English English and American English

[AUSSIEKEYS]

interesting thread

 

Aussiespeak [originally] is closely related to the old dart. [ie,england] but in recent years [amoung the younger generations] has become more akin to being like we are a new American state, due to our fascination with American movies and culture.[but doesnt American culture influence many other nations too]

 

to be honest an Aussie would far more easily understand Americans than we could of any other nation, due to the exchange of culture via movies and TV.

 

As a child I invariably learn't many American terms, from a staple diet of the Brady Bunch and Gilligan's Island [that crazy sailer man], and that oh so tasty Jeanie.[i'm still looking for a bottle]

 

But i still remember the most shocking and funny American term being "fanny"...we laughed when ever someone [ie American] mentioned their fanny, and that Randy was a guy's name and not a state of wanting, for a fanny.[and woe to the Aussie child named Fanny]

 

but there are many aussie terms such as the aforementioned " home and hosed " which indeed are used very often in general talk.

and indeed these terms [similar sayings] are more related to our english heritage..being we have stayed linked to the "mother country" until as recently as 10 years ago when the first real loud rumblings of independence/republic has been debated.

 

nevertheless as my name Aussiekeys was chosen by me, simply [without thinking about its ramifications] as a name to get me registered, i have played up to it, with many times using Aussie slang on purpose, simply because I trapped myself into this..

[trying desperately on this thread not to use it...tee hee]

 

ironically our country is rather large with many miles between major cities...but I myself can not note any real difference in accents between our states [well not as pronounced as America or England], but there are small differences in words..[ where a scallop in NSW is a potato cake in Victoria.and a scallop in victoria is some type of mollusc ..i guess]

 

And as for understanding overseas English..I think [currently] I find American accents and terminology easier to understand than English [because of our diet of yankee TV],

 

ironically in my youth it would have been the other way round...as we equally had as much english TV as American...ie: Benny Hill, the Goodies[my fav], and all manner of comedy.

 

Ironically its current English Drama that is so hard to understand...the use of local dialogue and its incredibly thick accents that makes it so hard to understand...

 

sometimes I think it is these accents [in parts of England] that are infact the worst use of English I have ever heard..[i will state I still think of England as the mother country, and as such do not say this lightly] but the accents are so thick I wonder if they are indeed related to the English language in any way.

 

So American english is slowley diluting others until perhaps one day we have Earth English...I guess.

 

could this be considered evolution of language.

 

ps:one American way of speaking that drives me wild is the way Americans speak numbers...

 

lets say the number 101

 

we would say ...............one hundred and one

 

but Americans will say..... one hundred one

 

sure its expediant to say it this way, but was it necessary to delete the "and"...it absolutely drives me crazy...

but ironically it makes sense in a fast paced world...in a way I see American English as more phonetic...for example the way you spell colour ...ie color..it phonetically makes sense [as English in many ways does not make sense] but on the other hand the dropping of the pronunciation of the vowel U in spoken words does not make sense.

noone of this would matter I guess If the world wasn't linked so closely by communications.

 

Struth...when we have fully evolved it will be a moot point anyway.....hee hee.

 

 

 

[Joe Muscara]

There are still a lot of Americans who will say "one hundred and one," but that drives ME crazy, when I notice it at least.

 

My understanding of it was that the "and" was for after the decimal. Like when writing a check, it might be in the written out part, "One hundred twenty seven dollars AND thirty six cents." I know that's different enough it shouldn't matter, but it's what I recall being told.

[wmp]

The English don't do math. They do maths.

 

American 10^9 = a billion

English 10^9 = a thousand million

 

American 10^12 = a trillion

English 10^12 = a billion

 

That makes a little difference.

 

[AUSSIEKEYS]

really....thats interesting...

like I said i think it is expediant to leave it out, so it isnt as if it doesnt make sense...and using it for the decimal point does make sense...but when we Australian's hear it it seems so odd....do you know if there is a reason Americans use both versions.[it seems the News stations use the without 'and' style]

 

I guess we have this idea that America tried to distance itself from England so much that it had to change things enough to be different..ie the language , driving on the opposite side...[i guess that is disputed too about who invented which side first ]

 

but this is an outsiders take on history. And indeed an interesting subject i have always conjectured over.

 

yes yes we do "maths" too

[Joe Muscara]

windshield = windscreen

hood = bonnet

trunk = boot

and probably others. I often wonder why the car terminology and the side of the road thing are so different, despite being fairly recent. Though the side of the road thing might predate the automobile, I do not know.

