 days)
Posts: 53
From: Reno, Nevada, USA
Joined: 05-02-2009


Message 27 of 79 (542386)
01-09-2010 2:28 PM
Reply to: Message 26 by purpledawn
01-08-2010 7:53 PM


Re: Write Better Than You Speak
So you face the same quandary in England, Straggler---bummer. I was hoping that you had a better solution that I could copy.
I've heard that someone proposed "e" as a gender neutral pronoun to replace "he/she", but it never caught on.
My sister, who has some writing talent, has begrudgingly resigned herself to using "they" in place of "he/she" because it is now so commonly used in speech.
IGIT
Edited by InGodITrust, : No reason given.
Edited by InGodITrust, : No reason given.
Edited by InGodITrust, : No reason given.

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Son Goku
Inactive Member


Message 28 of 79 (542407)
01-09-2010 8:14 PM
Reply to: Message 2 by Straggler
01-08-2010 3:20 PM


Re: Brit Vs American - Written Vs Spoken
Straggler writes:
I would not dream of speaking the way I write here in common parlance
This is a funny inversion between the British and the Irish I always think. I would never dream of writing the way I talk. For example
Writing:
It's a really nice day.
Speech:
Sure it's a feckin grand day.

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Replies to this message:
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Apothecus
Member (Idle past 2411 days)
Posts: 275
From: CA USA
Joined: 01-05-2010


Message 29 of 79 (542410)
01-09-2010 9:24 PM
Reply to: Message 27 by InGodITrust
01-09-2010 2:28 PM


Re: Write Better Than You Speak
My sister, who has some writing talent, has begrudgingly resigned herself to using "they" in place of "he/she" because it is now so commonly used in speech.
Personally, I have a hard time using "they" in this instance. In fact, it would grate less on my nerves than using "he/she" anyday. This is similar to another incorrect usage of singular vs. plural pronouns and their verbs: "...one out of three American and British men enjoy seeing Angelina Jolie naked..." as opposed to the correct "...one out of three American and British men enjoys seeing Angelina Jolie naked..."
I...what was I saying again?
Have a good one.
Edited by Apothecus, : Grammar, of course.
Edited by Apothecus, : No reason given.

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onifre
Member (Idle past 2951 days)
Posts: 4854
From: Dark Side of the Moon
Joined: 02-20-2008


Message 30 of 79 (542574)
01-10-2010 11:03 PM
Reply to: Message 29 by Apothecus
01-09-2010 9:24 PM


weird stuff I do
Sometimes when I read posts here on EVC, I start the paragraph and then skip to the end - for no reason other than a quick curiosity of how it ends - then I go back and read the whole thing. It's weird. I do it all the time, don't know why.
I just have to say, this one is the best I've read to date and made my laugh like an idiot:
[start]Personally, I have a hard time using "they" in this instance.
[ends]"...one out of three American and British men enjoys seeing Angelina Jolie naked..."
Lmao!
This has nothing to do with the topic, so sorry for going off-topic, but I just wanted to share that.
- Oni

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