Differences between American & British English

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Greetings, chaps:

I take an interest in the discussion of different varieties of the English language. This forum isn't going in an agreeable direction, with all the talk about sex and Amsterdam. I'll steer it back towards the original topic if you don't mind.

I have lived in California for four years but my accent, pronunciation, and word usage lean towards British rather than American. My primary education in a British school in Hong Kong accounts for 50% of this and "personal willpower" accounts for the other 50%. For some odd reason, I have preferred a Southerneastern-English (i.e. "pertaining or relating to the southeast sector of England, a country that is officially integrated into the United Kingdom") accent instead of an American Accent.

I agree with José's statement that Southern-English accents are clearer than most other accents. Even my classmates at my high school (i.e. secondary school) say that the British enunciate clearer than Americans. Simultaneously, I concur with Mike, who made a point of American English being no less intellectual than British English, though I limit this concurrence to a comparison between Standard American English and Received Pronunciation, which are the varieties of the language used by news reporters in the US and UK respectively.

My opinion of mainstream American English is heavily influenced by the conversational speech of my Californian peers, which is almost dimetrically opposite to the English that I speak and write. I am quite peeved by the way my typical American classmates (especially girls) use the word "like" ten or more times in a single minute, usually without any real purpose or meaning. Quoting from a girl who sits next to me in Law class, "Uh, he like broke into a house and like stole a piece of crystal which is, like, like, burglary and he got sentenced to like two years in prison." Quoting from another girl whom I overheard during Physical Education class, "my mother was like 'go to bed' and I was like 'I have so much homework' and she was like 'you waste all your time chatting on IM' and I was like 'no I don't' and she was like 'you think I don't know' and I was like, etc, etc, etc.". In quote two, "was like" replaces "said".

Can anyone tell me whether the tendency to use the word "like" is as prevalent on the US East Coast and in the UK as it is on the US West Coast?

Moreover, why is it that teenage Americans do not utilise their vocabulary in everyday speech? Judging from their research papers and essays, many of my classmates have an impressive vocabulary but never use most of the words they know in conversation, not even in formal occasions or when speaking to persons in authority.

With kind regards,
Guofei Ma

i think that words like "like" are unique to young people--very rarely have i heard adults talk like this (then again i do not live on the west coast, maybe they do there). anyways on the east coast a lot of young people use "like" but it seems like a phase. i used it when i was younger but i find that i don't use it at all anymore, and neither do any of my peers. guess we all grow out of that sort of lingo.

young people don't use the extent of their vocabularies in everyday conversation because words like "copious" or "fecund" sound formal, stiff, and thus very odd...a popular saying over here: "why utilize utilize when you can use use?" why not keep conversation simple when you can? why try to impress people this way? i think it's silly and i guess a lot of other people do, too.

True, hp20. Adults on the west coast don't use "like" so freely either. I wonder when the word became popular in young peoples' speech. I am interested in knowing whether or not adolescents in the UK use "like" as a sort of general expression just as young Americans do. I can't think of any word used as randomly in Chinese, French, or German.

I agree with hp20. Students who use big vocabularies are either considered "geeks" or "show-offs." In the UK, language highly pertains to social class. Here in the US, it mainly pertains to sociability. Therefor a more simple vocabulary containing high usages of slang is prefered for daily social encounters (In my humble opinion).

I think "like" is just a fill word. It is used to fill a gap in the speech that arises from unability of a speaker to maintain the fast pace of speech that he or she wants. Often such fast speech may also indicate the lack of confidence of the speaker. Because adults have much more confidence in themselves and better command in their native language, they almost don't use fill words.

Do British adolescents use "like" as often as their American counterparts do?

No not really,

I presume there's an uninvestigated problem with American adolescents' language skills that causes them to lack confidence in their speech and use fill words such as "like".

No, it is how the American youth speak; SOME of them, anyway. Americans just speak a bit differently then the British, or even the Canadians. Which brings up a question; do the Canadian youth have the same problem? (please note sarcastic tone!)

American English is very shortened and what I consider to be a little lazy, (ie. draft instead of draught and thru instead of through)

I'd say that British English would be more 'formal' if you know what I mean...

i don't know that it's a matter of confidence more than just a matter of habit...that way of talking is called "valley girl" and was popularized through certain movies starting in the 80's. i think assuming that all american teens are uncomfortable with their own language is a bit off.

Then, American youths need to break their "valley girl" habits, which are rather self-derogatory in the ears of immigrants from other countries where people speak English. I feel absolutely embarassed for many classmates when they go up in front of the class and start spluttering out a speech using "like" whenever they forget a word. It's absolutely unprofessional.

it's not very professional sounding but i don't think it's as serious a problem as you make it out to be. if they want to speak like that, well, let their future employers judge them on it. that'll break the habit soon enough.