Completely depends on the region. I don't pronounce the t's at all, wheras you replace them with d's.
Also, the word 'the' is completely omitted from every sentence where i live.
Going to the shop becomes 'Going to shop' etc.
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
[BBC News Magazine] Britishisms and the Britishisation of American English
- Thread starter Gowans
- Start date
- Status
Completely depends on the region. I don't pronounce the t's at all, wheras you replace them with d's.
Also, the word 'the' is completely omitted from every sentence where i live.
Going to the shop becomes 'Going to shop' etc.
They are not pointless. The presence of silent letters in words indicate how the word should be pronounced.
If you don't have the u in colour, then you start having to pronounce the word like colon, but with an r at the end of it.
I don't think I've ever seen a more British name.
travisbickle
Member
If it's direct conversation you should probably use "are you...?"
I thought he meant when you phone a place:
"Is that the Ministry of Silly Walks?" "Yes, this is the Ministry of Silly walks."
alternatively:
"Is this the Ministry of Silly Walks?" "No, this is the Ministry of Silly Walks."
Johnlenham
Member
Ha!
So why did America change the way some things are spelled anyway? Is it so they could call it "American English" like its their own rather than just using it the correct way!
Just find it odd that people from America can say "well X word is spelt wrong/said wrong" when infact our language pre dates their entire history by a fair few hundred years!
shadowsdarknes
Member
I picked up a few words when I studied in Australia like Uni, hectic, and cheers (although in Boston cheers is more common than other US cities).
Johnlenham
Member
Wow.
NekoFever
Member
Personally I'd drop the first 't' and kind of blend the last two words, so something like "No' at-all". Funny how we've already had a few different pronunciations even among the Brits.
They get pronounced in 'Harry Potter'.
There's a guy in the office here who does that. We all make fun of him because he sounds northern
Dynamite Shikoku
Congratulations, you really deserve it!
Ha!
So why did America change the way some things are spelled anyway? Is it so they could call it "American English" like its their own rather than just using it the correct way!
Just find it odd that people from America can say "well X word is spelt wrong/said wrong" when infact our language pre dates their entire history by a fair few hundred years!
I think English spelling wasn't standardised until after America was settled. Two different systems.
Exterminieren
Banned
It's the most British this side of Benedict Cumberbatch.
most British people go to THE hospital, it's a regional accent that omits the 'the', as above
isn't "how we do" from some pop song? lyrics and quote references shouldn't count, they're like gutter slang
"this is how we do it" would have been copyrighted
BBC will always report 'three men were taken to hospital for severe burns after their building....'
Oh in that context, it's not referring to a specific hospital but saying they've been hospitalized, but yeh, I can see why it seems strange.
Well you also say "go to bed" instead of "go to the bed"
travisbickle
Member
astroturfing
Member
language is dynamic and changes constantly, always has and always will. i hate attempts at trying to control what is "correct" and what isn't... the only thing that matters is that people understand each other and that language keeps evolving and adapting to the modern world.
Sir_Crocodile
Member
Because it refers to the act of sleeping, not that you are informing people you're going to that location.
'three men were taken to court to stand trial for the money they had stolen...'
Just a reminder of how the British Isles, UK, Great Britain are split up, lol.
What can we say, we like our Ts, preferably with a hobnob to dip in.
This map has obviously been drawn by a brit. Dat size of northern ireland.
I'm just gonna guess jason statham. Much like a lot of britishisms it just sounded too "twee" until he came along
And what's up the called instead of named and booked being alien? I've used them all pretty much interchangebly for as long as I can remember. I mean a flight is booked. Sometimes its over-booked. Seems like its been this way forever.
Sir_Crocodile
Member
Why would a sandwich shop need multiple lifts
Actually subway in the uk also means somehing different. How many times did I get tricked by that.
Sir_Crocodile
Member
Yeah, it's basically a tunnel under a road. Funny thing is I go down one every morning on the way to my local underground station.
Guerrillas in the Mist
Member
Also, no Shetland Islands. Poor Shetlanders.
travisbickle
Member
As people have said you are talking about a specific bank, the one they stole money from.
"the" is predominantly used when the noun has been defined.
In you first example "taken to hospital this morning", no specific hospital has been mentioned.
If the writer was to say "They were taken to St. Mary's Hospital" then the noun has been defined. From that point on you would use the definite article "The hospital discharged the men later that afternoon."
Sir_Crocodile
Member
nm
As a Dutchman who is basically free to choose his English accent (Dutch accents are horrible so if you want to speak English and not be laughed at you'd better move away from it) I'd say Brittish English pronunciation and spelling is probably better than American English. However, certain words I prefer the US version due to media influence.
Also, one thing Americans have to move away from fast: the overuse of the word "like". It's, like, super annoying.
Also, one thing Americans have to move away from fast: the overuse of the word "like". It's, like, super annoying.
AdventureMike
Member
There are WAY too many things like this and similar "Americanisms" in our language. I remember wanting to choke someone the first time I heard "What the problem is?"
I use some of these but don't necessarily associate them with British origins. I definitely use ginger, keen to (never keen on), book, sell-by date and bit. I think another one that I use on occasion that I guess is kind of a Britishism is to refer to something that tastes good as nice or quite nice.
I've never heard these things used in the US:
Do the washing up - British for "wash the dishes"
Called Joe - Americans say "named" Joe
To move house - a British way of saying "to move"
I've never heard these things used in the US:
Do the washing up - British for "wash the dishes"
Called Joe - Americans say "named" Joe
To move house - a British way of saying "to move"
thats just, like, your opinion man.
the best is all the baseball expressions
AdventureMike
Member
I still haven't heard an american refer to a vacation as going on holidays. When that happens, that will be the switch in my mind where we've crossed the line.
On yer bike.
To be fair the English and Australians do say "cunt" a fair bit
Lol I know, crazy isn't it.
Americans spell words wrong yet we have the incorrect spelling.
Arrogance is certainly an American trait.
Also its 'ask' not 'aks' ..... hear that all the time.
Napoleonthechimp
Member
Nobody says that and you know it.
Guerrillas in the Mist
Member
Gie's yer jaiket.
My family's use of words is becoming increasingly English. In part it's because we only really ever watch BBC, but also both my mum and myself are admitted Anglophiles.
Things I know I say..... loads, dodgy, mental, bloody/bleeding, cheers... I like to tell my girlfriend she looks "smart", but that's because it's a double entente. There are others too. I also, know I yod-coalesce - so Chyoozday for example. I also pronounce the h in herbs. Sometimes I like to say shedule and garage... but just to be a dick. Some of it was intentional, but a lot of it because stimulus from my mother over the years and watching too much Peep Show.
Why? Because England is culturally superior and American English sounds dull.
Things I know I say..... loads, dodgy, mental, bloody/bleeding, cheers... I like to tell my girlfriend she looks "smart", but that's because it's a double entente. There are others too. I also, know I yod-coalesce - so Chyoozday for example. I also pronounce the h in herbs. Sometimes I like to say shedule and garage... but just to be a dick. Some of it was intentional, but a lot of it because stimulus from my mother over the years and watching too much Peep Show.
Why? Because England is culturally superior and American English sounds dull.
- Status