Wheraz British are filthy and stupid, Americans are filthy, stupid, and proud of it.
Differences between American English and british English
Uriel - top stuff!!! You’re a legend.
That was a great post, I am not even going to attempt to respond to all of that, but I will say a big thanks for all the insight as well as confirming the Jam/jelly thing. This has to be the most commonly brought up American/British difference over here. But you confirm what I knew that I knew and that is there is no difference - well sort of. In America Jam is erm Jam!! Its as simple as that. The only difference is that we don't have what you call Jelly here and what you call Jello we call Jelly. Jello/Jelly - it’s all the same thing really.
Oh, the I suppose/I guess issue, it is true I hear Americans use I suppose, but very rarely and the fact that you use both does not mean I can't blame you lot for all the 'I guess so's' that I hear over here!!! (Hope that does not sound too serious by the way - it certainly is not meant to be) Same goes for movie/film (although movie is a top word and is more than welcome!!)
I did not write the post regarding the pronunciation but I think I know what the poster was getting at.
Hurricane is traditionally pronounced hurry -kuhn as opposed to hurry -cane (which admittedly is closer to the spelling) but it is becoming rare to hear it pronounced like this unless you are speaking to an RP speaker.
I must say that I am surprised that you said that Americans also pronounce kilometre as kill -o -metre (as well as kil -lom -metre), I have never heard that before, interesting.
Anyway, cheers for the reply!!!
<<Well, I can do nothing but follow your advice, Pub Lunch. (By the way, shall I call you Pub or Lunch? :-)) >>
Liz, whichever you prefer is fine by me. I hope you are feeling better now - I was worried about you!!!
Like you Liz, I am surprised furrykef said that 'wanker' and 'bloody' are being used in the US (albeit a little bit) - it's nice to hear although it may take these ears a bit of getting used to.
Adam
Your English pride is admirable but I can't help but find your post regarding the perceived 'Americanisms' as actually being 'Briticisms' that the Americans have picked up as being a bit far fetched. I think you are trying to be a bit clever with your wording.
Yes, it is true that the word 'guy' is a word that was and has been used here before there was even a USA. But the fact is, the new way it is used here as a form of address to both sexes is strictly an American usage that has caught on here. To suggest otherwise is a bit silly mate. Same goes for 'I guess' which I realise hails from the days of Chaucer but again, its usage now (I am 99% certain) is by direct American influence (I believe ' I guess' dropped out of useage here a LONG time ago). Same goes for saying June three as opposed to June the third - surely an 'Americanism' all the way no??
Anyway, there is no big deal about any of it - there really isn't mate.
<<but an American will probably be confused by a sign that says "way out" rather than "exit". >>
You lot are in serious trouble on the London underground then!!!! (no no, the Americans seem to manage alright - I think????).
That was a great post, I am not even going to attempt to respond to all of that, but I will say a big thanks for all the insight as well as confirming the Jam/jelly thing. This has to be the most commonly brought up American/British difference over here. But you confirm what I knew that I knew and that is there is no difference - well sort of. In America Jam is erm Jam!! Its as simple as that. The only difference is that we don't have what you call Jelly here and what you call Jello we call Jelly. Jello/Jelly - it’s all the same thing really.
Oh, the I suppose/I guess issue, it is true I hear Americans use I suppose, but very rarely and the fact that you use both does not mean I can't blame you lot for all the 'I guess so's' that I hear over here!!! (Hope that does not sound too serious by the way - it certainly is not meant to be) Same goes for movie/film (although movie is a top word and is more than welcome!!)
I did not write the post regarding the pronunciation but I think I know what the poster was getting at.
Hurricane is traditionally pronounced hurry -kuhn as opposed to hurry -cane (which admittedly is closer to the spelling) but it is becoming rare to hear it pronounced like this unless you are speaking to an RP speaker.
I must say that I am surprised that you said that Americans also pronounce kilometre as kill -o -metre (as well as kil -lom -metre), I have never heard that before, interesting.
Anyway, cheers for the reply!!!
<<Well, I can do nothing but follow your advice, Pub Lunch. (By the way, shall I call you Pub or Lunch? :-)) >>
Liz, whichever you prefer is fine by me. I hope you are feeling better now - I was worried about you!!!
Like you Liz, I am surprised furrykef said that 'wanker' and 'bloody' are being used in the US (albeit a little bit) - it's nice to hear although it may take these ears a bit of getting used to.
Adam
Your English pride is admirable but I can't help but find your post regarding the perceived 'Americanisms' as actually being 'Briticisms' that the Americans have picked up as being a bit far fetched. I think you are trying to be a bit clever with your wording.
Yes, it is true that the word 'guy' is a word that was and has been used here before there was even a USA. But the fact is, the new way it is used here as a form of address to both sexes is strictly an American usage that has caught on here. To suggest otherwise is a bit silly mate. Same goes for 'I guess' which I realise hails from the days of Chaucer but again, its usage now (I am 99% certain) is by direct American influence (I believe ' I guess' dropped out of useage here a LONG time ago). Same goes for saying June three as opposed to June the third - surely an 'Americanism' all the way no??
