american english

[evoluzione]

The OED makes no mention of it being nonstandard and shows that it has a lengthy history:

well no s%*t. thanks! i love this learning stuff! even if i am proven wrong etc....

 

[Krizoitz]

The Hoover business: When a single brand name dominates a market, it often becomes the generic term, as in "I bought a Canon-brand Xerox machine". In England and other countries (I know this from a friend in Norway), Hoover was the major brand of vacuum cleaner so it was natural for the name to catch on as a generic.

Here's a fun joke to use with friends (but only verbally, not in print): Ask them to name the only English word containing the sequence C W M. When they give up, tell them it's vacuum. Get it?

Seriously, its not like in America the same thing doesn't happen. Take Kleenex for example. Or in the South they refer to all soda-pop as Coke.

"hey do you want a coke"
"sure"
"what kind?"
"sprite"
"ok"

 

[MatMistake]

cheers for that clarification mate, but surely you mean Northern Ireland?? as the Republic of Ireland (Eire) has absolutely nothing to do with England, Great Britain, The United Kingdom, The British Isles or anything, right?

nope, the British Isles includes the whole of Ireland because it is a geographical distinction, not a political one

like Norway is part of Europe, but not part of the European Union
(which leads to the Euro coins looking rather comical, as thay miss out Norway and make Sweden and Finland look a bit suspect)

 

[Westside guy]

But both "until" and "till" are in dictionaries. I'm sure it's obvious that "till" is a variant of "until," but I think it has become a standard and acceptable alternative to the more slang-looking 'til.

'Tis clear you're not a gardener. I'm sure the English occasionally till before sowing their vegetable marrows.

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=till

 

[evoluzione]

nope, the British Isles includes the whole of Ireland because it is a geographical distinction, not a political one

like Norway is part of Europe, but not part of the European Union
(which leads to the Euro coins looking rather comical, as thay miss out Norway and make Sweden and Finland look a bit suspect)

hah, wonder how the Irish feel about that.

thanks again fella

 

[jefhatfield]

I was wondering if people in other countries can imitate an american accent? I know Kate Beckinsale did a very good accent in Pearl Harbor, and other movies she's been in. However, I myself can imitate a french accent, a British accent, a russian accent, a spanish accent, a russian etc... but do people of other nationalities do an american accent? And if they do, which accent do they do? There are so many, like up mid-north where they say Min-ee-soo-ta, or Northeast, where it's Ba-stin (Boston), or the slower Southern accent, or the Texan accent, or the traditional "TV speak", I mean there are so many different accents all througout the country. Even in New York, there are different accents depending on where you go.

There are even different words used, like people outside the East Coast use the word "pop" to refer to a soft drink, while people where I come from the Washington DC. area use the word "soda".

So I was just curious as to which accent you imitate when you're trying to imitate an American... and please don't say you speak like Bush...

one more thing, sorry about the misspellings..

kate winslet, ewan mcgregor and minnie driver do flawless american accents

 

[Awimoway]

well no s%*t. thanks! i love this learning stuff! even if i am proven wrong etc....

I love it too. I was an English major. The required linguistics courses were really fun. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to fit the "History of the English Language" course into my schedule, but I covered a lot of it in other classes.

With all the cross-Atlantic interaction here at the forums, we tend to focus on the differences between our common language and complain about the way each country speaks, but the language itself, the thing we have in common, is really so wonderful we ought to take more time to step back and just appreciate this great thing that we share. No offense to those whose native tongue is not English, but I don't think it was just chance that the greatest writer in history wrote in English. It's such a rich and varied language. There isn't another major language in the world that is less rigid about the way things have to be said. It's a very libertarian tongue. There's no academy dictating to us what can and can't be said. We have all the sophistication of the latin-based languages and all the earthiness of the germanic languages. We'll unabashedly appropriate any word or construction--foreign, slang, abbreviation, acronym, etc. that pleases the tongue and gets at the heart of the meaning. It's wonderful.

Okay. That's enough kiss-ass eulogizing for one day.

