Morris Minor Owners Club

I was listening to a clip on the box the other day, I think it was to do with this women's vote thing. There was about five women in a group being interviewed by a reporter, who, to my amusement, asked a question beginning ----What to you guys think about such and such. You guys! There wasn't a bloke in sight! Where did it all go wrong?

They wanted equality,now they've got it.....

John

It is simply a sign of the gradual US americanisation of British english language and culture. I notice it more and more every time I come to visit. Fault is partly television where a lot of US american programmes are shown in their original form. Also due to microsoft domination of computers, the default settings even in UK sold equipment revert to "english (USA)" unless you make a conscious effort to change it. Everyday speech is contaminated in the non usage of proper adverbs e.g. "he ran quick" - this is actually the german language influence in american english in that german adverbs are the same as adjectives.

I suppose it does not really matter, languages evolve over time. It just hurts the ears if you are used to something else.

My daughter was involved in the procession, she was playing in the band in Parliament Square at the end - they were actually playing some of her compositions so we watched for any signs of her. I found it very ironic when the program had finished as the first item afterwards was a quick trailer for Mrs Browns Boys Maybe the BBC do have a sense of humour.

The 'bastardisation' of English buy the global influence, nee dominance, of US centric media formats is an annoyance that we can likely never overcome.
The French regularly get upset about it every few years, but while the differences for English speakers can be subtle, they really have a problem.
As recently as 10 years ago the Academie Francaise - the body that monitors and protects their language - came up with a list of over 500 words, terms and phrases in common use, including 'Wi-Fi', which of course is short for the English phrase "wireless fidelity". The Academie wanted the French to use "acces sans fil a l'internet" instead.
Not exactly shorthand is it!

I'm waiting for an incident, where a female runs off after commiting a misdemeanour, and a witness says ' The guy went that way!'
-----or would these people draw the line at that ?

It's funny though, that in some ways American English is closer to the language spoken by our ancestors than our current 'English English '
I recommend Bill Bryson's book, think it's called 'Mother Tongue ' ,or something similar.
Remote parts of the eastern USA have a dialect very similar to eastern England in the 16th and 17th centuries apparently, all dating back to the early emigrants. Words like 'gotten', that I always thought an abominable corruption, is genuine English,it seems. And 'Fall' is more genuine English than the later and current 'Autumn '.

SteveClem wrote: ↑Tue Jun 12, 2018 8:22 pm It's funny though, that in some ways American English is closer to the language spoken by our ancestors than our current 'English English '
I recommend Bill Bryson's book, think it's called 'Mother Tongue ' ,or something similar.
Remote parts of the eastern USA have a dialect very similar to eastern England in the 16th and 17th centuries apparently, all dating back to the early emigrants. Words like 'gotten', that I always thought an abominable corruption, is genuine English,it seems. And 'Fall' is more genuine English than the later and current 'Autumn '.

Yes, I've always maintained that English has evolved over the centuries, especially with the various invasions these islands of our experienced over the years, French, Danes etc., and it continued to do so in the recent couple of hundred years too.

Whilst the 'American' branch of the language somehow stagnated in the period in which it emigrated from these shores, hence the Olde English spellings of some words. This is presumably due to the relative isolation of the language for those years.
Though one of my lingering memories of spending 3 years living in the USA was being in a busy/noisy bar and ordering a round of several drinks that included a 'glass of water'. The barman just couldn't understand me on the last one; then the guy next to me said 'Say it with a D instead of a T'. So I asked for 'Wadder' and was understood no problem!!

Was the guy next to you, a female?

les wrote: ↑Thu Jun 14, 2018 4:25 pm Was the guy next to you, a female?

No, it was a male