While We Wait: Part 4

[Abaddon]

Humour in SD telling someone to get out more...

 

[Symphony D.]

Funny coming from a man with thrice my post count.

 

[Abaddon]

BTW, with my avatar, does anyone else see the darker parts all as black rather tha various tones?

Im hoping its just on this laptop, as my home computer the avatar is fine..

 

[Supermath]

Seriously, it's been a year and a day. Get out more.

Or, y'know, it's been a full year and a day. This is the same guy who can never remember what he had for breakfast.

 

[jeps]

You know, I am rather glad I never saw it.

and honestly, colour is the proper way of spelling.The extra U makes the word correct, not archæic (yes that IS the archaic spelling of archaic)

I like some of Roosevelt's changes, like jail from gaol (flows better), but the u is correct, and the only people who should be able to change a language are those who created it (like the AF in FRANCE. Quebecois cannot change french at a whim, though they try.)

 

[Symphony D.]

and honestly, colour is the proper way of spelling.The extra U makes the word correct, not archæic (yes that IS the archaic spelling of archaic)

Most spellings perceived by British readers as typically American represent a historically 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. Similarly incomplete is British simplification of draught as draft (despite the draughty/ haughty anomaly), though America prefers draft for all senses. The case of American plow is slightly different: although both plough and plow were current in 18th century England, America chose the simpler and Britain the more convoluted form as its eventual standard.

Interesting then that the U is used randomly and inconsistently in British English, isn't it? And so on. If you want to know why most non-English speakers consider English to be the hardest language to learn, it's because British English--which is what most of them do learn--is full of all kinds of archaic nonsense.

You can stick to your stoic defense of your outdated copy, that's fine. Globalization, simplification, and the general degradation caused by the Internet will just continue to accelerate the gradual wear-down process that's been going on for centuries.

 

[Terrance888]

Yes! Me most simple being:
You into U
Your into Ur
New Person into Newb into Noob
Are into R
Why into Y.
Follow into Folo.
Player Killing into PK (some are from Rune Scape. I am a grad and vet from there.)

 

[jeps]

You think british is bad, look at canada. we accept S or Z for things like apologise. we pick and choose our favourites, but that leaves no REAL definitive rules. Pretty much the ONLY consistant rule is U.

 

[Symphony D.]

Pretty much the ONLY consistant rule is U.

But as I just pointed out in that shourt quote, it isn't. OR vs. OUR is utilized willy-nilly. It isn't a rule. It's a "when we feel like it." That makes it inherently stupid, as you can see at the front end of this post.

 

[Abaddon]

New Person into Newb into Noob

Newb and Noob are very different things...

 

[Terrance888]

I have a question, how do you post a single post? (like for updates) I want to post some of my Zulu Impi formations and such and I don't (or maybe do) want them in public.

 

[LittleBoots]

only people who should be able to change a language are those who created it

Sooo... the unifying allspirit of Anglo-Saxon's lovechild with the raped offspring of Nordo-Celt and that degenerate bastard son of Latin that is French? What on earth do you mean "those who created it"?? Languages happen. They will change, for better or for worse. No one "owns" a language, least of all the glorious jumble of islands that is the land of my ancestors, Merrie Englonde.

This almost reminds me of one day at Speaker's Corner, I saw a group of Americans accosted by a crazy old woman. Not that this was out of the ordinary there, of course, but she was on a footstool raging about how all those "damned colonial halfbreeds were going to Hell because they stole the English language." "Speak your own damn language," she said, and then went on like that.

EDIT: Also, Wikipedia says 67% of native English speakers reside in America, giving it the most weight among native speakers (and, after all, if the Quebecois are not allowed to change French, why should India, the country with the most English speakers, be allowed to have a say in English?)

Also, though this is unsubstantiated and I won't stand by it, I remember reading somewhere that the colonies preserved a form of English closer to what Shakespeare would have spoken, so maybe America has the better claim after all. Though, like I said, I don't remember where I read this, so maybe its a load of crap.

 

[germanicus12]

Americans are lazy, thus their speech is shorter and more strange sounding.

The British are sophisticated, or so they will have us believe, therefore their speech is more granduer and sophisticated.

Personally, I have been to England, Canada and America, the latter being where I live and I love the Queens English, the one they speak in England, it just sounds so rich. Canada is the most confusing of them all as they attempt to mix French with English, at least the people I met did that.
America, I am biased so I cannot say anything about them.

Also, I found that English girls love American boys, and American boys love English girls for some reason. Fortunately I am not that biased, just give me a plain American girl from the West over any Princess from Europe any day.

 

[JosefStalinator]

@Germanicus; Probably because American women are shallow/stupid and English men are.... well, ick .

I've read someplace that American English is actually more conservative than British English, and that large portions of Britain used to speak similar to the colonies before Estuary English spread from the Southeast. Anyone with more to say on the matter, including sources, would be loverly .

 

[Supermath]

Generally, we'll understand if you do something like skip a 'u' or switch 'ise' with 'ize'. Though I have yet to get 'donut' for 'doughnut'.

@Germanicus; Probably because American women are shallow/stupid and English men are.... well, ick .

Oi!

 

[Disenfrancised]

@Germanicus; Probably because American women are shallow/stupid and English men are.... well, ick .

But we're just so charmingly befuddled . Also LB, very few people actually speak the 'Queens English', most just get by somewhere on the gradient between RP and estury english.

 

[Abaddon]

I have a question, how do you post a dingle post? (like for updates) I want to post some of my Zulu Impi formations and such and I don't (or maybe do) want them in public.

What the flick is a dingle? If you don't want things public.. use PM's

 

[Terrance888]

Yeah, but what if I invoke them when I am older? i do not want to type out the 3-70k men formations for all battle uses again! (ugggg!)

 

[Birdjaguar]

Also, though this is unsubstantiated and I won't stand by it, I remember reading somewhere that the colonies preserved a form of English closer to what Shakespeare would have spoken, so maybe America has the better claim after all. Though, like I said, I don't remember where I read this, so maybe its a load of crap.

IIRC, the spoken English of the Philadelphia, Baltimore and Chesapeake Bay region is closer to that of Shakespeare than what is sopken in England.

 

[LightFang]

If I recall correctly, American English is more conservative than British English is a lot of the time. Kind of ironic, yes?