American English vs English

[crispybits]

Are we talking in a formal language sense, or an everyday use sense?

In a formal language sense then the American version of the truth, as in so many other areas of life, is alone in it's interpretation of the correct way, and the rest of the world (that hasn't yet fallen under their evil and corrupting linguistic influence) views "math" as a simple dialectical colloquialism which is unacceptable in formal writing, whereas "maths" is correct.

In an everyday use sense - who the f cares? We all know what you mean when you say either so stop being a language nazi and get on with your life...

[Symmetry]

Don't they use math in Canada, too?

(we need more language threads, these are my favourites)

we do

Canada is an American country.

[mrswdk]

You missed the posts where people pointed out some of the instances where Canadians use British English then?

Or indeed, if we're talking about Am*rican countries in general: Jamaica, Grenada etc.

[saxitoxin]

Maybe you and the Duke of Edinburgh are going to collaborate to cheat a third party out of their award.

it wouldn't be the first time the two of us tried to pull that off

f*ck it, like I care, I'm dating a model

FOR THE LAST TIME, WE ARE NOT DATING.

We're only fucking.

For the last time - you're not a model. You're only an ass model.

Don't they use math in Canada, too?

(we need more language threads, these are my favourites)

we do

We use math in Canada or we need more language threads?

Don't they use math in Canada, too?

(we need more language threads, these are my favourites)

we do

Canada is an American country.

I'm 100% certain they do not say math in Belize and I have a feeling, without any actual knowledge, they don't in Guyana or the Bahamas.

[Symmetry]

You missed the posts where people pointed out some of the instances where Canadians use British English then?

Or indeed, if we're talking about Am*rican countries in general: Jamaica, Grenada etc.

I must have missed the posts where, indeed, Grenada and Jamaica were mentioned (your post excepted).

[Symmetry]

Maybe you and the Duke of Edinburgh are going to collaborate to cheat a third party out of their award.

it wouldn't be the first time the two of us tried to pull that off

f*ck it, like I care, I'm dating a model

FOR THE LAST TIME, WE ARE NOT DATING.

We're only fucking.

For the last time - you're not a model. You're only an ass model.

Don't they use math in Canada, too?

(we need more language threads, these are my favourites)

we do

We use math in Canada or we need more language threads?

Don't they use math in Canada, too?

(we need more language threads, these are my favourites)

we do

Canada is an American country.

I'm 100% certain they do not say math in Belize and I have a feeling, without any actual knowledge, they don't in Guyana or the Bahamas.

I hope not- I've worked with a fair few teachers from the US who try to push US spelling.

[saxitoxin]

Maybe you and the Duke of Edinburgh are going to collaborate to cheat a third party out of their award.

it wouldn't be the first time the two of us tried to pull that off

f*ck it, like I care, I'm dating a model

FOR THE LAST TIME, WE ARE NOT DATING.

We're only fucking.

For the last time - you're not a model. You're only an ass model.

Don't they use math in Canada, too?

(we need more language threads, these are my favourites)

we do

We use math in Canada or we need more language threads?

Don't they use math in Canada, too?

(we need more language threads, these are my favourites)

we do

Canada is an American country.

I'm 100% certain they do not say math in Belize and I have a feeling, without any actual knowledge, they don't in Guyana or the Bahamas.

I hope not- I've worked with a fair few teachers from the US who try to push US spelling.

Are you referring to my comment about the DofE awards or Serbia's ass?

Also, isn't U.S. spelling preferable since it was the result of an intentional programme of language creation by a panel of experts, rather than just wild happenstance? Many nations regulate changes to their languages to make them more sensible, like the German orthography reform of the mid 1990s.

[Symmetry]

Maybe you and the Duke of Edinburgh are going to collaborate to cheat a third party out of their award.

it wouldn't be the first time the two of us tried to pull that off

f*ck it, like I care, I'm dating a model

FOR THE LAST TIME, WE ARE NOT DATING.

We're only fucking.

For the last time - you're not a model. You're only an ass model.

Don't they use math in Canada, too?

(we need more language threads, these are my favourites)

we do

We use math in Canada or we need more language threads?

Don't they use math in Canada, too?

(we need more language threads, these are my favourites)

we do

Canada is an American country.

I'm 100% certain they do not say math in Belize and I have a feeling, without any actual knowledge, they don't in Guyana or the Bahamas.

I hope not- I've worked with a fair few teachers from the US who try to push US spelling.

Are you referring to my comment about the DofE awards or Serbia's ass?

Also, isn't U.S. spelling preferable since it was the result of an intentional programme of language creation by a panel of experts, rather than just wild happenstance?

Yes and no. Kudos on "programme".

[saxitoxin]

Yes and no. Kudos on "programme".