[MikeT156]

Quote by Aussiekeys:

 

"ironically our country is rather large with many miles between major cities...but I myself can not note any real difference in accents between our states [well not as pronounced as America or England]"

 

That's interesting. In years past, when transportation wasn't quite as easy to obtain that it is now, along with the internet, email, has made a lot of the differences in pronunciation and local colloquialisms are much more limited. There also seems to be a lot less regional biases toward "certain groups" of people than there were when I was a lot younger. When I was in the military in the mid 1960's, I remember other solders from the south referring to us northerners as "Yankees" and meaning it. There were still debates as to which side (north vs south) had the better army, and who "should" have won the civil war. Southerns still said "Yall", meaning "all of you", and we use to make a joke out of it, much to their chagrin. It was all in good fun, but there was a slight feeling of animosity on the part of our southern friends about the south being overpowered by the Yankees in the civil war.

 

Mike T.

[wmp]

I think the which side to drive on thing predates America. Probably England too. If you just left it up to the horses, which would they choose? They probably can't agree either.

 

As for language, things tend to localize. Even with the homoginization introduced by faster travel, communication and broadcast. A foriegner from England or NYC might recognize a Boston accent, but they probably couldn't tell you which neighborhood. Transplant somebody and they begin talking like the locals. I once found myself using the words y'all and guitah in the same sentence.

 

 

[wmp]

It was all in good fun, but there was a slight feeling of animosity on the part of our southern friends about the south being overpowered by the Yankees in the civil war.

 

This is why it's important to have an understanding of history. All the wars that have ever been fought are still going on, and you're on one side or the other whether you want to be or not. It's good to understand who hates you and why.

[MikeT156]

Quote by wmp:

 

"This is why it's important to have an understanding of history. All the wars that have ever been fought are still going on, and you're on one side or the other whether you want to be or not. It's good to understand who hates you and why."

 

There are still problems of one group vs another in the US, as well as in other countries. However, I'd venture a guess that most Americans are more concerned about foreign countries or radical groups that want to destroy American rather than old biases among ourselves.

 

Mike T.

[wmp]

We don't need foreign countries or radical groups to destroy American. Our government has been doing a dandy job of that without their assistance.

[Jode]

Great thread. Thanks for the bump. My contributions:

 

My mom was at the beach one day with three other ladies, one of whom was British, and one of whom, an American, who had brought her three-year-old son along. He strayed a little far from the group for Mom's comfort, so she called to him: "John, come back over here." She called again and again, but the kid was oblivious. Finally, irritated, she did the angry-mom thing of calling him by his first and middle names: "John Thomas, you get over here NOW!" The British lady went white - "What did you call him?"

 

In eastern Kentucky, they'll say, "I wouldn't care to," when they really mean, "Yes, please." "Want some coffee?" "Oh, I wouldn't care to - cream and sugar, if you don't mind."

 

A Spanish-speaking friend told me that in one dialect - central American, maybe? - the expression for, "It's a small world," translates as, "The world is a handkerchief." This will apparently get you some odd looks if you say it in the wrong part of the Latin world.

 

In my native Deep South, every soft drink is a Coke. Sprite, Dr. Pepper, grape soda - if it's sweet and it bubbles, it's a Coke.

 

As for ethnic-slur-based expressions such as 'gypped', I remember Guy Hunt, the former governor of my home state of Alabama, getting himself in trouble for saying in public that he was trying to "Jew" someone down on the price of a state contract. Then again, his prior job experience was as an Amway salesman and foot-washin'-Baptist preacher. He once addressed my high school and worried aloud about American jobs being lost to "the Japanese and the Koreerns." He got tossed out of office for using the state plane to fly to preaching gigs. Yup, we've had us some dern good guv'ners in Alabama.

[Joe Muscara]

I grew up on LI and we'd say, "put it away" and "that's too bad." When I moved to Texas, I found they seemed to say, "put it up" and "I'm sorry." The latter still throws me sometimes. I can tell my wife about how something bad happened, and she'll say, "I'm sorry." My first thought is, "sorry for what? YOU didn't do it!"

[MikeT156]

Quote by Jode:

 

"In my native Deep South, every soft drink is a Coke. Sprite, Dr. Pepper, grape soda - if it's sweet and it bubbles, it's a Coke."

 

I remember "city people" kids that would come to PA during the summer months would call any kind of "soda".....POP. No matter what it was. We use to laugh at this, then they reminded us that we called any carbonated drink "soda", instead of POP. No difference.

 

Mike T.

[wmp]

Coke, soda, pop, soda pop, soft drink. Around here it's often called tonic, which gets you everything from strange looks to a pharmacist in other places.

