I only hate they call Petrol gas, its not gas, its a liquid, a liquid called Petrol. GAS!!!! its nothing like a liquid, AGGGGHH. How they mess this up?
Non Americans: Does seeing American English bother you?
- Thread starter Jacco
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I honestly can't say a-stralia without suddenly inheriting a heavy Australian accent.DragonFae said:
That reminds me of another gripe, what the fuck is with them pronouncing 'herb' as ''erb'? They aren't bloody French.
Nope, becausegamezombieghgh said:
a) They didn't invent it. Most words are loaned from other languages, ranging from words like "prison" to "Pyjamas". We have French, German, Saxon, Latin, Indian, American, and countless other foreign words inegrated into everyday speech. Even english idioms like "Stiff upper lip" is actually an Americanism. The british did not sit down and invent the language, it was created through gradually introducing foreign or new words.
b) They keep breaking/changing their own rules Words like "irregardless", oxford commas, grocer's apostraphes etc. English people can't even speak english. 400 years ago, English came in so many dialects that a man from Yorkshire would never be able to understand a man from London. Even common words like "mile" had about a dozen different distances allocated to it. Whilst England has gotten smaller and simpler with the advent of mass media, these variations still continue to flourish.
c) America has actually been far more consistant in terms of language. Whilst the UK language evolves regularly, the US has remained closer to what it would have been a couple of hundred years back. Saying that, we evolve in such subtle ways, we don't even notice. When was the last time you heard someone refer to a nuclear bomb/power plant as an "atomic bomb/power plant"? We don't even notice that sort of evolution.
d) many countries speak english as a primary language, including places like Australia or India. As such, their language has evolved down their paths too. To tell all these countries that they are "doing it wrong" is a tad arrogant.
There you have it. Sorry for burping all that information up at you. I don't want to seem angry at you, I just like to show off my knowledge.
Not really in the grand scheme of things but i get annoyed when my computer insists that the letter "u" does not exist in many words.
Pretty much what you said although i talk to Americans all the time and i even get to the point of sometimes using their spelling as a simple joke or even adopt the few words myself.Zing said:
Yep, it annoys me, because it looks fundamentally wrong to me to have letters missing out of words I've been taught to spell all my life, and then that carries over into computer games and the like - seeing "z" instead of "s" in various words, and having "u" missing from words like "colour" just set my teeth on edge, kinda like nails down a chalkboard.
What's worse is when auto-correct software tries to tell you that you are wrong, and you should write it with American spellings - we invented the language, so don't try to foist your pigeon English spellings on us.
What's worse is when auto-correct software tries to tell you that you are wrong, and you should write it with American spellings - we invented the language, so don't try to foist your pigeon English spellings on us.
Doesn't bother me in the slightest. I'm Swedish, for the record. I tend to use American spelling, actually. It just feels more simple and straightforward to me.
Being Canadian I happily spell colour with a u and get bugged out when firefox hates on me for it. Then again, to me it's all about consistency - it's worse to see someone mix and match than just go with it.
My spell-check thinks I should write 'neighbour' as 'neighbor' and 'socialise' as 'socialize'.
And WTH is up with the word 'Mom'?
MUM. IT'S SPELLED WITH A U. THIS HAS ANNOYED ME SINCE I WAS 4.
And WTH is up with the word 'Mom'?
MUM. IT'S SPELLED WITH A U. THIS HAS ANNOYED ME SINCE I WAS 4.
I don't like it when the spellings are completely different. For example I study biochemistry and American English for adrenaline is epinephrine, same with paracetamol and acetaminophen. I've never heard anybody say they got an epinephrine rush from something or they're taking some acetaminophen whether they're American or not, why the hell do they have to be different...
It also gets on my nerves when someone corrects me. Not talking about spellcheckers but actual people telling me I'm spelling words wrong.
It also gets on my nerves when someone corrects me. Not talking about spellcheckers but actual people telling me I'm spelling words wrong.
Part of me is convinced they changed that just so they wouldn't have to deal with "mummy" puns in children's literature. Not that it stopped them using it in cartoons.spielberg11 said:
What bothers me is seeing other british people butchering our language... I know people from the netherlands who speak better English than those from my own hometown -_-
Seeing other people use color instead of colour doesn't bother me... unless;
They are Not american, or even worse they are english and using color.
When word files automatically choose American spell check and are convinced i spelt colour wrong.
Google not only telling me i spelt colour wrong but automatically searching for color instead of colour.
They are Not american, or even worse they are english and using color.
When word files automatically choose American spell check and are convinced i spelt colour wrong.
Google not only telling me i spelt colour wrong but automatically searching for color instead of colour.
Can't be bothered to read through three more pages to see if anyone's already answered this, but:
Anyway: nah, Americanised spelling doesn't bother me so much nowadays. It used to bug me a bit, particularly 'color' back in the days when I spent a lot of time coding HTML, but I guess I've got used to it over the years. "I could care less" still bothers me because it means the exact opposite of what it's trying to express, but it's unlikely that I'll make the effort to correct anyone on it. Things like 'retarted' and 'congradulations', I simply put down to individual stupidity rather than a quirk of language.
Yes to the first one, no to the second one. I don't know where our pronunciation of lieutenant came from, even Wikipedia doesn't seem particularly clear, I guess it's just one of those things.scott91575 said:
Anyway: nah, Americanised spelling doesn't bother me so much nowadays. It used to bug me a bit, particularly 'color' back in the days when I spent a lot of time coding HTML, but I guess I've got used to it over the years. "I could care less" still bothers me because it means the exact opposite of what it's trying to express, but it's unlikely that I'll make the effort to correct anyone on it. Things like 'retarted' and 'congradulations', I simply put down to individual stupidity rather than a quirk of language.
