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Author Topic:   Question on English Language to British Members
Apothecus
Member (Idle past 2411 days)
Posts: 275
From: CA USA
Joined: 01-05-2010


Message 46 of 79 (542776)
01-12-2010 2:22 PM
Reply to: Message 40 by Modulous
01-12-2010 9:49 AM


Re: While we're complaining about language conventions...
I hear Fox is particularly adept at it.

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Taq
Member
Posts: 9973
Joined: 03-06-2009
Member Rating: 5.7


Message 47 of 79 (542781)
01-12-2010 2:53 PM
Reply to: Message 2 by Straggler
01-08-2010 3:20 PM


Re: Brit Vs American - Written Vs Spoken
But I have wondered previously whether Americans (men especially) are less keen to invoke their full vocabulary than Brits for fear of sounding sort of "intellectualyl camp".
We don't want to sound british.
We americans do have poor grammar. I have often wondered if it has it's roots in our history as a people who were more rural and disconnected from "centers of higher learning".
Perhaps Aussies could serve as a test of my theory. Is Aussie grammar worse than British grammar?

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Replies to this message:
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Larni
Member (Idle past 164 days)
Posts: 4000
From: Liverpool
Joined: 09-16-2005


Message 48 of 79 (542783)
01-12-2010 3:13 PM
Reply to: Message 47 by Taq
01-12-2010 2:53 PM


Re: Brit Vs American - Written Vs Spoken
Is Aussie grammar worse than British grammar?
I'm not sure about that but they have that damned question intonation?

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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 49 of 79 (542807)
01-12-2010 7:40 PM
Reply to: Message 48 by Larni
01-12-2010 3:13 PM


Re: Brit Vs American - Written Vs Spoken
I'm not sure about that but they have that damned question intonation?
Australia? You only need go so far as Minnesota to get that.
Ok, have a good one, then?
p.s. My 7yo was down here and loves your Fett avatar. No disintegrations.

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New Cat's Eye
Inactive Member


Message 50 of 79 (542851)
01-13-2010 11:18 AM
Reply to: Message 49 by Apothecus
01-12-2010 7:40 PM


Re: Brit Vs American - Written Vs Spoken
p.s. My 7yo was down here and loves your Fett avatar
Have them check out my awesome hat shown in:
Message 33

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Larni
Member (Idle past 164 days)
Posts: 4000
From: Liverpool
Joined: 09-16-2005


Message 51 of 79 (542860)
01-13-2010 11:57 AM
Reply to: Message 49 by Apothecus
01-12-2010 7:40 PM


Re: Brit Vs American - Written Vs Spoken
p.s. My 7yo was down here and loves your Fett avatar. No disintegrations.
You got a good kid there.

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caffeine
Member (Idle past 1025 days)
Posts: 1800
From: Prague, Czech Republic
Joined: 10-22-2008


Message 52 of 79 (542965)
01-14-2010 5:21 AM
Reply to: Message 47 by Taq
01-12-2010 2:53 PM


Re: Brit Vs American - Written Vs Spoken
We don't want to sound british.
We americans do have poor grammar. I have often wondered if it has it's roots in our history as a people who were more rural and disconnected from "centers of higher learning".
Perhaps Aussies could serve as a test of my theory. Is Aussie grammar worse than British grammar?
I don't think it's even close to being true that Americans have worse grammar or English in general than the British. I can only assume the confusion comes from limited exposure to British people on a day to day basis, with people like David Attenborough or BBC news presenters standing in as the archetype. Trust me, that's not how the average person speaks.

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Replies to this message:
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Jumped Up Chimpanzee
Member (Idle past 4942 days)
Posts: 572
From: UK
Joined: 10-22-2009


Message 53 of 79 (542969)
01-14-2010 6:09 AM
Reply to: Message 52 by caffeine
01-14-2010 5:21 AM


Re: Brit Vs American - Written Vs Spoken
I don't think it's even close to being true that Americans have worse grammar or English in general than the British. I can only assume the confusion comes from limited exposure to British people on a day to day basis, with people like David Attenborough or BBC news presenters standing in as the archetype. Trust me, that's not how the average person speaks.
I agree. And I wonder if the reverse is true, as well. I find that most Americans I communicate with or hear on TV sound better educated and use better grammer than the average British person I encounter, though they may not be representative of the average American.
Although certainly not perfect myself, I have many gripes with poor grammer, and the biggest one is probably the use of the word "them" instead of "those". There are huge swathes of the British population who say, "I like them ones" or "who are them people?" It annoys me because it sounds so babyish. I rarely if ever hear Americans making that error - do they?