Anyway, there is no big deal about any of it - there really isn't mate.
<<but an American will probably be confused by a sign that says "way out" rather than "exit". >>
You lot are in serious trouble on the London underground then!!!! (no no, the Americans seem to manage alright - I think????).
I think because we don't USE kilometers very often, we haven't really settled on a specific pronunciation.
"Way Out" WOULD be a funny thing to put over a door (I would be waiting to see if I could find one that said "Far Out"!), but you pretty much know an exit when you see one. "Mind the gap" perplexed me for a while until my dad explained that there's a few inches between the train and the platform -- we would be more likely to call attention to that with a "Watch your step".
Speaking of THAT construction, I was having lunch in London in an area apparently known for pickpockets, and a gentleman was going around reminding everyone of this problem, and I heard him tell a pair of women across from me to "watch your purse." One of them stared after him for a moment and then leaned over to her friend and asked, apparently in all seriousness, "Watch it do WHAT?"
He was English and she was English, and this is a very common phrase where I'M from (akin to "Keep an eye on it"), so I was surprised that she didn't understand it.
Jello -- or more appropriately, Jell-O -- is simply a brand name that overtook the generic term, gelatin. A lot like Kleenex or Q-tip or Xerox -- they've become so widespread and well-known that we forget that they are really proprietary names for things, and no longer call those things facial tissue or cotton swabs or photocopiers half the time.
It's true that there aren't many words that Americans have outright invented, since the language was pretty well formed when we took it out travelling -- most cases of Americanisms and Briticisms are simply words that took hold in one place but died out in the other. Or had their meanings altered -- I think in the UK a "creek" is always a small waterway that leads to the sea, while in the US it can be any small stream, no matter how far removed from the coast. We've changed a lot of our geographic terms, too -- bluffs, buttes, mesas, prairies, badlands, tablelands, arroyos, and portages probably don't crop up in Britspeak too often, and we've in turn lost moors, fens, tors, glens, and heaths. (Many of ours were borrowed from French and Spanish settlers, which you wouldn't have rubbed shoulders with). Same goes for Australians, who borrowed Aboriginal terms.
"Way Out" WOULD be a funny thing to put over a door (I would be waiting to see if I could find one that said "Far Out"!), but you pretty much know an exit when you see one. "Mind the gap" perplexed me for a while until my dad explained that there's a few inches between the train and the platform -- we would be more likely to call attention to that with a "Watch your step".
Speaking of THAT construction, I was having lunch in London in an area apparently known for pickpockets, and a gentleman was going around reminding everyone of this problem, and I heard him tell a pair of women across from me to "watch your purse." One of them stared after him for a moment and then leaned over to her friend and asked, apparently in all seriousness, "Watch it do WHAT?"
He was English and she was English, and this is a very common phrase where I'M from (akin to "Keep an eye on it"), so I was surprised that she didn't understand it.
Jello -- or more appropriately, Jell-O -- is simply a brand name that overtook the generic term, gelatin. A lot like Kleenex or Q-tip or Xerox -- they've become so widespread and well-known that we forget that they are really proprietary names for things, and no longer call those things facial tissue or cotton swabs or photocopiers half the time.
It's true that there aren't many words that Americans have outright invented, since the language was pretty well formed when we took it out travelling -- most cases of Americanisms and Briticisms are simply words that took hold in one place but died out in the other. Or had their meanings altered -- I think in the UK a "creek" is always a small waterway that leads to the sea, while in the US it can be any small stream, no matter how far removed from the coast. We've changed a lot of our geographic terms, too -- bluffs, buttes, mesas, prairies, badlands, tablelands, arroyos, and portages probably don't crop up in Britspeak too often, and we've in turn lost moors, fens, tors, glens, and heaths. (Many of ours were borrowed from French and Spanish settlers, which you wouldn't have rubbed shoulders with). Same goes for Australians, who borrowed Aboriginal terms.
You learn something every day. We all know that our aubergines are the Americans' eggplants. From the shape of the things I can understand that description. But I never knew that our broad beans are lima beans in Americaland. An American lady on our TV said she asked for lima beans at a fruit and veg stall at London's Berwick Street market and was met with a blank stare from the young guy serving her - another more knowledgable guy behind the stall said: "The lady wants broad beans, Kevin - sure, madam, we have lima beans - nice and fresh and 56p a pound!" Don't ever say all UK customer service is crap! :-)
Jello/Jelly - that's a mere trifling difference.
Right, I'm off to eat a potarto.
Right, I'm off to eat a potarto.
>> >> Same goes for saying June three as opposed to June the third - surely an 'Americanism' all the way no?? <<
Hmm. We don't say June three... We normally write "June 3, 1967" and pronounce it as June third 1967.
