English isnt English!

[The Basket]

The most populous English speaking county is USA followed by India!

Language is often considered a nationalism yardstick. So English being popular is no longer an English or British thing but universal.

So England has lost the aspect of control of its own language.

And they moan about cultural appropriation!

 

[michael rauls]

The most populous English speaking county is USA followed by India!

Language is often considered a nationalism yardstick. So English being popular is no longer an English or British thing but universal.

So England has lost the aspect of control of its own language.

And they moan about cultural appropriation!

I don't know if you can clasify India as an English speaking country. My mother lives in India, Hyderabad currently, several other cities previously, and says almost nobody there speaks much English.
So little in fact that even though she speeks a little of several of the languages there it is often verry dificult for her to communicate without a translator.
She mostly deals with the poor, doing charity work, so maybe if you were in the big cities dealing with tech workers or government officials you might get some English but the common folk dont tend to speak any, at least in the areas she has been in.

 

[swampyankee]

Of course, for many years English wasn't the language of court, law, or education in England.

More recently, there's never been an official standards body for English, as there is with French and German. All English has for control are English teachers and curmudgeonly pundits, such as the late William Safire.

 

[fubar57]

English ain't English....get it right

 

[The Basket]

Odd the Americans didn't accept our King or taxes but kept our language!

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Well considered English is actually a Germanic language, brought to the Islands from the mainland by the Saxons, albeit it does not sound much like it originally did...

 

[vikingBerserker]

Plus, we removed all the "U's" they kept adding to words.

 

[Gnomey]

The U's are very important I'll have you know...

 

[Capt. Vick]

Ah, England and American, two countries separated by a common language.

 

[vikingBerserker]

The U's are very important I'll have you know...

Not really, things have gotten better since we got rid of U...…...

 

[mikewint]

Yea, the British spell funny like colour, aeroplane, cheque, theatre, grey. And cars have Bonnets, Boots, Windscreens, Indicators, and Tryes. Then there are Lorrys, Estate Cars, Flats, and Lifts. Loo and Telly and treacle?? To mention just a few.
But here in the colonies take a few moments and actually listen to the words you use and compare it to the meanings you wish to convey

In American English we have words like PARK that can be nouns: Go play in the Park. Or verbs: Here's a nice place to park the car. So far so good but then we PARK in the DRIVEway and then DRIVE along the PARKway?
GOOFY talks and wears clothes but then PLUTO barks and is naked!
Mickey Mouse wears pants and no shirt but then Donald Duck wears a shirt and no pants?
Where in the Nursery Rhyme does it say that Humpty Dumpty is/was an egg?
Corn oil comes from corn and olive oil comes from olives, understood, then BABY OIL must come from…
CRIME fighters fight CRIME and FIRE fighter fight FIRE then FREEDOM fighters must fight...
INTERstate highways make perfect sense in the US but then why does Hawaii have an INTERstate highway
Pocketbook - It's not a book, nor does it fit into a pocket.
Grapenuts aren't Grapes or Nuts
Pineapples aren't Pines or Apples
Fanny pack - the U.K. fanny does not exactly mean the same part of the anatomy as in the US
Bi-weekly – is every two weeks while Bi-annually is twice a year
Taking a rain check – are you getting a check? Does it have to rain.
'Shit-eating grin' – seriously would you be grinning if you'd just eaten shit?
Horseback riding - Where else would you sit?
Being greeted with 'hi, how are you?' – next time you hear this verbal formula really tell them.
Putting GAS in a car – Really? Bet you don't
Silverware – bet it's not really Silver?
Saying something is out of whack? What is a whack?
If a pianist plays a piano, then a person who drives a race car should be called a racist?
Are wise man and a wise guy the same?
How about overlook and oversee, the same, right?
Horrific derives from horrible, then terrific should derive from terrible.
Apartments are all together in the same building.
If you can be overwhelmed and underwhelmed, when are you simply whelmed?
I understand that vegetarians eat vegetables, but then what do humanitarians eat?
A boxing RING is actually square.
The opposite of shut DOWN must be shut UP? Right?
PRO is the opposite of CON…then PROgress must be the opposite of CONgress
When a BUILDING is finished does it become a BUILT?
As long as we're on buildings why do they burn UP as they burn DOWN?
Night FALLS but then day BREAKS.
Does it make sense to sing "Take me out to the Ballgame" when you are already AT the ballgame?
The game DONKY KONG features a MONKEY. Shouldn't it be called MONKEY KONG.
We call people who come from Poland POLES then people who come from Holland should be HOLES
Feet are SMELLY but then noses are RUNNY.
I went to get a TV SET but then there was only ONE in the box
An insomniac who is dyslexic and an agnostic must stay up all night wondering if there is a dog.
What's the difference between Slow DOWN and Slow UP? For that matter what's the difference between SLIM chance and FAT chance?
When you clean out a Vacuum Cleaner do you become a Vacuum Cleaner?
Power Outages are reported on TV!
Why are there Braille dots on the keys of the DRIVE-UP ATM machine and why do we call it an ATM machine when ATM is short for Automatic Teller MACHINE

 

[buffnut453]

Ironically, the "superfluous" 'U's mostly originated from Anglicisation of French words like "couleur" (colour/color) and "honneur" (honour/honor). To me it's a tremendous irony that the letter Mr Webster focused on removing to give America it's own language actually came from the French...who helped America win the War of Independence.

Who says history isn't humourous!!!

 

[buffnut453]

Not really, things have gotten better since we got rid of U...…...

Some would disagree...

 

[The Basket]

Had the colonies stayed loyal then we should have given them to Canada.

Under harsh Canadian rule, America would have seen the benefit of been under the benevolent protection of the worlds greatest empire.

 

[gumbyk]

The English language is a bastardisation of many other languages, which is part of what makes it so hard to read and learn - there is no consistency.
Mike, if you look up the etymology of those words you pasted, you'll probably find that many come from different root languages/words that just seem to have converged.

 

[KiwiBiggles]

My favourite American usage divergence: momentarily. As in, "This is your Captain speaking. We will be leaving the ground momentarily".

The actual meaning of the word is "for a short moment". I do hope he's wrong.

 

[The Basket]

English has some distinct advantages.
No male or female words.
No formal or informal.
No accusative or locative "Romans Go Home!" nonsense.
Try learning Russian and then telling me how hard English is!

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

English is an easy language to learn.

 

[gumbyk]

English is an easy language to learn.

Sentence structure is backwards compared to a lot of languages, and inconsistent spelling/pronunciation. How do you pronounce Polish? How about if its at the beginning of a sentence?
Not to mention the examples Mike posted.
These inconsistencies become a lot more obvious as my son learns to read...

 

[pbehn]

English is an easy language to learn a little of and have a very basic conversation, it is a very difficult language to master, I worked with many multi lingual translators who said that.