First, that was an unintentional typo by ol' Saxi. Second, I must disagree. English-English was created centuries ago by peasants and rock farmers f***king each other in a dung field and creating words out of whatever random guttural noises happened to come out of their mouths. American-English was created just a hundred or so years ago by a committee of dictionary editors and Ivy League professors meeting in a mahogany-tiled room in New York, creating words by studying their logical construction.

Do you avoid automobiles because you want to stay pure to the original stone wheel?

[Symmetry]

I don't drive.

[saxitoxin]

I don't drive.

I suppose that makes sense then. Anyway, I'm just glad we're able to have this conversation. I've heard it can be difficult to sign-on to ConquerClub with an abacus since they redid the log-in screen.

[Symmetry]

I don't drive.

I suppose that makes sense then. Anyway, I'm just glad we're able to have this conversation. I've heard it can be difficult to sign-on to ConquerClub with an abacus since they redid the log-in screen.

Are you saying that you've been permanently logged in since they redid the log-in screen?

[notyou2]

Don't they use math in Canada, too?

(we need more language threads, these are my favourites)

we do

Canada is an American country.

Yes, just like England is a French colony.

[Symmetry]

Don't they use math in Canada, too?

(we need more language threads, these are my favourites)

we do

Canada is an American country.

Yes, just like England is a French colony.

No, Canada is literally a country in North America.

To be fair, England is more French than we like to admit though. I guess "Norman" would be more accurate, but hey...

[saxitoxin]

American English Created in 1910 by the Simplified Spelling Board:
Nicholas Butler - President, Columbia University
Calvin Thomas - Professor of Germanic Languages, Columbia University
Charles Grandgent - Professor of English, Harvard University
Melvil Dewey - Inventor, Dewey Decimal System
Isaac Funk - Editor, Standard Dictionary
William Harris - Editor, Webster's Dictionary
Mark Twain - Author, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
William Howells - Editor, The Atlantic Monthly

English English Created in 1510 by the Villagers of Upton-Upon-Taint:
Blort - Pig Farmer
Gort - Blort's wife / 2nd cousin
Mort - Blort and Gort's 12-fingered son
Jolly Paul - tavern owner at the Double Dragon Crossing
Foxie Pat - syphilitic prostitute at the Double Dragon
Sir Francis - French baron dating Foxie Pat; never learned how to read
Father Josiah - exorcist / vicar of St. Crumpus' / Foxie Pat's dad
Jersey Sue - Henry VIII's lesser known 9th wife, tends bar at the Double Dragon Crossing
Mad Markham - Henry VIII's exiled court jester - possibly having an affair with Mort
Jumpin' Jack - scarecrow in Blort's field; recently made a life peer
Thomas Wolsey - book lover

[Symmetry]

American English Created in 1910 by the Simplified Spelling Board:
Nicholas Butler - President, Columbia University
Calvin Thomas - Professor of Germanic Languages, Columbia University
Charles Grandgent - Professor of English, Harvard University
Melvil Dewey - Inventor, Dewey Decimal System
Isaac Funk - Editor, Standard Dictionary
William Harris - Editor, Webster's Dictionary
Mark Twain - Author, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
William Howells - Editor, The Atlantic Monthly

English English Created in 1510 by the Villagers of Upton-Upon-Taint:
Blort - Pig Farmer
Gort - Blort's wife / 2nd cousin
Mort - Blort and Gort's 12-fingered son
Jolly Paul - tavern owner at the Double Dragon Crossing
Foxie Pat - syphilitic prostitute at the Double Dragon
Sir Francis - French baron dating Foxie Pat; never learned how to read
Father Josiah - exorcist / vicar of St. Crumpus' / Foxie Pat's dad
Jersey Sue - Henry VIII's lesser known 7th wife, tends bar at the Double Dragon Crossing
Mad Markham - Henry VIII's exiled court jester - possibly having an affair with Mort
Jumpin' Jack - scarecrow in Blort's field; recently made a life peer

It was fun reading up on the "simplified spelling board". A great April Fool's Day joke.

The board's initial list of 300 words was published on April 1, 1906. Much of the list included words ending with -ed changed to end -t ("addressed", "caressed", "missed", "possessed" and "wished", becoming "addresst", "carest", "mist", "possest" and "wisht", respectively).

