Eric, Well said!!! You refer to an intelligent American can understand a person speaking 'British' English. I have found in my experience something quite different. When in Miami last year, I asked for a beef sandwich. The girl behind the counter didn't understand and she asked me to repeat. She said "oh you mean a ROAST beef sandwich?". I missed ROAST out and would would have thought I was speaking Japanese! This is only simple example. I have many, many more!
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
English and British English
- Thread starter awadeee
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Eric, Well said!!! You refer to an intelligent American can understand a person speaking 'British' English. I have found in my experience something quite different. When in Miami last year, I asked for a beef sandwich. The girl behind the counter didn't understand and she asked me to repeat. She said "oh you mean a ROAST beef sandwich?". I missed ROAST out and would would have thought I was speaking Japanese! This is only simple example. I have many, many more!
Takes one to know one! You seem to be the one getting "your panties in a bunch" by continuously shooting down other's who oppose your opinion with your condescending tone. The general consensus is that the English language originated from the UK, and not from the US. Then why should it be called "British English" whilst the American counterpart is simply "English"? That is plain wrong. For what it's worth, Apple is a multi national company and it being American should have no bearing on what they call both versions of the English language, releasing products first in the states is not congruous in any way. Simply put, American English comes from British English, hence it is "American English" and not "English".
Well you're not doing a very good job, hypocrite.
Last edited by a moderator:
Partially true, the Pure Virginian accent and way of speaking most closely represents Elizabethan english. However outside of that area there have been far greater influences that have migrated to the spoken language.
For example louisiana has a large french influenence, in the language. many areas have Swedish and German influences (german and english are very close so vowel sounds are similar)
New york..well it's a mish mash of many languages and accents.
Generally speaking US English has has far too many influential factors to narrow it down to one source but over the past 80 years since the introduction of radio and later TV the language has become more unified and similar.
Never been to the zoo? or played a Zither? yep Zero Z's in the english language...
BTw why do many Americans refer to themselves as Irish-American or Italian American when surely if you are born in The united states you are American? Serious question, just always puzzled me.
Last edited by a moderator:
Takes one to know one! You seem to be the one getting "your panties in a bunch" by continuously shooting down other's who oppose your opinion with your condescending tone. The general consensus is that the English language originated from the UK, and not from the US. Then why should it be called "British English" whilst the American counterpart is simply "English"? That is plain wrong. For what it's worth, Apple is a multi national company and it being American should have no bearing on what they call both versions of the English language, releasing products first in the states is not congruous in any way. Simply put, American English comes from British English, hence it is "American English" and not "English".
Well you're not doing a very good job, hypocrite.
I'm not arguing which version of English came first, of course there was "British English" before there was American English, but you are wrong about one thing, Apple being an American company DOES have EVERY bearing on why THEY choose to designate American English simply as "English" which is exactly what and why they do this; this can't be argued and I don't understand why you are trying to argue this and being so insulting about it; I'm simply just stating the facts. I'm not saying it is right or wrong or proper or not, it is simply just the reason why Apple the American company who, despite selling most of their products worldwide, sells first to their own "States" based people and of course would designate their own version of "American" English as simply English. Common sense. And again I'm not saying it is right or wrong, just saying this is why Apple does this. THAT'S ALL I WAS SAYING! Do you get it now? (and yes, now, my panties ARE in a bunch!)
I'm surprised this even has to be asked; The United States Of America is a nation of immigrants. If you are, say, Croatian and you trace your lineage back several generations you'll find Croatian ancestors, or if you are Irish and you trace back several generations you'll find your Irish ancestors, but if you are "American" born and you trace your lineage back several generations you'll eventually find your ancestors had immigrated from somewhere else. The exception to this is of course the true native "American Indians" whose ancestors were also true native Americans.
Last edited by a moderator:
That's like saying Canadian French is true French.
The British came up with English, American English is derived more from the language of poor Irish and British immigrants. If you have ever visited Ireland or very northern English, you can hear where the accent comes from.
I was speaking only of accent...not spelling, word choice or sentence structure, nor of the multitude of foreign accents that english is spoken in by immigrants etc.
If you take the general accent used in news programs as an example, that is the accent I'm talking about.
The most stereotypical versions of each dialect are generally just slang, and in both cases (british and american) don't really constitute "true" english.
thats what I was referring to, and being from an area of the country (michigan) where there isnt really an accent (by that I mean, we speak pretty much the dialect that is spoken on news shows, etc), it is what seems normal to me, so I didn't really think to specify what exact dialect of american english I was referring to
not all americans do, many often are offended by people who do that, though I don't see why. I don't refer to myself as Italian American, but when asked what I am, I don't say American, I say Italian (when speaking to an american that is), because I feel that when asked that question by a fellow american, they are inquiring as to your racial heritage. Also, some cultures tend to be more proud of their past than others (from my experience). For example, everyone in my family refers to themselves as italian, and maintains many italian traditions including slang/language, cooking, etc. while friends families who are (for the sake of this example) german don't really ever mention it or keep much of the culture around. The same goes for other italian families in my area (in general).
obviously this isn't true of all people in all areas, but it has been my experience
I guess the short answer is...some families bring up their children with more emphasis on where the family comes from than others, and those children grow into adults who identify themselves as more than just american
Last edited by a moderator:
Yes but so is The Uk and no one ther says, their are British Irish ... Australians who are also immigrants (and most are) don't say Australian English.. south Africans don't say South African-Dutch. French Tunisians dion;t say They are French-Tunisians..
