Search results for 'tag:Lazy English tag:British English' matching tags 'Lazy English' and 'British English'

Re: Is American English lazy English?

Anonymous — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 09:19:37 GMT

Oh ' Thee of dark horizons,If it is thy wish above all else. To place false class into the frame work of Mankind so thou can seem in thy world to be of great important's to thy self..So be it ...BUT... Try to remember there are more Americans speaking modern English ...than British,,,,and with that said .. Language is only as ACCURATE as the time in which it live's,,,I notice you do not use correct English yourself like those who lived in the past. , ...Am I to understand that you believe British English has'nt changed in the last 50 year's like American English has ...I dont understand (class of people ) of course putting everyone in a class (so you can feel better about your own self is TRUE BRITISH BULLOCKS...Ooops sorry I should use that American phrase BULL ***..Of course stating IS AMERICAN ENGLISH LAZY is the same as if I stated is British Latin lazy...You do realize English comes from latin dont you....Or is that to much of a blow to your self righteous ***..We might not have Correct English according to you...But we seem to still manage..Even when we got rid of all those British with there correct English...And started our own Country..With bloody poor grammer ..............cheers mate!!

Re: Is American English lazy English?

Kooyeen — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 16:18:51 GMT

>>>British English is the superior in my opinion, simply because it is the original English language. Obviously me being English, im going to be biased, but if i were foreign then i would still choose British English over American English. To call American English the dominant English language is ridiculous when you consider the size of the 2 countries. The American continent prefers the American English and Europe and Asia tend to learn British English.<<<

Mike In Japan wrote:
I agree. Furthermore, in any game, is it not important to follow the rules?
It is one thing to improve a language by adding to it, it is quite another to erode it by misunderstanding the meanings of words and then to propogate those misunderstandings. Then to take pride in such misunderstanding is the height of stupidity! We all do it in one way or another, but to pretend that it is improving the language is crap!
Add to the language, by all means, after all that is how English has become such an accurate language, but dumbing it down should be seen for what it is; stupid.

Hi Mike,
you were kidding, right? I know you were... I hope you were, LOL.

Re: Is American English lazy English?

K-M — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 00:10:02 GMT

British English is the superior in my opinion, simply because it is the original English language. Obviously me being English, im going to be biased, but if i were foreign then i would still choose British English over American English. To call American English the dominant English language is ridiculous when you consider the size of the 2 countries. The American continent prefers the American English and Europe and Asia tend to learn British English.

Re: Is American English lazy English?

Anonymous — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 16:02:27 GMT

"I much prefer the attitude of the British. They have enough respect for the language to use correct spelling, clear enunciation and to observe the correct use of prepositions and general grammar. On the other hand, some Americans seem to like reinventing the language as they go."

To use a British word, bollocks! Americans at least pronounce all the syllables in words like "territory" and "secretary". Most of them also pronounce the letter "r" in all positions, where standart British English no longer does. They speak at a slower pace than British English, and as a British English teacher, I am told by my foreign students invariably that they find American English easier to understand. Their pronunciation is closer to the London pronunciation of the early 17th century than modern British RP.

I do not understand what you mean by correct. Do you mean your personal use of English, and do you measure other people's English against this? You seem to me to be one of those, who has never studied linguistics or phonology, let alone grammar, but thinks they can sound off about language in some sort of authoritative way.

Re: Is American English lazy English?

Anonymous — Sun, 04 Mar 2007 12:08:03 GMT

If I had to reply I would be brief and precise , that British English, is the back bone of every English ain the world followed by the African's, but the American English, is not in the account of this competion , Americans have spoilt english language as well as they have spoilt the world peace, and converted athe globe into a place of fear bloodshes, and attrocities .

athank you for understanding

hatim mohammad

sudanese

Re: Is American English lazy English?

Orpheus — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 03:36:47 GMT

Speaking of lazy English, I remember I decided to learn British English because I was too lazy to pronounce the 'R'

Re: Is American English lazy English?

Ville_maddengurl — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 01:16:10 GMT

MrPedantic wrote:

Sorry, Merve, I know it was bad of me...but it was late...I had just completed my annual tax return...(that major work of fiction)...levity inevitably ensued...

~ ~ ~ ~

But do you really want to change your accent to a British one?

MrP

Never mind, it is really easy to hurt a little girl like me... and you can placate a little girl easily... That's it...You will tease me, i will regret... I will decide to be more vigilant...And you will tease me again and again and again...Until i become ripe and more well-informed than you. Everytime it happens... I want to thank you MrP, i could not think you would tease me...I took my lesson from you; I won't even trust my father...

Let us forget British English, i am quite happy with American English (Hey,dude,it's a boy! -Griffin-)

In the end : AMERICAN ACCENT RULES!!!

Re: Is American English lazy English?

Kooyeen — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 00:51:39 GMT

MrPedantic wrote:
Oh yes, use "and stuff" all the time. Use it for "etc.", or when you can't think of anything else to say, e.g.
MrP: "Well, um, you know, er, not really. Just, um, watched tv and stuff."

