English People...
There is confusion here over names of posters...partly my fault as I omitted to post my name.
Let's clear up some of the mess: The Guest posting of Mon 20/02/06 22:50hrs GMT - that was mine - the one addressed to Tiffany and then Jeremy. Again, I forgot to add my name.
The following Guest posting Tue 21/02.06 03:16 GMT was NOT mine. Firstly, I was dreaming pleasant dreams at that time as it was in the early hours of the morning in this part of the world. Secondly, I would NEVER use the term "ugly Americans". I never have, and never will. We have our own share of ugly people.
Jeremy: I agree that you should not have taken my suggestion too seriously. It was a wee bit tongue in cheek I admit, but with perhaps just a hint of credibility. If the Americans really did like the idea of using the term American instead of English for their Englishspeak, then there would be no opposition whatsoever from this side of the Pond. In fact, many Brits would think that it was a good idea as well.
Common Language issue aside, politically Americans ARE foreigners to us in the UK, totally and utterly, just like any other nationality not included in the Commonwealth. How can anybody disagree or take offence with, and at, that statement?
>>Funny that I can read everything anyone from a Commonwealth country has posted with ease. You would think there might be the least bit of difficulty if "American" really was a separate language.<<
Yeah and funny how no one can be objective in pointing out those big unintelligible differences. As Uriel said, it's everyone else who makes a fuss over minor dialectical differences.
But it's probably more a matter of politics and being "loyal" to the Commonwealth that Thommo mentioned. The all important loyalty overrides all.
>>The strange aspect of this is that it is the NAs, normally not backward in coming forward, who resist what they speak being named after them.<<
Part of this, though, is similar to how many Americans strongly object to the notion of referring to American-ness as anything but a basically political concept. At least I myself find it ridiculous when people report themselves as being "American" ethnically (which is apparently common in areas of the South), as the only people who could possibly have any kind of claim to such are the aboriginal peoples of the Americas. However, even they themselves cannot be called such either as they cannot be lumped together as if they were of a single ethnicity. The descendents of European immigrants here are still the descendents of European immigrants, even if they have been here for a few hundred years, and even if they strongly identify culturally and politically with the US and view Europe as some "other" across the Atlantic ocean.
Likewise, the languages that have been spoken by people descended from European immigrants here are *not* native here, but rather are just as much imports from Europe. This applies to English just as much as Spanish, French, German, Dutch, Norwegian, and like, even as much as the English here has gone its own separate way from that outside North America and developed its own standards separate from those outside such.
Furthermore, it has not diverged enough from the English outside North America to be called anything but the same language; the grammatical differences between North American English dialects and English English dialects, for instance, are far smaller than those between, for example, Afrikaans and Dutch. It is even less than the supposedly separate languages of continental Scandinavia, and even then, whether at least the *standard* languages there are truly separate languages underneath it all is quite doubtful. Maybe it could be called "American" were it to clearly diverge as a truly separate language from the rest of English, but it is clear that such has not occurred yet, as much as it is likely to occur at some point in the future, which is likely to be at least a few hundred years off nonetheless.
If you want to call the language we speak "American," that's fine by me. It's true that AmE is the most different from the other forms of English spoken throughout the world. Still, the differences aren't THAT great. Don't forget Canada, though. They're a Commonwealth country and they speak very much like us.
BTW, whenever I go to Canada I see tons of Canadian flags everywhere, about the same as in the U.S., or moreso. Yet people always comment on how fiercely nationalistic Americans are.
To make this whole affair truly democratic, why don't all our American friends in here vote on it? Discounting the strong influence some other Languages have in the United States, especially Spanish, but with English currently holding the status of the Language of the majority, imagine a ballot slip with the single question: What do you think the name of the officially accepted Language of the United States of America should be:
American
English
Just for a laugh.
The British have been voted the most boring people in the world.
However, in the same survey, Britain was found to be the world's FAVOURITE nation.
THE FRENCH WERE FOUND TO BE THE RUDEST and the Americans were found to be the most ignorant.
Britons Rated 'Most Boring' People
Pity about the people: Britain is a great place to visit, but tourists find the residents boring
The UK is the world's favourite nation but its people are the "most boring", according to an international poll.
More than 25,000 people from 35 countries rated "brand UK" as tops in a survey that considered individual nations' culture, people, and tourism potential.