 

[kylos]

Now, all forms "mutation" of words over 50/100/1000 years I can understand. But where do you Brits get off calling OUR TelephoneBooth[ a TelephoneBox ?!! We made the damn thing, and it was only in very recent history

Actually, I think it was created in canada.

 

[macka]

With all the cross-Atlantic interaction here at the forums, we tend to focus on the differences between our common language and complain about the way each country speaks, but the language itself, the thing we have in common, is really so wonderful we ought to take more time to step back and just appreciate this great thing that we share. No offense to those whose native tongue is not English, but I don't think it was just chance that the greatest writer in history wrote in English. It's such a rich and varied language. There isn't another major language in the world that is less rigid about the way things have to be said. It's a very libertarian tongue. There's no academy dictating to us what can and can't be said. We have all the sophistication of the latin-based languages and all the earthiness of the germanic languages. We'll unabashedly appropriate any word or construction--foreign, slang, abbreviation, acronym, etc. that pleases the tongue and gets at the heart of the meaning. It's wonderful.

Well said
I agree, without all the awesome accents, different rules of spelling and language English wouldn't be half as interesting as it is.

 

[pseudobrit]

My pet hate is the word: gotten (It's not a Word!!! and got isnt used in the same manner either )

Gotten is the past participle of got. It most certainly is a word.

Here's a fun joke to use with friends (but only verbally, not in print): Ask them to name the only English word containing the sequence C W M. When they give up, tell them it's vacuum. Get it?

The spoiler to this otherwise trick question would be the word cwm.

 

[erik1975]

you weren't going from peterborough (said peterbra) were you?

I am an American living/working in Peterborough. Sure, I have learned a lot of "new" words while I have been here so far. What I find difficult are how the regions of England (not the UK, just England) have different pronunciations for words. It is amazing that a country the size of the state of Illinois has so many different accents as well!

About the pronunciation of Peterborough, the "borough" is either said "burrow" or "bra" depending on where you are from in the country. I find that most people I know locally use "burrow". Just listen to 95.7 BBS radio Camrdigeshire!

My other main pet peeve is the word schedule.
American - sked-ule
England - shed-ule

My common response is, do you go to School, or Shool?

 

[crap freakboy]

Rounders (usually played by girls) = Baseball
Rugby = American Football (played with heaps of padding, just incase somebody might get an 'ickle' bruise...bless)

and this should cover everything
http://www.scit.wlv.ac.uk/~jphb/american.html

 

[mgargan1]

is it just me or does Sweden and Finland look phallic in the Euro? I'm not trying to make fun of your currency. I was just wondering if anybody else thought that, or if my head is in the gutter...

 

[glosterseagul]

Fanny is not only female private part. It could be the buttocks as well. You've heard of fanny packs, haven't you?

exactly my point in UK Fanny IS a ladie's "front bottom!" Therefore a fanny pack in the uk would be a "time of the month" pad!

 

[glosterseagul]

To go (Take Out) Vs Take Away.

My pet hate is the word: gotten (It's not a Word!!! and got isnt used in the same manner either )

My Grandmother wouldn't allow me to say "I have GOT to go" or "I have GOT one"

She said GOT was superfluous non word! so..."I have one" or I have to go"

Not sure if I would be alive now if I would have said.."GOTTEN"

 

[glosterseagul]

The problem with saying something like this is you're treating the language as if it's a static entity - it isn't. Any language, including English, evolves to follow peoples' usage of the language. So in the instance you're mentioning - "thru" was not a word in the past, but very well may be considered an actual word in the future. "Ain't" is now in most dictionaries. If you want to go back for an older example, look up "snafu".

Totally agree... the dictionary will change to reflect the current meaning

eg sophisticated - we think as posh/educated/complicated/technically advanced; but sophis meant false. so a "sophisticted person" meant that they are pretending to be something they are not!

 

[glosterseagul]

what does really annoy the hell out of me though, both here and back home in England, is the will "till". I was reading the BBC news online today and saw that word used. It is not "till" it's an abbreviation of "until" and therefore should have an apostrophe, and only one L no? 'til not till.

