Peter Groves    650673 Wed, 29 Oct 08 10:17 PM "In what's called "Broad Australian" (basically, a rural and working-class ... Present English which these other varieties are 'trying' to fill." "The formal "you" (the second person plural like the the French "vous") replaced the familiar "thou" by the end of the 17th century." This is a confused way of putting it. As I said, English had a 2nd person formal singular up to the eighteenth century, before the formal and informal pronouns coalesced in the neutral singular (and plural) pronoun "you". "I don't think that the second person plural "youse" (Irish, Scottish and Australian) or "y'all" (South-Eastern USA) could be called formal by any stretch of the imagination. Regards, Einde O'Callaghan" Fairly obviously I'm not using 'formal' in a colloquial sense here but to label a structural linguistic opposition. When a barber in N. Carolina says to his (singular) customer "Y'all come back now, y'hear?" he is clearly using "y'all" in the way the French use "vous", the Germans "Sie", and so on. . Peter Groves Regards, Pronouns, Plurals, Countries, United Kingdom, Great Britain, United States, Ireland, Languages

	Chuck Riggs    650676 Thu, 30 Oct 08 03:23 PM "Chuck wrote on Wed, 29 Oct 2008 16:49:34 +00:" "Not to me it doesn't. "Yous", pronounced "youz", is clearly ... with the language could mispronounce "yous", seeing it in print." "I thought the 2nd person plural "youse" (not "yous" in my recollection, but pronounced "yooz" or /juz/) was an Irish ... but I'm not sure of that. I note that you live near Dublin; do you find the usage common there?" I rarely hear it here. I most closely associate it with Mafia movies, the denizens of New Jersey and with people living in other parts of America who are from that area. Regards, Chuck Riggs Near Dublin, Ireland Chuck Riggs Regards, Plurals, Countries, United Kingdom, Great Britain, United States, Usages, Ireland, Languages

	Paul Wolff    902128 Sat, 01 Nov 08 11:39 PM "The "NATO phonetic alphabet" lets you spell a word in ... will let you spell "truck" "tango romeo uniform charlie oscar"" "That would be "tango romeo uniform charlie kilo"." With the stress on the second vowel of 'romeo', as I was taught it. The words themselves are chosen to be readily distinguishable in poor hearing conditions, and the ordained stress patterns are designed to aid this distinction. Paul Paul Wolff Pronunciation, Vowels, Phonetics

	John Varela    902210 Sun, 02 Nov 08 04:47 PM "With the stress on the second vowel of 'romeo', as I was taught it. The words themselves are chosen to be readily distinguishable in poor hearing conditions, and the ordained stress patterns are designed to aid this distinction." If I'm not mistaken, the change from WW2's Able, Baker, Charlie to Alfa, Bravo, Cocoa (later reverted to Charlie) was for better understanding by non-native-English speakers in NATO. John Varela Trade NEW lamps for OLD for email. John Varela Pronunciation, Vowels, Phonetics, Countries, United Kingdom, Great Britain, Languages

	Adam Funk    902320 Tue, 04 Nov 08 08:28 PM (about the "NATO phonetic alphabet") lets you spell a "If I'm not mistaken, the change from WW2's Able, Baker, Charlie to Alfa, Bravo, Cocoa (later reverted to Charlie) was for better understanding by non-native-English speakers in NATO." ISTR reading about the change in one of Spike Milligan's war memoirs (probably the first one, Hitler: my Part in his Downfall ), and I think he said the British army had been using "Ack Baker Charlie...". (Unfortunately I can't confirm this because I don't have copies and the ones on Google Books aren't searchable.) I heard that Hans Christian Andersen lifted the title for "The Little Mermaid" off a Red Lobster Menu. (Bucky Katt) Adam Funk Pronunciation, Phonetics, Countries, United Kingdom, Great Britain, Colours, Languages

	Ian Jackson    650911 Wed, 05 Nov 08 12:59 PM "I don't recall hearing either one. Where have you run across "yins"?" "Common in the south west of Scotland." The story goes how a visitor to SW Scotland was walking beside a stream, and came across a fisherman. He enquired how many he had caught. The reply was "Yin young yin". He was puzzled as to why they spoke Chinese in Scotland. Of course, Glasgow's hero, Billy Connolly, acquired the epithet of 'The Big Yin'. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy Connolly http://www.billyconnolly.com/ Ian Ian Jackson Countries, Asia, China

	Haluk Skywalker    651243 Mon, 24 Nov 08 11:50 AM "John" (Email Removed), iletide þunu yazdý "The word "set" has over 100 meanings or uses. - from the American Language section of www.odd-info.com" "That's not surprising, knowing how Americans speak. Check it out in and getback to us." Is there such a newsgroup? I thought American English is also discussed here??? Haluk Skywalker American English, Countries, United Kingdom, Great Britain, United States, American, Languages

	Chuck Riggs    651252 Tue, 25 Nov 08 03:09 PM "That's not surprising, knowing how Americans speak. Check it out in and getback to us." "Is there such a newsgroup? I thought American English is also discussed here???" All varieties of English come up for discussion in alt.usage.english and in its sister group, alt.english.usage. Regards, Chuck Riggs Near Dublin, Ireland Chuck Riggs Regards, American English, Countries, United Kingdom, Great Britain, United States, Usages, American, Ireland, Languages