Had a fantastic time with the Horsham Skeptics–only wished I could’ve stayed for another beer before my train turned into a pumpkin. I am COMPLETELY HONO(U)RED by this review and the attention (and excellent note-taking skills) that went into it! Hope to meet you (and more skeptics) again…
There are some examples where I’m surprised that anyone thinks they are American (e.g. “might of”), and others that I’m surprised anyone objects to (e.g. “face up to”).
As an Australian, I’m accustomed to maths, not math. But I must admit that expressions like “this page is full of math” (meaning it contains lots of equations) work better in American.
I sometimes think we ought to use “gotten” sometimes. I think it often lends a sentence a more natural flowing rhythm. But because it’s perceived as so American, there’s social pressure not to use it.
For us Australians, pronunciation of schedule is a matter of personal choice: both are common and accepted. Personally, I’m with the Americans.
The “transportation” thing is new to me, and probably the most interesting factoid in your review.
Well covered Tannice. It was an excellent and informative talk. I also agree with Lynne that language is about having fun, playing with the words and making puns out of them. It’s a living breathing thing and rules are made to be bent from time to time.
Little Black Sambo
on June 17, 2012 at 11:14 am Reply
“I would have thought that the days of telegraphs, where you had to pay for each word, would have been a prime time to rstrct ur wrd lngth.”
Read that again and you’ll see the mistake. (Clue: “each word“.) “Much as they do now on the difference between ‘aitch’ and ‘haitch’.”
If I have understood you correctly you have “aitch” and “haitch” the wrong way round. “Fowler has a lot to answer for”: Fowler was a deadly enemy of pedantry, or was something else meant?
I’m a little late to the party, but I found my way to this page because I was searching in vain for either a transcript or a YouTube video of Lynne Murphy’s talk — and it appears that your very nice summary is the best I can hope for short of attending Ms. Murphy’s lecture in person.
As an American I confess I was thrown by some of the controversies Ms. Murphy covers. As with Adrian Morgan above I had no idea the word “transportation” was considered an American abomination, nor that the English supposedly moved to “transport” to avoid “connotations with penal transportation” — an explanation I might as well assert I find dubious.
I don’t think I’ve ever heard or read “It’s a big ask”, though the meaning seems fairly self-evident. I do enjoy the occasional Australian coinage, such as the compliment “good on you” (though it’s very rarely used in the U.S.).
I was also utterly ignorant of the British preference for “got” over “gotten”, which has led me to wonder whether anyone over there ever refers to “ill-gotten gains”. In the United States, anyway, it’s something of an invariable phrase.
And then there’s “tidbit”. I now find myself imagining a vacation/holiday in London wherein I’m in a perpetual state of social panic wondering whether any innocent word I might use will be misconstrued by The Protectors of Ur-English to illustrate something barbaric about Americans and their asinine and puritanical word choices. To which I’ll add an American grimace of exasperation: “Sheesh!”
Before I go, however, I really must address “maths”. Yes, as an American I was brought up to say “math”, so my preference here is predictable. But seriously: “maths” is bloody hard to say — that “ths” phoneme is exquisitely awkward and unattractive as it slithers off the tongue like a hissing snake. I challenge you limeys to deny it.
I’d apologize for my rudeness, but, after all, I’m a barbaric American who doesn’t know any better. Even if I, too, like the subjunctive … and notice with some dismay how rarely my fellow Americans use it.
Had a fantastic time with the Horsham Skeptics–only wished I could’ve stayed for another beer before my train turned into a pumpkin. I am COMPLETELY HONO(U)RED by this review and the attention (and excellent note-taking skills) that went into it! Hope to meet you (and more skeptics) again…
There are some examples where I’m surprised that anyone thinks they are American (e.g. “might of”), and others that I’m surprised anyone objects to (e.g. “face up to”).
As an Australian, I’m accustomed to maths, not math. But I must admit that expressions like “this page is full of math” (meaning it contains lots of equations) work better in American.
I sometimes think we ought to use “gotten” sometimes. I think it often lends a sentence a more natural flowing rhythm. But because it’s perceived as so American, there’s social pressure not to use it.
For us Australians, pronunciation of schedule is a matter of personal choice: both are common and accepted. Personally, I’m with the Americans.
The “transportation” thing is new to me, and probably the most interesting factoid in your review.
Well covered Tannice. It was an excellent and informative talk. I also agree with Lynne that language is about having fun, playing with the words and making puns out of them. It’s a living breathing thing and rules are made to be bent from time to time.
“I would have thought that the days of telegraphs, where you had to pay for each word, would have been a prime time to rstrct ur wrd lngth.”
Read that again and you’ll see the mistake. (Clue: “each word“.)
“Much as they do now on the difference between ‘aitch’ and ‘haitch’.”
If I have understood you correctly you have “aitch” and “haitch” the wrong way round.
“Fowler has a lot to answer for”: Fowler was a deadly enemy of pedantry, or was something else meant?
I’m a little late to the party, but I found my way to this page because I was searching in vain for either a transcript or a YouTube video of Lynne Murphy’s talk — and it appears that your very nice summary is the best I can hope for short of attending Ms. Murphy’s lecture in person.
As an American I confess I was thrown by some of the controversies Ms. Murphy covers. As with Adrian Morgan above I had no idea the word “transportation” was considered an American abomination, nor that the English supposedly moved to “transport” to avoid “connotations with penal transportation” — an explanation I might as well assert I find dubious.
I don’t think I’ve ever heard or read “It’s a big ask”, though the meaning seems fairly self-evident. I do enjoy the occasional Australian coinage, such as the compliment “good on you” (though it’s very rarely used in the U.S.).
I was also utterly ignorant of the British preference for “got” over “gotten”, which has led me to wonder whether anyone over there ever refers to “ill-gotten gains”. In the United States, anyway, it’s something of an invariable phrase.
And then there’s “tidbit”. I now find myself imagining a vacation/holiday in London wherein I’m in a perpetual state of social panic wondering whether any innocent word I might use will be misconstrued by The Protectors of Ur-English to illustrate something barbaric about Americans and their asinine and puritanical word choices. To which I’ll add an American grimace of exasperation: “Sheesh!”
Before I go, however, I really must address “maths”. Yes, as an American I was brought up to say “math”, so my preference here is predictable. But seriously: “maths” is bloody hard to say — that “ths” phoneme is exquisitely awkward and unattractive as it slithers off the tongue like a hissing snake. I challenge you limeys to deny it.
I’d apologize for my rudeness, but, after all, I’m a barbaric American who doesn’t know any better. Even if I, too, like the subjunctive … and notice with some dismay how rarely my fellow Americans use it.