Speak English?

That can't be real...:eek:

Edit: in my local bank branch when I was talking with one of the assistants about money transfer and currency exchange/conversion, he used the term "Sterling" instead of pound.
I've always thought it was correct usage to call English money sterling, as in pound sterling, when did this stop being correct?
 
I've always thought it was correct usage to call English money sterling, as in pound sterling, when did this stop being correct?

Apparently, sterling is commonly used for financial transactions

Wikipedia:
The full, official name, pound sterling (plural: pounds sterling), is used mainly in formal contexts and also when it is necessary to distinguish the United Kingdom currency from other currencies with the same name. Otherwise the term pound is normally used. The currency name is sometimes abbreviated to just sterling, particularly in the wholesale financial markets, but not when referring to specific amounts; for example, "Payment is accepted in sterling" but never "These cost five sterling". The abbreviations "ster." or "stg." are sometimes used. The term "British pound" is commonly used in less formal contexts, although it is not an official name of the currency.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pound_sterling#Names
 
Let me know when you have convinced the Oxford and Cambridge dictionaries, and I'll listen. Until then, that's just how it is referred to :b ..but we all have our pet peeves, don't we?
Yes, but... You have to understand how words are selected for inclusion in the OED: most words are selected for their prominence and popularity. The OED is the accepted authority on the English language and how it has evolved over the past 1,000 years. In the case of "British English", it is included in the OED because of its popularity in today's usage, not because it is correct or logical. Hence, I stand by my pet peeve that "British" is redundant (not to mention annoying).
 
Yes, but... You have to understand how words are selected for inclusion in the OED: most words are selected for their prominence and popularity. The OED is the accepted authority on the English language and how it has evolved over the past 1,000 years. In the case of "British English", it is included in the OED because of its popularity in today's usage, not because it is correct or logical. Hence, I stand by my pet peeve that "British" is redundant (not to mention annoying).
Sure. But the distinction made between BE and AE here, strictly speaking, doesn't have to do with inclusion in the OED list of words as much as they are categories or terms used in and by the dictionary. Second, when included in the OED list of words, I'd say it by definition is if not correct then at least not uncorrect. Sort of the idea with dictionaries, no? Not on par with a grammar book, perhaps, and I do know the distinction between a prescriptive/normative dictionary and a descriptive one.

Anyhow, when the point of the quizzes/tests in question here is precisely to test how well you know your specific variants of English, how do you propose to present the British English one? "How well do you know your English?" Doesn't quite get to the point of what the test is about. So, IMO, there's a place for such a term as "British English". Or "World and British..", as OED might have it. YLMV, as they say in the dictionary world ;)
 
Don't feel bad, I'm an American and I missed two on the American quiz. It's a big country and there are regional dialects that use obscure words:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/12/20/sunday-review/dialect-quiz-map.html?_r=0

I lived in Vegas for 3 years and did quite a bit of travelling around the lower 48. New England took a bit of getting used to especially when at sporting events but nothing came close to the problems I had in the south. I played golf in North and South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama and most of the time I could not understand a word people said! Brilliant times
 
That is one of the toughest parts of learning English as there really are no rules for when to apply "un", "in", "non", etc., before a word. Theoretically, some say it depends on the origin of the word, e.g., "un" if it is a Germanic English or "in" if it Latin English. I assure you that not one native English speaker gets these correct every time.
 
That is one of the toughest parts of learning English as there really are no rules for when to apply "un", "in", "non", etc., before a word. Theoretically, some say it depends on the origin of the word, e.g., "un" if it is a Germanic English or "in" if it Latin English. I assure you that not one native English speaker gets these correct every time.

TBH I know full well that uncorrect is incorrect. There was just something about the syntax I went with for that sentence which made it sound right, without it being a conscious choice. Try reading it out loud with an emphasis on 'un-' (or 'in-'). As for the general in - un - im, etc, suppose it's just a matter of learning each word. (Not even halfway toward how my father learnt genders in German btw; less pressure in memorising in my school years. I still remember the prepositions - durch für gegen ohne um, etc. But that's all for another thread, now isn't it?)
 
There are also some dialects in the UK that are languages all of their own :D

Indeed - I'm a Norfolkman, and my grandparent's generation (especially those in the county as opposed to Norwich) spoke a dialect which was almost unintelligible to outsiders.

BTW, I scored 10/10 on the British quiz (which I should be able to, TBH) and 9/10 on the US English quiz, although two of those were by process of elimination rather than actually knowing the American usage beforehand. It could be argued, then, that my 'real score' was actually 7/10.
 
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