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Replies to this message:
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 Message 56 by Blue Jay, posted 01-14-2010 10:48 AM Jumped Up Chimpanzee has replied
 Message 60 by caffeine, posted 01-15-2010 11:05 AM Jumped Up Chimpanzee has replied

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


Message 54 of 79 (542974)
01-14-2010 7:29 AM
Reply to: Message 53 by Jumped Up Chimpanzee
01-14-2010 6:09 AM


Re: Brit Vs American - Written Vs Spoken
I find that most Americans I communicate with or hear on TV sound better educated and use better grammer than the average British person I encounter, though they may not be representative of the average American.
Good. That means you don't watch Fox news. Most of the other mainline media sources DO appear to be educated, just not Fox.
I rarely if ever hear Americans making that error - do they?
Yes.

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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Jumped Up Chimpanzee
Member (Idle past 4942 days)
Posts: 572
From: UK
Joined: 10-22-2009


Message 55 of 79 (542983)
01-14-2010 9:10 AM
Reply to: Message 54 by hooah212002
01-14-2010 7:29 AM


Re: Brit Vs American - Written Vs Spoken
Good. That means you don't watch Fox news. Most of the other mainline media sources DO appear to be educated, just not Fox.
Sometimes I do briefly tune in to Fox News, just because I need to convince myself that my previous memories of doing so were real.

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Blue Jay
Member (Idle past 2698 days)
Posts: 2843
From: You couldn't pronounce it with your mouthparts
Joined: 02-04-2008


Message 56 of 79 (542997)
01-14-2010 10:48 AM
Reply to: Message 53 by Jumped Up Chimpanzee
01-14-2010 6:09 AM


Re: Brit Vs American - Written Vs Spoken
Hi, Chimp.
Jumped Up Chimpanzee writes:
I rarely if ever hear Americans making that error ["them" instead of "those"]- do they?
Go spend a day in southern Missouri sometime. I was born in them hills.

-Bluejay (a.k.a. Mantis, Thylacosmilus)
Darwin loves you.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 53 by Jumped Up Chimpanzee, posted 01-14-2010 6:09 AM Jumped Up Chimpanzee has replied

Replies to this message:
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Jumped Up Chimpanzee
Member (Idle past 4942 days)
Posts: 572
From: UK
Joined: 10-22-2009


Message 57 of 79 (542998)
01-14-2010 10:55 AM
Reply to: Message 56 by Blue Jay
01-14-2010 10:48 AM


Re: Brit Vs American - Written Vs Spoken
Go spend a day in southern Missouri sometime. I was born in them hills.
Ah, yes. Now you put it in context, I have heard you guys talking like that.
Isn't the full expression "them there hills"? Or "them their hills"? Or "them they're hills"?

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New Cat's Eye
Inactive Member


Message 58 of 79 (542999)
01-14-2010 11:10 AM
Reply to: Message 57 by Jumped Up Chimpanzee
01-14-2010 10:55 AM


Re: Brit Vs American - Written Vs Spoken
Go spend a day in southern Missouri sometime. I was born in them hills.
Ah, yes. Now you put it in context, I have heard you guys talking like that.
Isn't the full expression "them there hills"? Or "them their hills"? Or "them they're hills"?
Its them there... as in those hills over there.
And it can be pronounced "dem dhare".

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Blue Jay
Member (Idle past 2698 days)
Posts: 2843
From: You couldn't pronounce it with your mouthparts
Joined: 02-04-2008


Message 59 of 79 (543038)
01-14-2010 7:31 PM
Reply to: Message 57 by Jumped Up Chimpanzee
01-14-2010 10:55 AM


Re: Brit Vs American - Written Vs Spoken
Hi, Chimp.
Chimp writes:
Isn't the full expression "them there hills"? Or "them their hills"? Or "them they're hills"?
That's from a specific quote: "There's gold in them thar hills!" It was talking about the California Gold Rush of 1849. I think it comes from Mark Twain.
Honestly, in all my visits to southern Missouri, I don't remember having heard "them there" used together like that, but it has been awhile since I've been back, and Catholic Scientist is currently there, so maybe he knows something I don't.

-Bluejay (a.k.a. Mantis, Thylacosmilus)
Darwin loves you.

This message is a reply to:
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caffeine
Member (Idle past 1025 days)
Posts: 1800
From: Prague, Czech Republic
Joined: 10-22-2008


Message 60 of 79 (543098)
01-15-2010 11:05 AM
Reply to: Message 53 by Jumped Up Chimpanzee
01-14-2010 6:09 AM


Re: Brit Vs American - Written Vs Spoken
Although certainly not perfect myself, I have many gripes with poor grammer, and the biggest one is probably the use of the word "them" instead of "those". There are huge swathes of the British population who say, "I like them ones" or "who are them people?" It annoys me because it sounds so babyish. I rarely if ever hear Americans making that error - do they?
I don't think it's right to call this an error, as many of the people who speak like this are perfectly aware of formal grammar. I say 'them ones'; I use 'us' as the first person singular pronoun in the accusative; and I say 'mesen' instead of 'myself', but none of these are mistakes. They're dialect.
My personal gripes are always more with spelling, anyway. It's grammar, not grammer.

This message is a reply to:
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