>> Right, I'm off to eat a potarto. <<
Another difference between British English and General American English, is that remember we pronounce all our r's--they are not merely there to lengthen the vowel. So to see Brits transcribing their pronounciations with r's like "potarto" look and sound very unusual--because remember, we actually say our r's. So "potarto" would sound like "potarrrrto". Which I don't think it how we say it. We normally use h's instead: potahto to indicate it how you guys over there pronounce it.
Hmm. We don't say June three... We normally write "June 3, 1967" and pronounce it as June third 1967.
>> Right, I'm off to eat a potarto. <<
Another difference between British English and General American English, is that remember we pronounce all our r's--they are not merely there to lengthen the vowel. So to see Brits transcribing their pronounciations with r's like "potarto" look and sound very unusual--because remember, we actually say our r's. So "potarto" would sound like "potarrrrto". Which I don't think it how we say it. We normally use h's instead: potahto to indicate it how you guys over there pronounce it.
<< Hmm. We don't say June three... We normally write "June 3, 1967" and pronounce it as June third 1967. >>
I usually say "the third of July", but "July three, 1967".
I usually say "the third of July", but "July three, 1967".
Personally, I would say June third, nineteen sixty-seven.
I know, Sarcastic One -- whenever I read British spellings like lurve and potarto, I'm forced to say them in my own accent -- with the prominent R -- and they're real;ly a lot funnier that way! (Lurve starts to sound like a disease, actually. Maybe it is!)
Luckily for me, Damian, I would never get caust by the Lima bean/broad bean discrepancy, because I can't stand the nasty things anyway, no matter what you call 'em.
If I am not mistaken, your budgerigar (no idea how that's even pronounced! Looks scary...) is our parakeet. Cute little things, I had a few once. They absolutely hated me.
I know, Sarcastic One -- whenever I read British spellings like lurve and potarto, I'm forced to say them in my own accent -- with the prominent R -- and they're real;ly a lot funnier that way! (Lurve starts to sound like a disease, actually. Maybe it is!)
Luckily for me, Damian, I would never get caust by the Lima bean/broad bean discrepancy, because I can't stand the nasty things anyway, no matter what you call 'em.
If I am not mistaken, your budgerigar (no idea how that's even pronounced! Looks scary...) is our parakeet. Cute little things, I had a few once. They absolutely hated me.
>>I know, Sarcastic One -- whenever I read British spellings like lurve and potarto, I'm forced to say them in my own accent -- with the prominent R -- and they're real;ly a lot funnier that way! (Lurve starts to sound like a disease, actually. Maybe it is!) <<
Agreed most definitely - and especially in my own case, as I have a rather strong rhotic except after coronals and sometimes labials to begin with compared to even most rhotic North American English dialects, and in cases like these I would be tempted to actually exaggerate the /r/ even further...
Agreed most definitely - and especially in my own case, as I have a rather strong rhotic except after coronals and sometimes labials to begin with compared to even most rhotic North American English dialects, and in cases like these I would be tempted to actually exaggerate the /r/ even further...
To put it in other terms - the fact that I have a uvular approximant 'r' in all coda positions combined with that I would strongly tend towards greatly exaggerating the /r/ that I would use to pronounce "potarto" and "lurve" means that those would come out something like "potaRRRRRto" and "luRRRRve".
Oh Uriel - Lima / broad beans are really tasty in a cheese sauce with gammon ham and Cumberland sauce. The secret is to steam them first and then squeeze the little critters* out of their skins so that they are a nice shade of green. Then cover them in the cheese sauce and place under the grill until the cheese sauce bubbles and browns slightly. Accompanied by saute spuds they're yummy.
*See - I DO speak a little American. I may well post under the American Language swection after all - as soon as it's opened up.
Cumberland sauce is a must have with gammon ham:
http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/cumberland-sauce,962,RC.html
Two years ago just for a laugh I enrolled on a cookery course just for guys. Since then I've never looked back. What excellent marriage material I am........
Have a nice day! :-)
*See - I DO speak a little American. I may well post under the American Language swection after all - as soon as it's opened up.
Cumberland sauce is a must have with gammon ham:
http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/cumberland-sauce,962,RC.html
Two years ago just for a laugh I enrolled on a cookery course just for guys. Since then I've never looked back. What excellent marriage material I am........
Have a nice day! :-)
You people act like your language (which is English!) and customs are so different that you'd be lost if exchanged between each other's countries. Have you ever thought what it would be like to live in a non-English speaking country?
Golly gosh, David Beckham's living in a foreign country! US and A at that! Even with his ahem... *insert descriptor* accent, it's not exactly like he's trying to live and play for a football team in Japan. Now that would be something to write home about.
Golly gosh, David Beckham's living in a foreign country! US and A at that! Even with his ahem... *insert descriptor* accent, it's not exactly like he's trying to live and play for a football team in Japan. Now that would be something to write home about.