Why are we in the UK so hung up on the use of British English versus the use of American English?
In Shakespeare's time English was totally different to that used today. There was no 'am ...ing', 'is ...ing' or 'are ...ing'. If you read Shakespeare you will read "I go." not "I am going". That's a pretty fundamental change in our language. That's before I start on all the other 'archaic' words and forms of a language as written 400 years ago. I'm sure that there are many books written on this paragraph's subject alone.
No one holds a candle for a return to Shakespearean or even Victorian English.
Years ago someone very close to me was appointing a new PA. He offered the job to an existing employee who happened to be American. He made the appointment conditional on the person ceasing to use the term "trash can" for the waste paper basket. On her first day in the job when he arrived at the office, in the centre of his blotting pad was a small treatise on the origin of the term "trash can". As you have probably guessed it was originally a British term.
There are also many American words in daily use in the English language which originated in America bur are generally accepted in the UK. Some examples are: commuter, double-decker, do-gooder come immediately to mind as do many words of native American derivation. Examples being: avocado, barbecue, cannibal, chocolate, husky, kayak, jaguar, opossum, potato, quinine, squash and tobacco. However my all time favourite is mugwump. I'm sure I did a blog post about that many moons ago.
I recently mentioned Wordle. Some people in the UK really have got their knickers in a twist because the game - owned and published by the New York Times - uses American spellings for some words.
I think that it's about time that we on this side of the pond stopped being so precious about our strange, and often bizarre, spellings.
Excellent subject, lovely post :-)
ReplyDeleteEnglish is a gorgeous language, ever changing. As part of Medieval studies many decades ago I tried to get my head around "Olde English" from the 11th - 13th century. It was not easy, partly because of the huge differences between then and now, and partly because even in that relatively short time period the language changed a great deal.
Jayne, the evolution of language is something I started thinking about when I started re-learning French about 20 or 30 years ago. I have always been a bit precious about English Language but the older I get the less important it seems provided, and it's a very big PROVIDED, we still make ourselves understood CLEARLY. The use of apostrophes, for example, can mean the difference between ending up in court and not. I suppose it's the fact that I spent so much time with legal and political matters writing reports and speeches for politicians etc (when what you said as a politician actually mattered).
DeleteI can't say that I notice the difference. I do notice the patronising translations favoured by some Bloggers. I do enjoy Americans using the word fanny, I suspect I'm immature but long may they continue to do so. ..... Funny innit?
ReplyDeleteAdrian, the thing is that you know what is what and are very capable of using language correctly or incorrectly to take the p*** and not out of ignorance. One problem seems to me is that children now are not taught English grammar so do not have a proper grounding from which to depart knowledgeably.
DeleteI place myself squarely on the side of maintaining traditional English spelling. It is one of the clear distinctions between Canadians and the grammatical Philistines south of the border. You will never catch me writing about a cigaret, or bidding you goodnite, I will change my tyre and not my tire, kidnapping will never become kidnaping......and on it goes. If that makes me reactionary or intransigent, I am proud to accept the epithet. The slide to mediocrity or bad form should not be justified on the grounds of common usage.
ReplyDeleteDavid, I take your point and, at one time would have been as fiercely loyal to my language and I will continue to do as you do. However I am slowly ceasing to get hung up on the use of American spellings because, amongst other things, it is sometimes we who have changed and not the Americans.
DeleteI am pretty precious about English/ Australian spelling, to the point where I insist on "gaol" even though the American "jail" is now accepted as Australian.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, I am happy to play Wordle as is. It comes from the US so US spellings are to be expected
Kylie, I found your comment about goal/jail absolutely fascinating. In my school Oxford English Dictionary (1961) the definition of 'goal' only refers to 'a point marking the end of a race' and similar things eg football goalmouth. It does not acknowledge goal as a place of incarceration. Nor, I have to say, does it define 'jail'. Asking a friend staying with me she would use 'prison' and not jail/goal. To be truthful I am not sure which spelling I would have used but probably goal. However I shall always be aware of that since your comment!
