Rescuing British English

[JohnnyO]

Language is a living thing and cannot be kept in stasis. Shakespearean English differs from that of the 18th Century, which differs from that of the 19th and so on. 21st Century English will be as different again.

I can't bring myself to say pants for trousers though.

Or half plaited, wrapover front skirt for kilt !

JohnnyO. o/

 

[Boru62]

When you win the next war then you can dictate protocol. Until then........es tut mir leid.

Mischief making

Back on point, the U.S. & Britain needed each other to win WWII for surely if there had been no alliance the war would have gone on far longer and with far different results most likely.

Common sense.

Language is a living thing and cannot be kept in stasis.

I fully understand this but it's the rapidity of it and it's gathering momentum which causes confusion.
For example, to my generation "pissed" on its own meant drunk, now it means "pissed off", so the sentence "I got pissed with him" becomes ambiguous. Did the speaker become drunk or upset?

 

[donnie_arko]

if it were not for the English Channel we would be speaking German now.

Many natives of the UK struggle with English at the best of times - the people who have been speaking English from birth.

German is a far more complex language.

There's no chance German would have been spoken in the UK.

 

[Eeyore68]

German is a far more complex language.

I don't agree. German is much more consistent, in my opinion.

 

[Bogeyman]

Cut and paste response to any argument for Americans:

"We won the war." (Not the one in Vietnam obviously)

"We have guns."

Cut and paste response to any argument for the British:

"We have disarmed our population (again) and therefore need guns ASAP!!"

 

[wayne_m]

Many natives of the UK struggle with English at the best of times - the people who have been speaking English from birth.

German is a far more complex language.

There's no chance German would have been spoken in the UK.

Have a machine gun shoved up your nostril and you'll catch on pretty quickly..

 

[Steve Bowles]

Ja, mein Herr!

 

[Eeyore68]

Have a machine gun shoved up your nostril and you'll catch on pretty quickly..

Having an interest in literature and arts helps as well. As has having lived there.

 

[Bogeyman]

Have a machine gun shoved up your nostril and you'll catch on pretty quickly..

Ja, mein Herr!

"Zu befehl, Herr Gruppenführer!!!"

 

[Glenn Booth]

My God, during the Falklands conflict you fought Argentina to a draw. Argentina for God's sake.

That was *way* more complicated than you make it sound.

 

[Bogeyman]

That was *way* more complicated than you make it sound.

I can understand why Thatcher did what she did as her gov't was teetering on collapse. However, after the Suez Crisis there was no real "empire" to defend.

http://www.theweek.co.uk/63055/how-did-the-falklands-war-start

 

[Steve Bowles]

That was *way* more complicated than you make it sound.

Everything is way more complicated than the way I make it sound.

 

[Far Cry Toff]

I can understand why Thatcher did what she did as her gov't was teetering on collapse. However, after the Suez Crisis there was no real "empire" to defend.

http://www.theweek.co.uk/63055/how-did-the-falklands-war-start

And the United States invaded Grenada because...?

 

[Bogeyman]

And the United States invaded Grenada because...?

Because the only good Commie is a dead Commie.

 

[Fergiebilly]

Because the only good Commie is a dead Commie.

Na..The Only Good Democracy to the USA is a Dead Democracy..Any Country that Attempts Democratic Processes is Invaded by America or Governments Over Thrown & Replaced by USA Puppets..

They Waged Murdering Wars Against the Southern Hemisphere Until Recently Been Kicked Out of Latin America..Catros Legacy in Action..The Anti Communism is Double Speak for Anti Free World or Anti Democracy..The USA had Good Masters to Learn from..The British Empire..

The Squashing of the Spreading Democratic United Arab Spring is a Case in Point..Vietnam was Another..I Can Go On..Korea was Another..They Got there Assess Kicked for that One by the Chinese..

Billy

 

[Eeyore68]

Wasn't there a "no politics" rule somewhere here for a good reason?

--
Pitralon forever - Real pens have a nib - If it doesn't tick, it's not a watch.