There are two words < 'til > and < till >. Till is a word on its own!

 

[glosterseagul]

What an interesting thread!

I also agree that england has so many diffrent accents - some people can tell what villiage someone comes from. Birmingham has lots of diffrent accents.

I moved to Gloucester from Brighton. When I first moved here I said "I'll see you later" meaning "I'll see you around, goodbye" People were confused and thought "I would be back soon"

 

[macka]

Totally agree... the dictionary will change to reflect the current meaning

eg sophisticated - we think as posh/educated/complicated/technically advanced; but sophis meant false. so a "sophisticted person" meant that they are pretending to be something they are not!

Brings a whole new meaning to the comment I got on my essay the other day.... "...a sophisticated response..."

Let's just say that I'm ****ing glad the meaning of sophisticated has changed over time....

 

[glosterseagul]

Good example of this is "No Pants Day!" Pants in the Uk are Knickers! (or underpants)

 

[pseudobrit]

I am an American living/working in Peterborough. Sure, I have learned a lot of "new" words while I have been here so far. What I find difficult are how the regions of England (not the UK, just England) have different pronunciations for words. It is amazing that a country the size of the state of Illinois has so many different accents as well!

I imagine the erosion of dialect is a problem there also. I speak a dialect of the English language that is influenced by "Pennsylvania Dutch" (which is a misnomer; it's old German, or Deutsche).

If I spoke to someone from Chicago over the phone in a normal everyday tone, they'd immediately notice my accent, grammar, phrasing, pronunciation, and vocabulary differences. I couldn't even tell you half of the differences because it's just plain English to me.

 

[glosterseagul]

I imagine the erosion of dialect is a problem there also. I speak a dialect of the English language that is influenced by "Pennsylvania Dutch" (which is a misnomer; it's old German, or Deutsche).

If I spoke to someone from Chicago over the phone in a normal everyday tone, they'd immediately notice my accent, grammar, phrasing, pronunciation, and vocabulary differences. I couldn't even tell you half of the differences because it's just plain English to me.

I can only tell the difference between north and south! and not even canadian and US,

 

[Awimoway]

I can only tell the difference between north and south! and not even canadian and US,

To most Americans, there are several relatively easily discernible accents:

Boston/New England
New York City/New Jersey
Canadian
Southern (and there are refined-sounding upper class ones that rival upper-class British accents for their innate haughtiness, and there are middle and low-class/white trash Southern accents)
Chicago
Upper Midwest (think Minnesota)
Texas (sort of a light southern accent--this is what most bad foreign impersonations of an American accent sounds like)
Urban Black (to my ears, a cross between Southern and New York)
Midwest/TV (your standard American accent that is found everywhere and is what a good foreign actor playing an American will emulate)
Valley Girl (I'm not sure this is really an accent--more of a put-on used by some youngsters, particularly in California, but it sounds distinctive)

This is by no means an exhaustive list of all American dialects, just the ones are that are easily recognized by most Americans. And there are many different accents within these over-generalized groupings, but the differences are usually lost on people who don't speak those accents. I'm sure many more major cities/regions have their own distinctive sound, but they haven't risen to national attention, for whatever reason. For example, I know Utah has a distinctive accent but it's not widely recognized so I didn't include it on my list. Same for Pseudobrit's Pennsylvania Dutch. I had a friend from Pittsburgh and he could immediately recognize if someone else was from Pittsburgh by the way they talked, but I couldn't hear much difference between them and me (who has a standard, Midwestern accent).

 

[macka]

There are three main accents in the english language which I am aware of. American, British and Australian. And to think that within America there are more accents....

 

[Doctor Q]

Midwest/TV (your standard American accent that is found everywhere and is what a good foreign actor playing an American will emulate)
Valley Girl (I'm not sure this is really an accent--more of a put-on used by some youngsters, particularly in California, but it sounds distinctive)

Where in your list would the "accent" of non-valley-girl Californian's be? For example, we omit the final 'g' in our 'ing' endings, e.g., goin instead of going. Is that the same as the Midwest/TV accent, or are westerners yet another regional accent for your list?