That's interesting. I thought the expression "and stuff" was only used in American English. There's an animated series in which half of what the characters say is just:
"Dude, chicks (for "girls"), like (used like a comma), and stuff /or something (at the end of a sentence), damn, cool, this is gonna be cool, this sucks, Immuna (for "I'm going to"), and various swear words."

That cartoon is a kind of "Course in Modern American English Usage". Merve, if you change your mind and want to perfect your American English, that's a good course. If you want to switch to British English, well, I don't know what to recommend. But maybe you could take Stewie Griffin as a model to imitate (Stewie from "Family Guy").

Re: Is American English lazy English?

Marvin A. — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 06:41:22 GMT

Wow, what a lot of nonesense.

Is American English simply lazy English with disregard for the fundamentals of the language, or is it a valid simplification of an overly complex and irregular language?

Huh? What are you talking about?

I was hoping nobody would ask, but since you did, I much prefer the attitude of the British. They have enough respect for the language to use correct spelling

How is modern British spelling more "correct"? Who determines correct spelling anyway? The differences in spelling between the US and the UK are mostly due to there being multiple forms that were considered "correct" at the time: such as "color" and "colour".

(The British have) clear enunciation

Oh they do, do they? Are you referring to RP, which is spoken by about 4% of the population, or are you referring to Glaswegian?

(And the British have the) correct use of prepositions and general grammar (and Americans don't)

Huh?

It is not my intention to offend users of American English, users of the imperial system of measurement or anyone else who cares little for international standards.

By your logic, the imperial system should be the correct one. After all, it was invented in Britain. They simply "dumbed down" their system (as you like to say), and switched to the metric system.

I know literacy levels in most western countries are declining rapidly. Could this be a contributing factor?

What does literacy have to do with it?

they use American enunciation

There are several dialects of North American English.

(The "American enunciation", grammar, etc.) all these also have been standardized

Um, no. There is no standardized pronunciation in North American English.

British is regarded as classical English?

"Classical English"? Modern British dialects, particularily RP, have diverged more from the English that both RP and General American are derived from. The non-rhoticity is one thing.

When one considers that the countries on the following list and a multitude of other nations have deep historical if not current connections with Britain and British English, I think it is quite likely that the use of Bitish English is far more widespread and popular than one might think at first glance.

Canada

Um. Canada does not speak "British English".

Oh, by the way, British English is taught in Australian schools, and I think it would be fair to say that Australians take great pride in the preservation of 'proper' (the Queen's) English

Australians speak *Australian English* not British English. They are not "taught" British English. Their spelling system is closer to the British standard though. As for Australians speaking the Queen's English, nothing could be father from the truth, in fact most non-Australians think that most forms of Australian English sound very much like Cockney.

Interesting that Australians take much pride in using British English - that actually would support the thesis that it'll hardly happen that the British English will be replaced by the American English, what do you think?

Um. They don't use British English... But they're of course not going to adopt an American accent. That would be like thinking that people from Berlin would adopt a Swiss German accent.

As nationalities continually interact around the word, shouldn't there be ONE set standard for both measurement and English? Emagine if you gave a spelling test to students from different English speaking countries. Q. What would be the correct spelling for the word "COLOR/COLOUR" ? (for example) Who would pass the test and who would fail?

Um. Both were used in the past as acceptable variants.

As nationalities continually interact around the word, shouldn't there be ONE set standard for both measurement and English?

No. English is a pluricentric language.

American English now is mostly ebonics lol

Rubbish

In a nutshell American and British English are but two dialects of ENGLISH.

They are not two "dialects". There's really no such thing as "American English" or "British English". There are many dialects of English in North America, as well as many dialects in the Britain.

I don't think I would consider British English "Classic English". British English and American English were assumable one in the same 200 years ago.

Exactly. But remeber, even at that time there was not just one form of English. There were many dialects.

I started this thread in 2003, and I have to admit I now feel a little silly about it.
Thanks to the input in this thread (and others) I realise my stupidity at having been so outspoken.

Good.

U.S. has a very diverse population. The pressure, naturally, is to simplify English so everyone, including the non-native speakers, can understand each other.

Rubbish. How has it become simpler?

They should learn to write properly, that is, English, proper English

Write properly? What is this "correct spelling" anyway?

So you're quite likely to hear a rising 'Australian' intonation in plain statements, for example â which to some BrE ears makes every statement sound like a question.

That's also found in North American English. It's associated with California English and Valley girls for the most part. It has very little to do with Australian influence.

Re: Is American English lazy English?

Anonymous — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 08:53:33 GMT

"In order to raise the level of English in the USA, the government deliberately simplified the system so more people could learn faster, and thus improve national communication as a whole. "

Now this idea is just wrong. How could the government affect the speach patterns of the majority of Americans, who at one time were directly from England? Modern British English has changed just as much as American English from the 'original' form in the 17th and 18th centuries when the American colonists left England. It must also be reminded that while the US government uses English to function, the US does not have an official languange.