[nietzsche]

American English Created in 1910 by the Simplified Spelling Board:
Nicholas Butler - President, Columbia University
Calvin Thomas - Professor of Germanic Languages, Columbia University
Charles Grandgent - Professor of English, Harvard University
Melvil Dewey - Inventor, Dewey Decimal System
Isaac Funk - Editor, Standard Dictionary
William Harris - Editor, Webster's Dictionary
Mark Twain - Author, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
William Howells - Editor, The Atlantic Monthly

English English Created in 1510 by the Villagers of Upton-Upon-Taint:
Blort - Pig Farmer
Gort - Blort's wife / 2nd cousin
Mort - Blort and Gort's 12-fingered son
Jolly Paul - tavern owner at the Double Dragon Crossing
Foxie Pat - syphilitic prostitute at the Double Dragon
Sir Francis - French baron dating Foxie Pat; never learned how to read
Father Josiah - exorcist / vicar of St. Crumpus' / Foxie Pat's dad
Jersey Sue - Henry VIII's lesser known 9th wife, tends bar at the Double Dragon Crossing
Mad Markham - Henry VIII's exiled court jester - possibly having an affair with Mort
Jumpin' Jack - scarecrow in Blort's field; recently made a life peer
Thomas Wolsey - book lover

[mrswdk]

Must be where Mao got the idea for Simplified Chinese from. That and the fact that traditional script has always been a bit difficult for dumb farmers to master.

[saxitoxin]

You have to give it time - the board's "u" and "ae" conversions took decades to take hold in the U.S. and progress has been even slower in the UK to adopt the more advanced form of English, as the UK Spelling Society explains:

Most spellings perceived by British readers as typically American represent a more advanced form of written English, which Britain is inclined to adopt hesitantly after an often lengthy delay. The simplification of AE to just E in words like encyclopaedia and mediaeval is now general in British usage, but many other words like anaesthetic (American anesthetic) have not yet been so cut. British reduction of -OUR to -OR likewise remains incomplete: Britain long ago Americanized inferiour, emperour, exteriour, governour, etc, but persists with dozens of forms like flavour, savour despite the misleading parallel with devour.

A first, minimal step towards managing the modernization of our archaic writing system would be to adopt at least a more permissive attitude to American spellings. Why, after all, should British children be denied the advantages enjoyed for well over a century by their American counterparts? Such an approach could be graduated as follows:

1. Least controversial would be to instruct British examiners not to penalize American forms.

2. More beneficial would be to instruct schools to teach phonically more predictable American spellings as standard, while still not penalizing the old British equivalents.

3. Most radical would be to rule that, after a certain date, the latter forms should be considered wrong. The time may not be ripe for that yet, but the possibility should be borne in mind.

http://www.spellingsociety.org/journals/j21/usforuk.php

[Symmetry]

Where do you pick this stuff up Saxi?

Another troublesome feature of English spelling is its tendency to develop different spellings for different meanings of the same word, as between flour/flower or metal/mettle

These are not the same words.

[crispybits]

The European Union commissioners have announced that agreement has been reached to adopt English as the preferred language for European communications, rather than German, which was the other possibility. As part of the negotiations, Her Majesty's Government conceded that English spelling had some room for improvement and has accepted a five-year phased plan for what will be known as EuroEnglish (Euro for short).

In the first year, "s" will be used instead of the soft "c." Sertainly, sivil servants will resieve this news with joy. Also, the hard "c" will be replaced with "k". Not only will this klear up konfusion, but typewriters kan have one less letter.

There will be growing publik emthusiasm in the sekond year, when the troublesome "ph" will be replaced by "f". This will make words like fotograf" 20 persent shorter.

In the third year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted to reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible. Governments will enkorage the removal of double letters, which have always ben a deterent to akurate speling. Also, al wil agre that the horible mes of silent "e"s in the languag is disgrasful, and they would go.

By the fourth year, peopl wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing "th" by "z" and "w" by " v".

During ze fifz year, ze unesesary "o" kan be dropd from vords kontaining "ou", and similar changes vud of kors be aplid to ozer kombinations of leters.

After zis fifz yer, ve vil hav a reli sensibl riten styl. Zer vil be no mor trubls or difikultis and evrivun vil find it ezi tu understand ech ozer.

Ze drem vil finali kum tru.

[saxitoxin]

Where do you pick this stuff up Saxi?

I suppose I'd get the same reaction if I went back in time to 1820 and said the Earth was 6 billion years old.

So do you still spell it exteriour instead of exterior, Symm? You seem to only take issue with words you have yet to Americanize, not American spellings to which you've already been completely assimilated.

The age of language being created by the grunting sounds Blort, Gort, and Mort make as they slop the pig sty is fading. You can't stop progress, Symm. But, we'll let you keep quango.

[Symmetry]

A Mark Twain April Fool's joke, fun as it was, won't persuade me to change anything from King Arthur's Court.

[jonesthecurl]

Where do you pick this stuff up Saxi?

Another troublesome feature of English spelling is its tendency to develop different spellings for different meanings of the same word, as between flour/flower or metal/mettle

These are not the same words.

Now you're being homophonic.