DeleteKylie (and everyone else who picks this up) I shall be re-writing the above comment later in the day (I have a friend staying and we are going out whilst the sun is shining). I am hanging my head in shame because I have suddenly realised that I have misspelt goal/gaol. Hopefully by this evening I will have found an excuse for my abysmal error.
Delete:) you're judging yourself rather too harshly!
DeleteI am afraid, Graham, that we cannot accept excuses for this egregious error, and you will have to stand in the corner wearing the dunce's cap for an hour, no two, and write out the world gaol a thousand times!
DeleteJust proving the point... Spelling IS tricky, and no wonder if sometimes it changes! (LOL)
DeleteThank you Kylie, David and Monica for entering into the spirit of things on this particular comment and my egregious error. I have been for a walk, eaten and had coffees so presumably I am now awake and should be able to see the difference between goal and gaol. My OED [when did we stop putting full stops between capitals in abbreviations I wonder?] does say that 'jail' is the U.S. spelling of the word gaol. So, Kylie, good on you for defending it. From now on I shall do the same and think of you.
DeleteI'm not going to change from British English at my age, but when younger people use American spelling without appreciating the difference, it is not amongst the most uneducated things they write these days.
ReplyDeleteTasker, you are correct and my friend and I were discussing the morning the way youngsters talk to their peers and elders with scant respect. Mind you encouragement to be truthful certainly doesn't come from our leaders at the moment.
DeleteInteresting. As a blogger with English as second language, the British/American differences are causing me daily headache - especially since I know I also have both British and American readers! In school, and at University, British English was our standard (even if we also learned about basic differences). But that was decades ago by now, and since then I've kept reading both British and American literature (and both modern and classics); and I also listen to audio books performed by both British and American narrators; and watch lots of films (movies) and TV series (an even Australian ones). Not actually living in Britain, it's impossible not to pick up influences from both. Moreover, sometimes the Blogger spellchecker seems to prefer American spelling; and online dictionaries don't always clarify which variety of a word is preferred in British vs American English.
ReplyDeleteActually one of the things that keeps causing me trouble is trash/garbage/waste/refuse etc. I wouldn't call a waste paper basket a trash can, but on the other hand, to me a waste paper basket is what I have under the desk in my study, not the vessel that I keep in the cupboard under my kitchen sink to throw whatever-you-may-call-it in. (Helpful comments appreciated! LOL)
Thank you for that point of view, Monica. It behoves (U.S. behooves) us in this world of integration of cultures and peoples to be more aware of the differences and other peoples' points of view in general too. I call the basket for waste paper or paper to be shredded in my study a wast paper basket. The receptacles in my kitchen are variously called the recycling bin, the food waste bin, the smellie bin (the bin emptied every day or two for things like meat wrappers and other waste likely to smell), the trash bin (the big soft opening topped bin for anything that can wait until the next refuse collection).
DeleteThe English language has, over the centuries, been moulded and transformed by absorbing words from other nations. Invaders and welcome visitors alike.
ReplyDeleteWhat does irk me sometimes is the general laziness creeping into everyday English now, such as dropping prepositions etc.
I agree, JayCee, that there is a general laziness creeping into everyday English but I'm not sure that I had noticed the dropping of prepositions. Last time I looked they seemed to be ending sentences much to the annoyance of a former Prime Minister.
DeleteBill Bryson wrote a book called (I think) Mother Tongue. It's close to your subject today. You might enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteOddly, Tigger, I don't appear to have that Bill Bryson book although I have quite a few of his including Troublesome Words. I shall look out for it.
DeleteI remember an English class I had in college where we had to memorize parts of the Canterbury Tales in its original language! It bore little resemblance to my American English as I recall.
ReplyDeleteThere are so many worries in my world right now that I have no cares at all about how people want to phrase or spell things. Their content and misinformation are more terrifying to me.
Ellen, I could not agree with you more and posts like this are almost light relief from the terrible things going on at most levels of society from the dreadful Ukraine War to the sacking of the Senate and the lying of our Prime Minister not to mention all our everyday worries with the cost of living.
DeleteThe only UK word pronunciation that sets my ears on edge is the word, schedule. Skedge gool is the correct way to say it.
ReplyDeleteMaywyn, I have to say that that is a completely new one for me.