Views of countries' popularity as a place to invest in or migrate to were also sought in the poll, carried out by international marketing company GMI and branding expert Simon Anholt.
But while UK citizens were considered to be the most polite and best educated, they were also rated the most boring.
The French were seen as the rudest and Americans the most ignorant and ambitious.
The UK's overall number one position came after it was voted first on investment, third on sports and cultural heritage, fourth for having "highly-skilled citizens", and eighth for tourism.
Second in the overall top brand list was Switzerland, with Canada third, Italy fourth and Sweden fifth. Of countries surveyed, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic were among the most positive towards the UK's tourism assets, while India voted the UK second overall for tourism.
As many as 64 per cent of the 25,907 people in the survey said they would be "very likely" to visit Britain's museums and galleries during a trip to Britain.
Mr Anholt said: "Brand UK continues to rank high because its scores are so consistently good in most categories and in most countries. Other countries get better scores here and there, but the UK hardly gets a low score from anyone."
aolnews.com
VisitBritain chief executive Tom Wright said: “Britain’s success in the survey and its regard around the world is reflected in its ever-increasing popularity as a leading destination.
“Thirty million international visitors came to the UK last year -
outperforming many rival European destinations.”
World's ten most favourite nations...
The top 10 nation brands were:
1. UK
2. Switzerland
3. Canada
4. Italy
5. Sweden
6. Germany
7. Japan
8. France
9. Australia
10. United States
thesun.co.uk
>BTW, whenever I go to Canada I see tons of Canadian flags everywhere, about the same as in the U.S., or moreso. Yet people always comment on how fiercely nationalistic Americans are. <
Does it mean when I wave my nation flag does that make me a nationalistic person? I think the flag waving is something alien to some countries.
As bird flu approaches Britain, the Tower of London's ravens have been kept indoors.
According to legend, if all the ravens leave, the Tower will collapse and the kingdom weill fall.....
Tower's ravens are kept indoors
The raven master said they do not like to keep the birds inside
The Tower of London has decided to keep its famous ravens indoors to protect them from bird flu.
Special aviaries have been created for the six birds within one of the towers of the fortress on the Thames.
Legend has it the Tower of London will collapse and the kingdom will fall if all the ravens leave.
The Tower ravens - named Branwen, Hugine, Munin, Gwyllum, Thor and Baldrick - are said to be getting used to their new surroundings.
The Tower's Yeoman raven master, Derrick Coyle, said: "Although we don't like having to bring the Tower ravens inside, we believe it is the safest thing to do for their own protection, given the speed that the virus is moving across Europe.
"We are taking advice on the vaccinations against avian flu, and in the meantime, we will continue to give our six ravens as much care and attention as they need."
EU farm ministers are meeting in Brussels to discuss the spread of the virus, which has now reached France.
UK ministers said it was still not necessary to lock up Britain's 20m free-range poultry, despite some experts backing it.
news.bbc.co.uk
With regards to this survey, what sort of people were asked? Although people from 35 countries were surveyed, were they selected at random? If Switzerland ranks second, I entirely doubt it.
"With regards to this survey, what sort of people were asked? Although people from 35 countries were surveyed, were they selected at random? If Switzerland ranks second, I entirely doubt it."
It was posted by Adam. It therefore can't be true.
A nations brand means how they are being perceived by other nations.
would include a combination of admiration, honesty, economics, businesses, people, culture, tourism and so on. Though the term (brand), is a wee bit inaccurate given its meaning. However since many use their countries name as a way of marketing them selves the term (countries brand) is used.
Switzerland is hold to a very high esteem internationally so I dont see why that would not be plausible
« Switzerland is hold to a very high esteem internationally so I dont see why that would not be plausible »
You're right, Switzerland is held in high esteem internationally... in certain circles. That's why I wonder if the survey is perhaps biased towards certain types of people, e.g. people involved with international trade, rather than it simply being a survey of 25,907 people selected at random. I'm sure that the average person in the world, and probably also the average person in the 35 (I'm guessing developed) countries in which the survey was conducted, gives very little thought to Switzerland. I live in Western Europe and I can say that Switzerland does not appear at the forefront of the minds of most people whom I know.
« Switzerland does not appear at the forefront »
That should read: Switzerland does not appear TO BE at the forefront