OT Humour - Written & Spoken English

Howdy!

Why do y'all say it wrong, anyway?
VeryBigTrouble-MakingGrin
Of course it's that silent "f"--gets us every time!

R/Sandy--quilting near the edge... ;-D


On 5/6/07 5:10 PM, in article , "CATS"
wrote:

Things like dropped e's and changes in pronunciation are
aften a reflection of the Americanisation of English.

Just consider the way we say "lieutenant". Anyone with an
English education (and that would include Aussies) would say
lef-tenant, but Americans (and those influenced by their
culture, probably through movies) would say loo-tenant.

I'm with you, Cheryl! And while we're at it, who's the (pardon my language,
please! but it's a common word in American English now) dip**** who
initiated the expression, "My bad." Can we hang that individual from the
yardarm?

--
Carolyn in The Old Pueblo

If it ain't broke, you're not trying. --Red Green
If it ain't broke, it ain't mine. --Carolyn McCarty

If at first you don't succeed, switch to power tools. --Red Green
If at first you don't succeed, get a bigger hammer. --Carolyn McCarty

"CATS" wrote in message
...
Ah hah! The British (Norman/French) influence. Australia
has it too, although these days sadly the shorter
Americanised spellings seem to be taking over. A failing of
our education system in my opinion.

I cringe when I see what texting is doing to the written
language though. I do believe that language is a dynamic
force and is subject to constant change and innovation,
t -

i h8 txt words + h8 cing it in ltrs + emls
cul8r

(Aaahhhhhhhh!! runs screaming off in the distance!)
--

Cheryl & the Cats in OZ
o o o o o o
( Y ) ( Y ) and ( Y )
Boofhead Donut Rasputin
http://community.webshots.com/user/witchofthewest
catsatararatATyahooDOTcomDOTau


"~KK in BC~" wrote in message
news:Vqu%h.22194$KN6.12426@edtnps89...
: If you can pronounce correctly every word in this poem,
you
: will be speaking English better than 90% of the native
: English speakers in the world. After trying the verses,
a
: Frenchman said he'd prefer six months of hard labour to
: reading six lines aloud. Try them yourself.
:
:
:
:
: I find the biggest difference between the pronunciations
of words come
: between the USA and Canadian versions because of spelling
for the most part.
:
: We add letters in some words like: honour, neighbour and
colour for example.
:
: ~KK in BC~
:
:

Come the revolution . . . . . I have a lamp post picked out
with his/her name on it!!

--

Cheryl & the Cats in OZ
o o o o o o
( Y ) ( Y ) and ( Y )
Boofhead Donut Rasputin
http://community.webshots.com/user/witchofthewest
catsatararatATyahooDOTcomDOTau


"Carolyn McCarty" wrote in message
...
: I'm with you, Cheryl! And while we're at it, who's the
(pardon my language,
: please! but it's a common word in American English now)
dip**** who
: initiated the expression, "My bad." Can we hang that
individual from the
: yardarm?
:
: --
: Carolyn in The Old Pueblo
:
: If it ain't broke, you're not trying. --Red Green
: If it ain't broke, it ain't mine. --Carolyn McCarty
:
: If at first you don't succeed, switch to power
ools. --Red Green
: If at first you don't succeed, get a bigger
ammer. --Carolyn McCarty
:
: "CATS" wrote in message
: ...
: Ah hah! The British (Norman/French) influence.
Australia
: has it too, although these days sadly the shorter
: Americanised spellings seem to be taking over. A
failing of
: our education system in my opinion.
:
: I cringe when I see what texting is doing to the written
: language though. I do believe that language is a
dynamic
: force and is subject to constant change and innovation,
: t -
:
: i h8 txt words + h8 cing it in ltrs + emls
: cul8r
:
: (Aaahhhhhhhh!! runs screaming off in the distance!)
: --
:
: Cheryl & the Cats in OZ
: o o o o o o
: ( Y ) ( Y ) and ( Y )
: Boofhead Donut Rasputin
: http://community.webshots.com/user/witchofthewest
: catsatararatATyahooDOTcomDOTau
:
:
: "~KK in BC~" wrote in message
: news:Vqu%h.22194$KN6.12426@edtnps89...
: : If you can pronounce correctly every word in this
poem,
: you
: : will be speaking English better than 90% of the
native
: : English speakers in the world. After trying the
verses,
: a
: : Frenchman said he'd prefer six months of hard labour
to
: : reading six lines aloud. Try them yourself.
: :
: :
: :
: :
: : I find the biggest difference between the
pronunciations
: of words come
: : between the USA and Canadian versions because of
spelling
: for the most part.
: :
: : We add letters in some words like: honour, neighbour
and
: colour for example.
: :
: : ~KK in BC~
: :
: :
:
:
:
:

When I first heard that, Sally, years ago, I gaped in wonder!!
I love its quirkiness, too; along with my favourite surname:
Featherstonehaugh - pronounced (for those who couldn't guess g)
Fanshaw.
..
In message , Sally Swindells
writes
And all the place names too that are pronounced completely differently
to their spelling. This part of England is especially confusing for
strangers - some of the pronunciations bear no resemblance to the
spelling at all!


My favourite has to be Happisborough in Norfolk - pronounced Hazebruh.


