Thread: US English vs Other English

Nah, they're always mutually understandable. It's a bit of a mystery for me why such variations emerged in the first place. English spellings have pretty ambiguous pronunciations, so the changes aren't improvements either. *Shrug*

The only thing about American English that really pisses me off is the facepalmingly mangled 'I could care less'.

The thought of someone saying "have a shower" made me giggle. I grew up being very frustrated about whether I should spell color or colour. A set standard might be more convenient, but maybe this variety makes it more interesting lol

'I could care less' doesn't even make sense to me. Isn't it supposed to express that you really don't care? If anything shouldn't it be 'I couldn't care less'?

That's what we say in England.

I think 'take' when used to mean things like 'take a shower' might be an Americanism by the way. I probably use it, but it seems more slangy.

You care so little you don't even care to care less, is what it means. OK?

"You don't know nuthin'!".

I hear people say "I could care less" all the time and I tend to reply with "you can?" They don't really think about the question and say "YEAH!" Saying you could care less tends to imply that you care enough to have the ability to care even less.

I find myself spelling "endeavor" with the extra "u" (endeavour) for some reason.

Edit - oh and double negatives are absolutely hilarious. "I didn't get nothing!" somehow means "I got nothing" instead of "I got something."

I think all these derived from Hickspeak, which unfortunately seems to be an important part of American culture.

Can someone please tell me how and where "lieutenant" and "colonel" became "leftenant" and "kernel"??

It's also funny how much variation there is in English orthography, French is spelled identically around the world.

Originally Posted by Dianeva

I've begun to use the American versions of words while talking to an American or to a mostly American audience, and use the normal versions while talking to anyone else.

and use the normal versions while talking to anyone else.

normal

anyone else

Originally Posted by Darkmatters

I think all these derived from Hickspeak, which unfortunately seems to be an important part of American culture.

Originally Posted by Dianeva

Reply with anything relating to this topic. Your own frustrations

I've been in England for 2 months and I'm already starting to notice changes in how I phrase things in writing, (not so much spelling, just mainly phrasing/sentence construction) especially if I'm writing an email to a professor. I'm just now becoming aware of how much I stand out when I speaks, so that's likely to be affected next.

The funny thing is I've always had a habit of spelling behaviour with the U, (yeah, just that one word). But now that I'm here I've become aware that I've started to leave out the U, just to assert my American-ness.

I've always said 'couldn't care less' and have had arguments with Americans over it. I've tried to explain to them why 'could care less' doesn't make sense but they insist it does anyway.

Has anyone else heard the term 'alls'? In a sentence like, "Alls you gotta do is..." or something. It's like they're moving the 's' from the 'is' to the end of the 'all', but they don't take away the 'is'. It's always sounded extremely hickish to me but I've known a couple people (Americans) who do it.

Another thing that annoys me a bit which has nothing to do with the US is the fact that negatives are taken to mean opposites. For example, "I don't like you" is translated as "I dislike you" even though the literal translation could mean anywhere from hatred to a neutral stance. It comes up a lot.

And on another side note, people need to learn how to spell all of the forms of 'there'. I don't think a day goes by that I don't see it spelled incorrectly at least once. People also need to learn when to use 'me' and 'I'.

you're wrong, i could care less makes perfect sense:

i could care less if you understand why, but if i did then i simply wouldn't have said anything to you about it at all.

if i were to say i couldn't care less, that would be wrong because obviously i could care less, as i've just proving i don't by actually saying i couldn't care less.

so yeah, you're wrong

Originally Posted by greenhavoc

i could care less if you understand why, but if i did then i simply wouldn't have said anything to you about it at all.

So the idiom is supposed to express that you care?

if i were to say i couldn't care less, that would be wrong because obviously i could care less, as i've just proving i don't by actually saying i couldn't care less.

And so if you don't care about something at all, the proper way to act when somebody asks you about it is to ignore them?

Cool logic bro.

Originally Posted by greenhavoc

i could care less if you understand why, but if i did then i simply wouldn't have said anything to you about it at all.

lol, you're so wrong it's funny. You're basically saying that "I could care less" means "I care more than not at all", which could mean you care anywhere from slightly to as much as possible.

The reason is because of the separation by distance. People will always have different ways of speaking, depending on where you go. You don't even have to go to Britain to see this. There are differences even within the US, depending on where you live. It goes along with having different accents as well. I noticed the color thing as well, and that applies to a ton of words ending with or, making it our. Second most common I see is armor, or armour. In that case I always use the American version because it is shorter and easier and looks nicer.

It is fairly easy to point out people who are not in America, though at least for me they are usually not from Britain. Instead they are usually from Canada. I never have a problem understanding people though, even when they are using other dialects of English. Some times people say really weird things and you can tell that English is a second language for them.

Language is a means to communicate though, so as long as you understand each other, it is all good. Its annoying when some people get all picky about 'proper' language, especially since using an obscure phrase or dialect isn't actually wrong, its just different than what you are used to.

Originally Posted by Sornaensis

You care so little you don't even care to care less, is what it means. OK?

I already explained "I could care less."

Also, Dianeva. Language isn't completely literal. DERP.

lern2idioms

Originally Posted by Xei

So the idiom is supposed to express that you care?

yup

And so if you don't care about something at all, the proper way to act when somebody asks you about it is to ignore them?

yup

Cool logic bro.

quite easy to follow, too

Originally Posted by Sornaensis

Also, Dianeva. Language isn't completely literal. DERP.

lern2idioms

You must do idioms differently over there. Does 'beating a dead horse' mean 'having a valuable discussion' for you guys?

It doesn't mean anyone is beating a dead horse. Usually.

But that takes at least 95% of the fun out of idioms...

I always thought "leftenant" was a joke?

In another generation none of this will matter - textspeak will dominate all. It's already being said that we now live in a "postliterate" age.

Originally Posted by Marvo

I always thought "leftenant" was a joke?

That's how the military of most commonwealth nations say it actually. For once the Americans got it right (not colonel though)!