mjd
I am not from England....I am from the Netherlands. I know there are different accents and dialects everywhere. I was just making comments about a standard of English that was written in the message I answered. A small "i" for the singular personal pronoun "I" is a case I wish to raise..that is not a good standard. Also, sentences begin with a capital letter! Also names of places....states. So, it must be the American way of English then, so what I said was correct. We look to British English.
I got more news for you, Europa. Number one, I didn't think you were from England (nothing you wrote lead me to believe as such). The way that individual wrote was incorrect...in all forms of English. Using a lower-case for the personal pronoun and overall bad punctuation and grammar is incorrect in American English as well. If you take a look around this forum, you'll notice that this individual is in the minority.
As to why he wrote this way...I'd say it probably has to do with the popularity of informal e-mail and Internet writing where punctuation, grammar, etc. falls by the wayside.
If you look to British English in the Netherlands, more power to you. However, this "good standard" you speak of is not a characteristic of British English, rather it's a standard of all forms of "proper" (although this term is problematic) English.
One more thing, Europa. Could you possibly explain this statement to me: "So, it must be the American way of English then, so what I said was correct."
Pick up a copy of the NY Times (which uses American English) and see if you find people writing like our friend to whom you addressed your original message.
*Editting: I've got....(not "I got")
mjd
I now realise that I made an unfair and ill judged comment for which I regret, and I wish to make my apology to you for the offending I gave. I hope you will accept.
Apology accepted, although I wasn't really offended. It's all in the spirit of discussion and debate...I mean, that's what Internet forums are for.
Matthew Pitt,
You make me less afraid to travel abroad. Thank you! Since our President has been in office (Bush) I have been quite scared to travel abroad, afraid that non-Americans may assume various things about me since I am American. It's people like you who make the world a better place. Thank you!
American/English
Apartment - Flat/Apartment
Billfold - Wallet>>
Wallet is more common in the US also.
<<Cellphone - Mobilephone >>
Cellphone has been reduced to "cell" over the past 5 years or so in the US.
<<Druggist - Chemist/Pharmacy>>
Never heard anyone say druggist in that context. Pharmasits is all I've ever heard.
<<To call - To ring (to call in England normally means to knock on someones door)>>>
I didn't know that. Don't you have to use your voice to call? Why not just call it "to knock" ? (amazing, i know)
<<<Once in the US I've heard people say "bad" about a definitely "good" thing. Like, saying "You are bad!" and smiling to a team-mate who have just scored. >>>
Yep, bad means good. Im not sure, but I think Michael Jackson started that (as in "...who's bad..") Its been around for a while now, I believe the late 80s or so is probably when it sprang up so that makes sense.
<<<Once in the US I've heard people say "bad" about a definitely "good" thing. Like, saying "You are bad!" and smiling to a team-mate who have just scored. >>>
It's funny, the same thing happens here in Argentina, you hear people saying ''bad'' and what they mean is ''good'' (For example: ''Es muy bueno'' ''¡Mal!'') In semantics that's called Speaker meaning and Word Meaning, Speaker Meaning is what a speaker says (intends to convey) when he/she uses a piece of language and Word Meaning is what counts as ''the equivalent of'' in a language, and that's quite interesting because it's possible for a speaker to convey a quite intelligible intention by using a sentence whose literal meaning is contradictory...
Xatufan: Does it happens the same in your place? (I'm asking this to you just to compare the different types of usages of Spanish)
yea see im from the us and the druggist thing we dont do and most of the ppl here call wallets wallets. the bad thing is also quite strange though. It happens alot bad means like well listen to britney spears (the mothe of all evil) and youll get it if u can even understand what in the heck shes saying anyway!
seriously for us americans we truly truy dont really care about our punctuation anymore and im fine wif dat hehe....yes i am tryn to annoy u ppl!!!!! arent americans annoying? yep yep yep..... :)
In California, there are some people who say "dang." They are mostly little kids who are too afraid to say "damn."
man u ppl are so picky!gosh! im only 11!!!!
ok mjd am i the individual in your post at the top?
