Pedantic question about standardisation

Vaughn · Aug 28, 2012

lxdude said:
Uh, 'Vaughan', those aren't "commas". Really, truly, absolutely, without a doubt, conclusively, they're not.

Well, my 'source', Eats Shoots & Leaves, by Lynne Truss, calls them single or double inverted commas. I guess you can call them single or double 'quotation marks', but they weren't being used for quotations!

Steve Smith · Aug 28, 2012

Roger Cole said:
I grew up with typewriters.

You could write a book about that. A mechanical version of The Jungle Book.

Steve.

RalphLambrecht · Aug 28, 2012

being in the business of writing or english-speaking readers across the globe, i have to be sensitive to those pedantic differences, and i am aware how heatedpeople can get discussing them. for e, it ends up as...horses for courses, but just to mention it, there is such a thing as transatlantic english in whichthese pedantic differences arerecognized an d color is spelled without the 'u'. i believe, there is even a spell checker for it.

batwister · Aug 28, 2012

Steve Smith said:
You could write a book about that. A mechanical version of The Jungle Book.

Steve.

Diapositivo · Aug 28, 2012

MattKing said:
So Fabrizio when you enter your home through your own front door, do you announce: "It is I"?

After two days with a dental abscess and some headache and toothache I woke up just this morning and before even noticing the slight headache the first thing that came to my mind was that "It's me" is right, because "It" is the subject and you don't want two subjects in the same period.

For the same reason French wants "C'est moi", "C'est toi", "C'est lui",... "Ce sont eux".

Only after that, I begun being aware of my headache.

Fabrizio

E. von Hoegh · Aug 28, 2012

Sirius Glass said:
Actually NOT! Towns set their time by the time zone they are in.

That's correct, today. However, if you read my sentence correctly, you will note that "set" is used in the past tense.

BrianShaw · Aug 28, 2012

Oh, yes... I see the difference.

bdial · Aug 28, 2012

I despise dealing with fractions of inches, so when I build stuff I usually do it with metric measurements. Even though my wood shed looks to be 10 feet square it really isn't.

blansky · Aug 28, 2012

Whenever we watch BBC America and Public Television shows like Foyle, Midsomer, Sherlock, Marple, Lewis and others, I spend most of the time translating for my American born wife.

Growing up in Western Canada was a great place to learn both languages as well as Canadian.

Photo Engineer · Aug 28, 2012

BBC America has a very funny announcement between shows that states something about the accent and idoms used in the programs. I cannot remember it at the time, but it is worth paying attention to just for laughs. I last heard it just before the Graham Norton show.

PE

Mr Bill · Aug 28, 2012

A friend of a friend, a serious juggler hosted a couple of fellow jugglers from Britain when the International Juggling Association held their annual convention in the midwest USA. (A bunch of years ago.)

Traveling to the convention, they passed the town of Effingham, the name of which rendered the visitors unable to stop laughing. They're probably still talking about it today.

Now that I've pushed the topic off-kilter, my friend says that whenever this guy did practice sessions, virtually everything else in the gym , so everyone could watch. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gclli6u54P0&list=UULX5r0evVH7nn48Ru7J2low&index=2&feature=plcp

benjiboy · Aug 28, 2012

Photo Engineer said:
BBC America has a very funny announcement between shows that states something about the accent and idoms used in the programs. I cannot remember it at the time, but it is worth paying attention to just for laughs. I last heard it just before the Graham Norton show.

PE

Iv'e often wondered what American TV audiences make of U.K. TV programmes like East Enders, or Coronation Street.

blansky · Aug 28, 2012

benjiboy said:
Iv'e often wondered what American TV audiences make of U.K. TV programmes like East Enders, or Coronation Street.

Are you kidding. Those people are like aristocracy compared to the idiots that are on American reality TV.

blansky · Aug 28, 2012

Photo Engineer said:
BBC America has a very funny announcement between shows that states something about the accent and idoms used in the programs. I cannot remember it at the time, but it is worth paying attention to just for laughs. I last heard it just before the Graham Norton show.

PE

Probably because Norton's humor contains words that don't translate well to Americans sensitive ears.

And also words like fag, and physical anatomy idioms could send American adolescents on a murderous rape and pillage bender.

cliveh · Aug 28, 2012

And I bet with American BBC you pay no license fee like we do here.

Photo Engineer · Aug 28, 2012

We pay a very large fee to get BBC America here, and I don't watch most of those shows. I watch PBS for Britcoms and someo other shows, and I watch BBC America for Dr. Who and Torchwood. (Series 2 of Torchwood seems to have been blocked though.

PE

blansky · Aug 28, 2012

cliveh said:
And I bet with American BBC you pay no license fee like we do here.

It's cable or a dish so we have to pay to watch it.

Steve Smith · Aug 28, 2012

We have to pay to not watch it. We pay a yearly licence* fee just to own a TV.

(* yes, I did spell that correctly).

Steve.

Thomas Bertilsson · Aug 28, 2012

Steve Smith said:
We have to pay to not watch it. We pay a yearly licence* fee just to own a TV.

(* yes, I did spell that correctly).

Steve.

So you have a better excuse than most not to watch...

Roger Cole · Aug 28, 2012

Steve Smith said:
You could write a book about that. A mechanical version of The Jungle Book.

Steve.

I grew up with many other things too. What I said wasn't in error but that is a funny take on it.

Roger Cole · Aug 28, 2012

zsas said:
OK Roger, did you happen to find any "articles" of Americans complaining about Brits use of words? I bet they are less common because we just don't care how others spell color, organization, etc.....

Our collective diversity is our greatest strength! Words from the different regions, states, countries can become mainstreamed and I am proud! Why do I sometimes get the feeling that others are defensive on how things evolved?

Actually on looking again I did. Here you go:

10 Things Brits Do That Drive Americans Nuts

E. von Hoegh · Aug 28, 2012

blansky said:
Are you kidding. Those people are like aristocracy compared to the idiots that are on American reality TV.

Ahem.... "...idiots who are..."

E. von Hoegh · Aug 28, 2012

Thomas Bertilsson said:
So you have a better excuse than most not to watch...

Who needs an excuse???? The content suffices.

Steve Smith · Aug 28, 2012

Here are some public information films to educate you on various subjects of Britishness:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQWPR9TM0Gk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ivsb79-h90

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4CXY6TVBMc&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gou1cspUfdY&feature=related

Steve.

Thomas Bertilsson · Aug 28, 2012

E. von Hoegh said:
Who needs an excuse???? The content suffices.

Good point.

Pedantic question about standardisation

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