See where I am coming from?why the need to compartmentalize based on your supposed roots?
I've traced my roots back almost 900 years, and have spanish, french and russian but I class myself as English
Again, you are missing the point (what happened to basic common sense on these forums?) Though the U.K. as with most countries, certainly have immigrants, it is not considered a "Nation Of Immigrants" founded as such, as the U.S. was and is.
In other words, yes Australians say they are Australian even though the vast majority of them come from the same British lineages, as South Africans say they are South Africans though their lineage is Dutch, but you can walk down the street here in Los Angeles and ask any American born person where their ancestors were from and they may say Mexico, or Japan, or Armenia, or Russia, or Scotland, or China, or Croatia, etc., etc.
A true melting pot, founded as a nation of immigrants and further affirmed as written in the base of the statue of liberty... see where I'm coming from? (actually, it's even more of a melting pot than I stated; my one neighbor is American born with Dutch-English-German heritage while my other American born neighbor is Irish-Italian and my ex-girlfriend was French-Spanish-African a.k.a. Creole from Louisiana. All of these people only second, third or fourth generation, so yes they say "I'm Irish/Italian-American" or whatever. Get it? And again as I previously stated, they also say this to differentiate themselves from the true Native Americans, the indigenous American Indians. )
Last edited by a moderator:
the post above yours (from me) explains why its done here from my perspective, without being insulting to you
...hopefully it explains it well enoughwouldn't anything written on the statue of liberty have been put there by the french?
Really? Did you not study your history? This is why I am so frustrated by some of these posts because people are just blindly posting crap they don't know anything about without taking the slightest bit of time to at least researching it a bit...
The simplest of facts (since it's all much too complicated to get into here):
1. The Statue Of Liberty was a gift to the U.S. from France, designed by Frédéric Bartholdi and built in 1886, as a symbol of France's cooperation with the U.S. on the struggle for independence.
2. The sonnet entitled "The New Colossus" inscribed at the base of the statue was written by Jewish-American poet Emma Lazarus in 1883 and inscribed into the statue's base in 1903.
The most quoted piece of the sonnet being:
"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
I hope that clarifies things a bit. I apologize to all if I sounded insulting in previous posts.
Last edited:
Puzzles me as well. Especially since all of the real African-Americans (from South Africa and having emigrated to the US) have been white. I may have euro ancestry, but I am American and American only. I am proud of the fact that I am related to Churchill, even if it is some convoluted twice or thrice-removed equation.
;0)
the post above yours (from me) explains why its done here from my perspective, without being insulting to you
It wasn't insulting in the slightest, and gave a really good answer without sounding like a jerk
It's always something that's intrigued me, as i have been travelling around the world for the past 30 years and It's the only place it is really noticeable.
Last edited by a moderator:
Living in England and hearing the various dialects, is similar to living in the U.S. The King's English as spoken by the royal family is easy for any American to understand. Listening to those from south London, Wales, Liverpool or northern England/Scotland can be difficult for any American to understand and is similar to trying to understand someone from the Bayou of Lousiana, hillbilly accents, Boston/New England or New York accents in some cases.
The further west you go in the U.S. the easier the understanding of the language, as pronunciation is more accurate/not slurred. This is the same with proper English here in England. You'd be surprised how many people in the U.K. pronounce a "th" as though it were an "F", i.e. Three buildings would be, 'free buildings'.
Going back to spelling differences, as a point in fact both aluminium and aluminum are both correct. Reference the Oxford dictionary. The English, and by proxy the US, also take various words and spelling from the French, Saxon, Roman and Germania. The spelling of words has altered over time in the U.S., but has remained relatively static in the U.K. Take a look at the Declaration of Independence and you'll see various English, old English and American spelling of words. "Neighbouring" "Realization" "hath shewn" just to name a few.
In the end, all languages change over time, if left without outside influence. Today things are slightly different, as the media has a profound effect on common usage language and terminology. The U.S. currently has the biggest influence due to Hollywood, however if in the U.S. I were to ask for a bag a crisps, I'm pretty sure most would know I meant to ask for a bag of chips. And if someone asks for Fish and chips, they know that means fish and french fries.
The further west you go in the U.S. the easier the understanding of the language, as pronunciation is more accurate/not slurred. This is the same with proper English here in England. You'd be surprised how many people in the U.K. pronounce a "th" as though it were an "F", i.e. Three buildings would be, 'free buildings'.
Going back to spelling differences, as a point in fact both aluminium and aluminum are both correct. Reference the Oxford dictionary. The English, and by proxy the US, also take various words and spelling from the French, Saxon, Roman and Germania. The spelling of words has altered over time in the U.S., but has remained relatively static in the U.K. Take a look at the Declaration of Independence and you'll see various English, old English and American spelling of words. "Neighbouring" "Realization" "hath shewn" just to name a few.
In the end, all languages change over time, if left without outside influence. Today things are slightly different, as the media has a profound effect on common usage language and terminology. The U.S. currently has the biggest influence due to Hollywood, however if in the U.S. I were to ask for a bag a crisps, I'm pretty sure most would know I meant to ask for a bag of chips. And if someone asks for Fish and chips, they know that means fish and french fries.
Last edited:
English is American English, and British English what is spoken under the crown. The reason British English is called that, because Apple is an American based company.