David  +  43357 Wed, 25 Aug 04 08:09 AM Good to see a well thought out argument jcp9 without a hint of bias or flag waving. An American accent is as good as any other though I must say what I hear in the cinema is often very difficult to understand. There is now such a huge variety of accents that what may be of concern is whether we will all understand each other as time moves on. What about India New Zealand Australia Gibraltar Malta Canada etc.? David Joined on Sat, Mar 8 2003 Regular Member 664 Accents, American Accents, Malta

	cloud  +  43417 Wed, 25 Aug 04 10:25 PM r u asking about India, New Zealand, Australia, Gibraltar, Malta, Canada, etc accents or what? ive been friends with a canadian family for about 7 years now, and theres only a slight difference in how the say 'bag' (they say it like bay-g) and they call the bathroom the wash room and thats about it. i have a friend whose moms originally from new zealand and she has an english accent, and the only thing i noticed was that she says 'dear' but a lot of people say that so it doesnt really count. And as for the rest of them i dont have any friends from those countries yet. cloud Joined on Wed, Aug 11 2004 New Member 28 Du ac arswydus yw'r hanes am heddiw Accents, Malta

	hovawart  +  50720 Sat, 16 Oct 04 09:23 PM Now that Jason T and Hitchhiker have brought up "sucks," I have to say I'm utterly astonished that this word has achieved such widespread use. When I was a teenager, it was part of a two-word phrase, the second word being slang for "penis," and the phrase conveying (for reasons I could never fathom), regret over a bad outcome, represented by a type of sexual congress between consenting (one hopes) adults. When "sucks" started to gain popularity several years ago, I had a serious conversation with my sons and their friends, explaining that the word was inappropriate and should not be used, especially in mixed company. Minutes after this little talk, we arrived at our gym, where there was a large sign saying the children's area was closed. They all lamented their bad luck, and the attractive young woman leaned over the counter and said sympathetically, "Yeah, it sucks, huh?" Sigh. Hovawart hovawart Joined on Tue, Oct 12 2004 New Member 05 Conversations

	cloud  +  50839 Sun, 17 Oct 04 09:50 PM really? then why dont we americans have british accents??? that i never understood, since all these ppl came to america and the native americans were taught english (something like that) why didnt the native americans have british accents??? why didnt it slowly morf into a dialect of england??? when why where how did americans get their accents?? and what about canada?? NUH im so confused! i dont know my history that well....please someone set me straight cloud Accents, Dialects, American English

	nona the brit  +  50908 Mon, 18 Oct 04 02:06 PM I've heard that theory as well, except it was the 17th century that was mentioned. There are probably elements of truth here, but you have to remember that there were very many people settling in America who were not English so they have had a big influence on the accents as well. Huge swathes of America were colonies of other European countries in its early history too. Then try adding in the fact that the vast majority of inhabitants of certain areas were of African origin even though they were not the official inhabitants of the land... And even people in England do not speak 18th century English anymore, so you can't expect two countries the other side of the world to each other, to continue developing English along exactly the same lines. I hate to be cliched, but America really has been a melting pot, so the language will be different to anywhere else. nona the brit Joined on Wed, Sep 22 2004 England Veteran Member 11,713 The name says it all. Accents, American English

	A.DeSouza  +  59712 Mon, 06 Dec 04 06:59 PM All languages change and develop over time, with new words being added and different meanings being applied. English has changed just as much as American english from what the language was like in the 18th century - no one goes around talking like Charles Dickens or Jane Austen anymore. naturally American english started of the same as British english because it derived from the British. In fact relatively few people in England speak with what most of the world sees as the traditional, posh , proper British accent (with the exception of people in the Royal family and those in Parliment.) Up in the north there are a variety of dialects but down south, around London, the accent is a mild cockney among the working class/youngsters or neutral among those who are older or better off. It amazes me to here that some people learning English learn it in a American accent, surely if you are learning a language you learn it in the accent of the people who originally spoke it. If you are learning Spanish, you learn it in Spanish accent not a south American one. If people are learning American English, you might as well teach carribean English too. lastly I have no problem with words being different in America, but some are just not logical. Such as the change from football to soccer, - everyobody else calls it football because you play it with your feet (unlike American football which you play with your hands) so why call it soccer? that is one change i really do not understand. A.DeSouza Joined on Mon, Dec 6 2004 New Member 01 Accents, Dialects, Football, American Accents, British Accent, Learning English, British English, American English