Britishisms invading American English

[Fragile Bird]

I think S John will agree with you about the Glasgow accent. :lol:

[Ser Pink of Floyd]

'Bollocks' is, of course, the king of all words British.

It is known.

I always wonder how Arse became Ass (or vice verser, i dont know)

In my place of work I speak to a lot of people across the UK, I have never really picked up on different accents for Scot's, so Im not sure theres any differences. Thats probably one reason I dont struggle to understand what Scottish people are saying.

[Hereward]

Do you mean there are no differences between Scottish accents, or that there are no differences between Scottish and English accents?

[Edda van Heefmstra Ruston]

Are you trying to measure exactly how deluded he is? :P

[Hereward]

Me? I'm innocent, I tell you.

[Derfel Cadarn]

Just today I had a guy approach me on the street and start pouring his heart out to me about something and I couldnt understand a god damn word. And the other day there was this old man at a pub I like to go to who was trying to tell me about something in a newspaper he was reading... couldn't understand him either. I thought I was pretty good at the accent, but I think I'm only good with the people with milder accents or people who immediately recognize that I'm American maybe and tone it down for me.

Alcohol was probably to blame for the old guy. I've lived in the city for 12 years and probably would have difficulty understanding him.

The guy on the street probably wanted money for heroin "a cup of tea and a bite to eat".

[Ser Pink of Floyd]

Do you mean there are no differences between Scottish accents, or that there are no differences between Scottish and English accents?

LOL, whoops. Yeah, I meant between different areas of Scotland, there might be slight differences but nothing so drastic as compared other parts of the UK. An example being someone from the SE England counties to someone from Liverpool.

[The Iceman of the North]

You really can't tell the difference between posh Edinburgh and Glaswegian?

[Isis]

Alcohol was probably to blame for the old guy. I've lived in the city for 12 years and probably would have difficulty understanding him.

Are you not from Glasgow then? Ooops. I always think of you when I think about not-so-easy to understand Glaswegian accents!

[The Iceman of the North]

Nah, DF is originally from Chelsea.

[Selyse's Moustache Rides]

I despise Americans who make a point of using Britishisms. I have nothing against the way British people talk- I lived in England for several years without any problem. But I have the distinct feeling that Americans who use these terms are doing so because they think that it makes them sound worldly and sophisticated. It doesn't. It does make them sound like pretentious wankers, however.

Having a snide attitude towards Americans (Murrica!) is the new pretension.

[raybeas]

I told the guy at the liquor store I took the last sixer in the queue, and he said "In the what?"

*from Indiana, USA

[Drowned Crow]

Having a snide attitude towards Americans (Murrica!) is the new pretension.

Only some Americans. I mean, I am an American so I could really only take it so far without descending into self-loathing.

I also despise people who say things like "Murrica".

[Lightning Lord]

DC, you must be really sound quite bitter, despising all these different people for speaking in a manner that doesn't match what you want. Did you ever consider accepting that people that aren't you can produce language in whatever manner they want? And that that language really, really doesn't hurt you?

[Drowned Crow]

Is it really so strange to judge people based on the things that they say? Don't people do that a lot? To pick an example at random, aren't you doing it right now? Speech is, as I understand it, the primary means through which we express our thoughts. So it kind of makes sense.

To answer your question, Americans using Britishisms probably hurts me about as much as my post hurt you.

[Lightning Lord]

Is it really so strange to judge people based on the things that they say? Don't people do that a lot? To pick an example at random, aren't you doing it right now? Speech is, as I understand it, the primary means through which we express our thoughts. So it kind of makes sense.

To answer your question, Americans using Britishisms probably hurts me about as much as my post hurt you.

You're judging based on how someone expresses a thought. You're not judging someone based upon what the thought is. Your actions are similar to disliking users of AAVE because they don't sound like "normal" American English users.

To use your example, I'm judging the message of your words, not the words you choose to convey that message. And your message is that you dislike people because they use different words than you'd like to express their thoughts.

[Drowned Crow]

You're judging based on how someone expresses a thought. You're not judging someone based upon what the thought is.

Obviously it is my contention that using such language does in fact reveal something about one's thoughts.

[Which Tyler]

For fans of British spelling:

I take it that you already know

Of tough and bough and cough and dough?

Others may stumble but not you,

On hiccough, thorough, laugh and through.

Well done! And now you wish, perhaps,

To learn of less familiar traps?

Beware of heard, a dreadful word

That looks like bread and sounds like bird,

And dead: it's said like bed, not bead --

For goodness' sake don't call it "deed"!

Watch out for meat and great and thread

(They rhyme with suite and straight and debt.)

A moth is not a moth in mother

Nor both in bother, broth in brother,

And here is not a match for there

Nor dear and fear for bear and pear,

And then there's dose and rose and lose --

Just look them up -- and goose and choose,

And cork and work and card and ward,

And font and front and word and sword,

And do and go and thwart and cart --

Come, come, I've hardly made a start!

A dreadful language? Man alive.

I'd mastered it when I was five.

[Edda van Heefmstra Ruston]

I love those poems. It's such a great record of the poet's pronunciation of things.

I do really like this first one, though, for the Terpsichore trickery:

http://www-users.cs.york.ac.uk/susan/cyc/e/pronounc.htm

[S John]

There's not really a single Scottish accent, or even a single Glaswegian accent so it's not too surprising that you'll encounter people who you won't understand easily. To be honest, despite being Scottish I've sometimes had problems understanding people with really strong Glaswegian accents as well. I think some Glaswegians might have had one of the most difficult Scottish accents for foreigners to understand, although rural Aberdeenshire might be even worse since they could have entire conversations without using any 'standard' English vocabulary.

I've heard that about Aberdeen. But yea I should have said Scottish accent(s). Being a university student there are people from all over Scotland in my course. I can understand all of them, but some are easier than others. I can pick out some differences between thier accents as well, but I'm not knowledgeable enough to place them.

Alcohol was probably to blame for the old guy. I've lived in the city for 12 years and probably would have difficulty understanding him.

The guy on the street probably wanted money for heroin "a cup of tea and a bite to eat".

Haha, yes and yes.

The old guy was definitely wasted, but he was so jolly I felt bad having to just kind of walk away becuase I couldn't understand the guy. I mean, not a word.

The guy on the street - definitely a junkee. He had that universal junkee appearance that any American who has spent time in a big US city would recognize. He was unique in that I couldnt understand whatever the sob story was that he was giving to me. Kind of made it easier, actually. Just kinda gave him a, 'no comprende senor!' and went on my way.