--
Best Regards
pat on the hill

very, very near ...!
..
In message , Sandy Ellison
writes
Howdy!

Why do y'all say it wrong, anyway?
VeryBigTrouble-MakingGrin
Of course it's that silent "f"--gets us every time!

R/Sandy--quilting near the edge... ;-D

--
Best Regards
pat on the hill

It's those diphthongs again, Butterfly!
We have kept all of ours, and most of yours have disappeared.
..
In message , Butterflywings
writes
Ahhhhhhhhh, the Midwest dialect I thought the same thing and it took me
awhile to figure out "mould' when was the "u" added?

Butterfly (taking a break from making my Design Wall-our 'painter' stopped
by today just to see the 'progress'. What a neat guy : ) I have a good pic
of him painting and when he is totally done with everything that needs
doing we will give him a framed copy of it. DS said
"there's somehting wrong with this pix..if he looks so happy--we must be
paying him too much" vbg )
--
Best Regards
pat on the hill

Oh! ouch. That was really painful, Cheryl.
(shudder).
..
In message , CATS
writes
Ah hah! The British (Norman/French) influence. Australia
has it too, although these days sadly the shorter
Americanised spellings seem to be taking over. A failing of
our education system in my opinion.

I cringe when I see what texting is doing to the written
language though. I do believe that language is a dynamic
force and is subject to constant change and innovation,
t -

i h8 txt words + h8 cing it in ltrs + emls
cul8r

(Aaahhhhhhhh!! runs screaming off in the distance!)

--
Best Regards
pat on the hill

you what?

I can't even *read* text messages that aren't written properly

--
Jessamy
Queen of Chocolate Squishies (and Occasional Liquorice Ones)
In The Netherlands
Take out: _I love the colour_ to reply.
www.geocities.com/jessamy_thompson
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/jes...pson/my_photos
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ah hah! The British (Norman/French) influence. Australia
has it too, although these days sadly the shorter
Americanised spellings seem to be taking over. A failing of
our education system in my opinion.

I cringe when I see what texting is doing to the written
language though. I do believe that language is a dynamic
force and is subject to constant change and innovation,
t -

i h8 txt words + h8 cing it in ltrs + emls
cul8r

(Aaahhhhhhhh!! runs screaming off in the distance!)
--

Cheryl & the Cats in OZ
o o o o o o
( Y ) ( Y ) and ( Y )
Boofhead Donut Rasputin
http://community.webshots.com/user/witchofthewest
catsatararatATyahooDOTcomDOTau

"Polly Esther" wrote in message
...
I enjoyed it too but tripped over mould. Never saw it spelled that way.
Polly


It's a British variant.......It's what happens to your favourite coloured
banque cheques when that gator gits 'em wet while you're looking through a
catalogue for a puppet theatre, plough parts, jewellery and pyjamas and
there's no circulating draught to dry them out before they mould.

Val.........who has 4 British channels on the telly

When I worked for a someone with a strong East London accent, I can
remember asking him to repeat an engineering term he had just used - it
sounded like shvastoil. It was silver steel! I think he thought I was mad!

We once took DS and his then South African girlfriend out for a meal and
she was convinced she had found a fellow countryman in the waiter, but
he was a New Zealander.

My family tree on my maternal grandfather's side has been traced back to
1530 through the male line (Flude), all very straightforward and
documented. However it stops there because of the difficulty with the
spelling of the name - you can do a lot with Flude - Flood, Flydd, even
Lloyd. Still I am quite happy with 1530 - it certainly brings history alive.

--
Sally at the Seaside~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~uk
http://community.webshots.com/user/sallyswin


CATS wrote:


And at least some of those might be traced back to local
early dialects that have been preserved in pronunciation
long after the standardisation of spelling. Spoken language
has a far longer history than written language, and is
probably more deeply entrenched in the local population.



Accent has a lot to answer for. Just consider trying to
listen to a conversation between a Yorkshireman and a
Cockney . . . . to an American it would all sound "foreign"
rofl. In America many of the spoken language
differences/pronunciations relate to the ethnic mix of the
early settlers in specific areas, or the effect of social
isolation on pockets of population.



The one English name that always had me bemused was the
terribly upper crust name of "St John". How that ever
became "Sinjun" in an environment that imposes such a
stylised and demanding pronunciation system had me beat
until I was told it was derived from the Norman/French
pronunciation - hence the "slurring" of the Saint. But I
have never heard it in relation to place names like "St
John's Wood".

I remember reading that Australia represented a language
anomaly in that it represented a vast area with only minimal
language variation. You can travel thousands of miles here
and not hear a change of accent. Perhaps this is because we
are so "young" and mass communication (at least
across/within the continent) became the accepted norm
relatively soon after European settlement. Perhaps it is a
unifying national trait imposed by our early isolation from
the rest of the world. Maybe it is because we were so
heavily influenced by the first British settlers (although
the same could be said of most of the US), or because of the
minimal early impact of the spoken language of the
indigenous aborigines on the early settlers (even though we
now have some place names that would twist the tongues of
even Welshmen, and which we have trouble determining the
spelling of because the aborigines did not have written
language lol). Who really knows? But the study of
language and its influences is facinating.

I have enjoyed reading all the responses.