[Sparky2]

I grew up on LI and we'd say, "put it away" and "that's too bad." When I moved to Texas, I found they seemed to say, "put it up" and "I'm sorry." The latter still throws me sometimes. I can tell my wife about how something bad happened, and she'll say, "I'm sorry." My first thought is, "sorry for what? YOU didn't do it!"

 

I had a friend from India that woudl say "Sorry?" instead of "Excuse me?" when she didn't understand something. It took a while to get over thinking "Sorry for what?"

 

What about "Bob's your uncle?"

 

Mark

[Kayvon]

Great thread, who was it that said America and England are two countries divided by a common language?

 

When I went to Canada I did get some funny looks when saying I was gonna go outside for a fag. Also I had a rather confusing conversation with a bar girl in a strip club when I asked for a lager. It didn't help that I had just smoked a 'doobie' though.

 

One thing that I can't understand is how Americans divide their dates up, to me it makes more sense to write DD/MM/YY than MM/DD/YY as in the 18th day of the 8th month of the 2008th year. Anyone know the rationale of that?

[AUSSIEKEYS]

[quote=wmp

This is why it's important to have an understanding of history. All the wars that have ever been fought are still going on, and you're on one side or the other whether you want to be or not. It's good to understand who hates you and why.

 

one of Australia's fortunate things is we have never had a civil war, and are perhaps one of the few countries who haven't, yes we have had some fracas for freedom [the hardly known Vinegar Hill uprising or also known as the Castle Hill uprising, true Irish/convict fight to get back to Ireland...ah freedoom] and the famous or infamous Eureka Stockade [i hate its fame because it was about greed from a government in taxes and greed from gold miners not wanting to pay them, not freedoom of life as many Aussies like to think it is] so we have never had hatred for each other due to war and as such do not experience the want to keep things/languages as they were [before the war] in regional areas, but I understand what you are saying WMP...it does create regional dialect as a way to say "dont let them change us".Yes I have studied war as a hobby and have a handle on many during history.And you came up with a good point...local wars are never forgotten, well not as quickly as this anyway...it can very well influence a nation for a long time in the future...perhaps till we are fighting a common enemy will the world ever unite...that could only be an enemy against earth...look out ET....hee hee

 

but after that we will all be saying "phone home" in a new dialect

[JeffLearman]

Ironically our country is rather large with many miles between major cities...but I myself can not note any real difference in accents between our states [well not as pronounced as America or England

 

Bigger difference between city and bush, than between states, as I recall.

 

I remember learning what a fanny was when referring to my "fanny pack" (a small pack worn around the waist, bouncing on what Americans call a fanny) much to the amusement of the locals.

 

I also remember meeting a few randy sheilas.

[AUSSIEKEYS]

hee hee

 

yes between city and bush [what we call country] is a good point...although not too pronouced,but you would notice a difference.

 

yes and fanny pacs are now becoming quite common to hear...its becoming almost a trade name for them.

 

yes randy sheilas.....especially in their 40's I am noticing now.

 

[MusicaL]

I always wondered why the letter Z in American English is not pronounced Zed as the rest of the world does!!! I guess Zed Zed Top, doesn't sound cool enough for a southern rock band.... Also, the word Aluminium is the world-wide scientific name for a certain metal that is called Aluminum in the States...

 

One of the funny things for me are the words that come from French and are Americanized. Take the American "Chaise Lounge".... It's imported from French: Chaise Longue... which means long chair!!! So, why is it that the word longue became lounge? I have no clue. The u was moved, but I can't explain why!!! Perhaps it's because we tend to lounge around on them???

 

aL

[JeffLearman]

One of Australia's fortunate things is we have never had a civil war, and are perhaps one of the few countries who haven't, yes we have had some fracas for freedom [the hardly known Vinegar Hill uprising or also known as the Castle Hill uprising, true Irish/convict fight to get back to Ireland...ah freedoom] and the famous or infamous Eureka Stockade [i hate its fame because it was about greed from a government in taxes and greed from gold miners not wanting to pay them, not freedoom of life as many Aussies like to think it is] so we have never had hatred for each other due to war

No, but you did have genocide, just as we in the US have to face up to in our past. However, that doesn't show up in either of our major language variations, mostly because the displaced population is so small it hardly affects the language except in specific areas. (See the US movie "Smoke Signals" for some great examples of Native American flavored English. And note that "Native American" is a misnomer; Aboriginal American should be the correct term!)

[JeffLearman]

We don't need foreign countries or radical groups to destroy American. Our government has been doing a dandy job of that without their assistance.

