jefboyardee
Extreme Android User
My favorite, when a sale is explained, is 'the more you buy, the more you save.' They never say the truth, which is 'the less you buy, the more you save.' Save is a tricky word.
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Calling All Grammar Nazi's
- Thread starter davoid
- Start date
D
Deleted User
Guest
I actually think that American English makes more sense than UK English. "favorite" vs "favourite", "color" vs "colour". I mean why the heck did we add in all those unnecessary vowels?
K
Kaat72
Guest
^^^ Yeah, I took a year of German while living in Heidelberg in the early '70s...not much stuck 
except for the der-die-dem-das confusion 
.
except for the der-die-dem-das confusion .
D
Deleted User
Guest
Oh god yes I remember that nightmare from German lessons.
zuben el genub
Extreme Android User
That dratted Neuter gender. My mother's mother spoke Platdeutsche. I got all the proverbs in that version of German and caught it every time I used one . Very gutteral.
Don't worry about all them "der-die-dem-das"... all those can be substituted with "deez"^^^ Yeah, I took a year of German while living in Heidelberg in the early '70s...not much stuck
SiempreTuna
Android Expert
There are perfectly good historical reasons: this podcast can tell you all about them .. well, there have only been 69 episodes so it's more a brief outline of the history up to around 1086. I know you won't believe me, but it's actually really, really interesting.
D
Deleted User
Guest
Ah the French influence. Of course. Thanks for the link to the podcasts.
zuben el genub
Extreme Android User
Who is writing these blurbs?
I didn't read this as I'm not interested in the product, just the usage of language.
How on earth can an Macbook be adorable? It's an inanimate object.
I've seen adorable used in other strange ways lately, to boot.
Ultra-portable keyboard turns your iPad mini into a tiny, adorable macbook.* Who is the target audience?
Is adorable the new buzzwork for techies?
*http://www.dailyrotation.com/cgi-bin/linez2/load.cgi?http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/cultofmac/
I've seen Android tech referred to in the same way, just that I can't find an example right now.
I didn't read this as I'm not interested in the product, just the usage of language.
How on earth can an Macbook be adorable? It's an inanimate object.
I've seen adorable used in other strange ways lately, to boot.
Ultra-portable keyboard turns your iPad mini into a tiny, adorable macbook.* Who is the target audience?
Is adorable the new buzzwork for techies?
*http://www.dailyrotation.com/cgi-bin/linez2/load.cgi?http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/cultofmac/
I've seen Android tech referred to in the same way, just that I can't find an example right now.
zuben el genub
Extreme Android User
K
Kaat72
Guest
Last edited by a moderator:
Quid = £1
Pony = £25
Monkey = £500
As in "It will cost you a monkey." meaning "It will cost you £500."
Sure there's a lot more as well.
Pony = £25
Monkey = £500
As in "It will cost you a monkey." meaning "It will cost you £500."
Sure there's a lot more as well.
Sound like Apple copywriters, that also invented words like "funnest".
View attachment 97969 Our youngsters learn British English in school. A whole different game. Or is it a match?
Well my students learn British English from a British teacher. But non of that vocabulary is in the textbooks or lessons.
British textbooks from Pearson PLC of London.
i.e. students learn, "lorry" and not "truck", "rubbish" and not "garbage", etc.
rather than the usual from Beijing produced textbooks. Although Walt Disney Company does have some involvement, well that's fee paying schools in the state sector for you.
D
Deleted User
Guest
View attachment 97969 Our youngsters learn British English in school. A whole different game. Or is it a match?
That's pretty accurate
I was always struck by how well the Dutch speak English. I suspect language skills are emphasised in schools, from a young age.
zuben el genub
Extreme Android User
I remember the firs time the Vulcan ran into Brit language. He had a Triumph 500 Tiger motorcycle and the manual was British. He finally came in the house and asked what a "spanner" was.
I didn't have the Spitfire's manual, but Chilton had put out a nice replacement for it. I think he thought that Triumph motorcycles should do the same.
I've seen weirder translations in older Japanese car manuals. I had a 72 Datsun pickup and some of the instructions looked like a literal translation.
Now that the kid lives in the UK, he still gets chuffed if she uses a local term. We finally got him to realize what "moggies" are.
I didn't have the Spitfire's manual, but Chilton had put out a nice replacement for it. I think he thought that Triumph motorcycles should do the same.
I've seen weirder translations in older Japanese car manuals. I had a 72 Datsun pickup and some of the instructions looked like a literal translation.
Now that the kid lives in the UK, he still gets chuffed if she uses a local term. We finally got him to realize what "moggies" are.
zuben el genub
Extreme Android User
psionandy
Extreme Android User
One of my favorite podcasts is about the english language... if podcasts are your thing (or maybe even if they aren't) you may want to check out the allusionist
http://www.theallusionist.org/
http://www.theallusionist.org/
Stuntman
Android Expert
When did English became the second most spoken language? The last time I was told about the popularity of spoken language, I think Punjabi was second. That was 30 years ago.
zuben el genub
Extreme Android User
It seems you can make basic wants known easier in English - no gender and you don't need to decline verbs. There's also enough English language entertainment knocking around the world. If movies are still subtitled, you'd hear English.
dynomot
Android Expert
Ah, we British and our American cousins. Two great nations divided by a common language.
I was taught that English in all it's various forms, understandable to all English speaking persons is the second most spoken language after Mandarin and just ahead of Punjabi. Punjabi would be second if it wasn't for dialects. However this is by population of speakers. By area it is English. We British are lazy when it comes to speaking other languages. I don't know anyone English who speaks any Mandarin. I do know a Chinese person who speaks fluent English (and Mandarin and Cantonese) and have spoken to many Chinese students in my home city who speak very good English.
We English are impressed with each other if we can order a beer in Spanish, know a kugelschriber is a pen (a ball point pen) in German and know the French drop the "S" in "Paris", but add an aitch to "cat" . I only say this slightly tongue in cheek. I speak English (with a Sheffield/Yorkshire accent) and could probably get by in Spain in Spanish (I did in 1990 - long before Google translate) , but not in Mexico.
I was taught that English in all it's various forms, understandable to all English speaking persons is the second most spoken language after Mandarin and just ahead of Punjabi. Punjabi would be second if it wasn't for dialects. However this is by population of speakers. By area it is English. We British are lazy when it comes to speaking other languages. I don't know anyone English who speaks any Mandarin. I do know a Chinese person who speaks fluent English (and Mandarin and Cantonese) and have spoken to many Chinese students in my home city who speak very good English.
We English are impressed with each other if we can order a beer in Spanish, know a kugelschriber is a pen (a ball point pen) in German and know the French drop the "S" in "Paris", but add an aitch to "cat" . I only say this slightly tongue in cheek. I speak English (with a Sheffield/Yorkshire accent) and could probably get by in Spain in Spanish (I did in 1990 - long before Google translate) , but not in Mexico.