Break the British habit
May 5th, 2008 at 10:00am Barry Wood
Some Americans seem to have an inferiority complex when it comes to language and culture. We have been free of British rule for more than 200 years. We should be able to break away from British English, too.
For example, in American English the preferred spellings are “theater,” not “theatre,” and “center,” not “centre.” The British spellings are OK in proper names — our own MetroCentre, for instance — because a name is what it is. Even so, some people might detect a whiff of pretension.
The same goes for pronouncing the first syllable of “either” with a long “i” sound instead of a long “e,” or “aunt” to rhyme with “taunt” rather than saying “ant.” These also are vestiges of British English.
Such affectations are most popular in New England, where the region still has “England” in its name, for crying out loud!
Entry Filed under: American vs. British English
7 Comments Add your own
1. jennie pollock | May 5th, 2008 at 11:47 am
welcome to the blogosphere, barry!
2. Chuck Sweeny | May 5th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
Whilst reading yer blog, I says to meself, cor blimey that bloke is off is trolley.
3. Leaf Like a Tree | May 5th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
You have a fan base out here. We call ourselves the Woodies.
4. Barry Wood | May 8th, 2008 at 1:21 am
This is all new to me. Somewhere deep inside, I still worry about hitting the wrong button and making the Internet disappear. I’ve never had groupies before, either — at least, not that I’m aware of. Thanks for participating.
5. Linda Grist Cunningham | May 15th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
That “leftover British” pronunciation thing is also big in Tidewater Virginia, where it’s still 1766 ….
6. leonard jacobs | May 19th, 2008 at 10:31 am
Since we are in the subject of English English, what was meant by the phrase (in governmental business); “Know all men by these presents - -”
7. Barry Wood | May 20th, 2008 at 12:33 am
Mr. Jacobs: According to an entry in Webster’s New World College Dictionary, the “presents” in the phrase “know by these presents” in legal language means, simply, “this very document.”
Apparently it’s considered charming to retain all such archaic terms when it comes to the law.
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