 

As a conservative who believes in circumspect economic policy, a strong military, moderate taxes, and following the Constitution carefully ...

 

I COULDN'T AGREE MORE!

 

 

[JeffLearman]

... I remember other solders from the south referring to us northerners as "Yankees" and meaning it. There were still debates as to which side (north vs south) had the better army, and who "should" have won the civil war. Southerns still said "Yall", meaning "all of you", and we use to make a joke out of it, much to their chagrin. It was all in good fun, but there was a slight feeling of animosity on the part of our southern friends about the south being overpowered by the Yankees in the civil war.

Lordy Lordy, if we pull North 'n South into this, it'll never end!

 

I remember going from Michigan to Florida for high school and learning that some folks are still fighting that war, at least, inside. I learned the difference between a Yankee and a Damn ("DAYUM") Yankee: Yankees stay up North!

 

Y'all is a lovely, useful word. However, its meaning has shifted. At first, it was simply a contraction of "you all" (and in some parts of Kentucky you can still hear "YOU all" used). Just the plural of the singular "you". Very helpful when you want to make this distinction, which isn't unusual.

 

However, polite as the Southerners try to be, the informal "you" seemed to direct, so they started using "y'all" to mean a more formal, less personal, less direct "you", such as someone working a counter might say to a customer: "Y'all want fries with that?"

 

Which left them without their beloved plural form, leading to the ever popular "All y'all"! As in, "I might could, if all y'all wants!"

 

[S_Gould]

yes randy sheilas.....especially in their 40's I am noticing now.

 

In the U.S. they're called "Cougars"

 

...don't ask me why.

[Geoff Grace]

lets say the number 101

 

we would say ...............one hundred and one

 

but Americans will say..... one hundred one

This American would say "a hundred and one" or "one oh one," depending upon the circumstance ("one oh one" when referring to a college course or the 101 freeway in LA).

 

Best,

 

Geoff

[richwhite9]

polite as the Southerners try to be, the informal "you" seemed to direct, so they started using "y'all" to mean a more formal, less personal, less direct "you", such as someone working a counter might say to a customer: "Y'all want fries with that?"

 

Too complicated for Paisanos in Jersey.

 

You'se works for the direct you and the plural you as in "What you'se doing standing there with your hands in your pockets?"

 

Or in the singular and direct

"All you'se needs to do is a couple favors to make this thing right by Tony, you see?

[Geoff Grace]

Great thread, who was it that said America and England are two countries divided by a common language?

I always thought it was Oscar Wilde, but maybe not.

 

Best,

 

Geoff

[Geoff Grace]

I guess we have this idea that America tried to distance itself from England so much that it had to change things enough to be different..ie the language , driving on the opposite side...[i guess that is disputed too about who invented which side first ]

I've known for almost all of my life that you're supposed to drive on the left hand side of the road in England. But I was too tired to think about that fact as I flopped into a taxi at London Heathrow Airport, wiped out after a 14 hour flight from LA. As the driver merged into traffic, the alarm bells went off in my head; and I came within a millisecond of screaming, "What the hell are you doing? Get back on the right side of the road!!!"

 

Boy was I glad I caught myself in time! I wonder how many times that happens a day.

 

Best,

 

Geoff

[Discotheque]

Good thread. Living in Canada I've heard of some differences, besides the usual colour vs. color... in Canada in the winter to keep your head warm we wear a toque (hat tends to imply something that is for fashion rather than keeping warm). Ummm, we write cheques not checks. I've only heard soft drinks called "pop" not soda.

 

Ummm, in the states does poutine exist, being fries with gravy and cheese?

 

Anyways... about the driving on the opposite side... apparently the reason England drives on the left is due to the fact that France drives on the right. It was during the time when they were warring with each other that horses and carriages were becoming common enough that a system of passing in the streets was needed, so France passed on the right, and England, to be different, passed on the left.

 

There's a friend of mine who spent a year in England who told me a bunch of these, they're great. One thing she told me that's different, not in terms of dialect, but in hot water. Apparently in England hot water never runs out... it can't run out. They have a different system, something about coils that heat the water as it runs through as opposed to a tank. Even the poorest houses never run out of hot water. Oh and heating costs 3 times as much during the day than at night, so she was always cold because people would turn off the heat during the day... I guess there's issues of industry needing the energy and whatnot, crazy. The hot water thing is cool though, if only we could get that...

[Pale]

Why wouldn't you be able to get it? It's just another form of a tank...a flow water boiler. I have one in my flat, it works on gas and it provides heating and hot water for everything in the house.

 

(ok,I live in Europe... but I can't believe you don't have those on the other side of the Atlantic)