DeleteThis post seems very familiar to me. You may have written something very similar previously. I enjoyed it nonetheless. I am discovring that since becoming a blogger almost 15 years ago I have come to prefer British punctuation (single apostrophes instead of double, periods outside the quotation instead of inside) and some British spellings but not others. I have been guilty of what Adrian called 'patronising translations' in his comment but confess to doing it mostly as a way of tweaking Yorkshire Pudding's nose. I shall try not to do it any longer out of respect for Adrian's sensibilities. My intent was not to be patronising, merely humorous. Having always been a bit of an anglophile, I now find at the age of 81 that I have begun preferring some British spellings but not others.
ReplyDeleteThere are so many differences in our spelling nowadays that it boggles one's mind. Tire/tyre, curb/kerb, maneuver/manoeuvre, honorable/honourable, realize/realise, license/licence -- examples just go on and on.
Good post, Graham.
At least there have been no Gret Vowel Shifts lately.
Thank you for the compliment, Bob.
DeleteI have noticed your 'patronising translations' and I realised a long time ago that there was a purpose to them and was amused and stopped being irritated.
I don't think I've ever lived through a Great Vowel Shift.
License is both a verb and a noun in the US I think. Here as a verb it is spelt 'licence' when used as a noun and 'license' when used as a verb (in alphabetical order).
It wasn't you I was referring to Bob. I knew what you were doing and it was very naughty. It's most unkind to mock the afflicted......Good fun though.
DeleteIt's a relief to know Adrian was not referring to me. Also, until you confessed, Graham, I though you were being devilishly sly in referring to gaol and goal and got a big kick out your drollness. Surely you are familiar with Oscar Wilde's poem "The Ballad Of Reading Gaol"....
DeleteBob, the honest truth is that I simply had a brain-fart and didn't see the difference. Yes, I am acquainted with Oscar Wilde's 'Ballad or Reading Gaol'. A very sad and compelling portrayal of man's suffering. I must re-read it.
DeleteI believe that Aluminium was originally called Aluminum here in the UK, it was us who changed it, and now Aluminum sounds sloppy.
ReplyDeleteThat, Cro, is a factoid I did not know. I think I will still stick with with aluminium regardless.
DeleteIt sucks when I read read as read and not read so I have to reread read as read so I can read read correctly and it can make sense!
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh, Margaret. I hadn't had a coffee so it took me a minute or two to work that out. I laughed. Thank you.
DeleteLate to the party as usual, but I find this so interesting I still want to comment. As you know, I love languages. I also love reading and writing, but my reading pleasure really suffers when a book is badly edited and my eye and mind stumble upon error after error, or just sloppy grammar and unelegant language.
ReplyDeleteIt matters less to me whether the English I am reading is US or British English, as I am used to both; my personal preference lies with British English simply because it is much closer to home (in more than just the geographical sense).
Thank you, Meike. Late doesn't matter. I'm hoping when my visitor leaves and before I go off Island at the weekend I can catch up with blogs I haven't read for weeks (including yours although I've read more than I've commented on). A friend who has written a few books has had a lot of comments about poor grammar. Hers is excellent and as a lawyer she is reasonably good at noticing it too. However, she has had a problem with people complaining that one of her characters has poor grammatical skills. Her fictional character does and that's the point. It doesn't make it any easier to read though.
DeleteThe infiltration of American English is linked to the economic and cultural power the USA enjoyed throughout the twentieth century. That's a good reason for offering a degree of resistance to the flood and hanging on to most of our own ways of saying and spelling things. It's a matter of balance and common sense.
ReplyDeleteI suppose, YP, that given that it was our economic and cultural power that influenced most of the world for a couple of centuries we must expect things to alter as our cultural and economic influence declines.
DeleteI agree with you, I don't think people are so bothered by it here but I have heard the odd "what the heck" comments by those who notice the different spellings of words such as "neighbour" vs "neighbor" etc, personally it doesn't worry me, I think there's bigger things to get upset about
ReplyDeleteAmy, you are, of course, correct. There are much bigger things to worry about. I, for one, can't cope with the Big Things so deal with the more manageable small ones.
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