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Tealeaf · 29-11-2006, 15:22

I don't think we can critize the Yanks too much about the English language. The simple truth is that English spelling and even the alphabet itself was not standardised in the UK until the late 18th and early 19th centuries; witness the small s in texts, which resembles an f. The Americans simply broke away in 1776 and continued to use the language as they had done; it was we who changed.

An example are the words 'Scots' and 'Scotch'; the latter, in British english, applies to those people from the skirt wearing nation to the north; the latter is the drink produced there. Language purists from both sides of the border get most upset when the adjective is wrongly applied. Yet Johnson, Boswell and Pepys wrote of the Scotch people; the Americans still do. We don't.

29-11-2006, 15:22	#20
Tealeaf God Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Paradise Lost Posts: 7,220 Liked: 11 times Rep Power: 4266	Re: Top 3 List - Like Least about the U.S. I don't think we can critize the Yanks too much about the English language. The simple truth is that English spelling and even the alphabet itself was not standardised in the UK until the late 18th and early 19th centuries; witness the small s in texts, which resembles an f. The Americans simply broke away in 1776 and continued to use the language as they had done; it was we who changed. An example are the words 'Scots' and 'Scotch'; the latter, in British english, applies to those people from the skirt wearing nation to the north; the latter is the drink produced there. Language purists from both sides of the border get most upset when the adjective is wrongly applied. Yet Johnson, Boswell and Pepys wrote of the Scotch people; the Americans still do. We don't.