Not To Sound Harsh, But . . .

[emwolf]

Speaking of which, this is an interesting and fun play. Rather amazing to witness.

Yes, yes, yes to the OP.

Happy shaves,

Jim

I saw this a few years back at our town's Shakespeare Festival. We had a blast, however nothing can compare to the production of Pericles we saw there. That was amazing.

 

[jdp93]

Great discussion, all. I don't consider myself too uptight about grammar, syntax, etc., but I do get annoyed by a lot of what I read online (present forum excluded of course). As far as non-native speakers, I give them leeway because I guaranty they speak my language better than I speak theirs. I hold us native English speakers to a higher standard.

 

[DEPenguin]

^^^^^

 

[lancre]

Sir Jim, I respectfully submit the following refutation of your premise . . .
1) You used the full word "you' and not the ubiquitous and annoying 'U'
2) 'Exception' is a sight for sore eyes accustomed to the butchered internet version, 'excepscion'
3) 'Here' properly used, as opposed to the loathsome 'hear'. Don't even get me started on 'to', 'too', and two'.

I should also add, typos and freaking autocorrect are both understood and do not count against oneself when at the Pearly Gates.

Dew knot putt yore trussed in spill chequers!

 

[Esox]

IKR?

 

[MilkCrate]

View attachment 967698

 

[Big Jim]

My British vs American English is about a British friend.

He has lived in the US for about a dozen years and has become a US citizen. He travels home to Brittan at least once a year. He still has a very pronounced British accent. When asked what his family and friends say about his accent he says that they love it. It hasn't changed. It is still a genuine British accent.

When asked if they can tell he has been away he says they can tell, not from any change in the accent, but from all them American words he uses. ("all them American words" is his wording, not mine)

Bloody hilarious.

 

[Wirebender]

I am so glad you brought that up, les24preludes. I have worked with a Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian, to this day work with plenty of Hispanics, have known two Japanese people and a French man. Some were born into families where the parents only spoke their native tongue, but as children they went to school (typically here in America) and learned English . . . or they learned it from watching American television and movies, or secondarily from listening to American rock and/or pop music.

When we watch the Olympics we almost assume athletes from all over the globe will interview in English, and while some don't it still astounds me how many can still effectively communicate in English despite it not being their primary language.

I read somewhere English is the global lingua franca, a language conduit used between two disparate languages to communicate; doesn't mean a lingua franca is always English, but globally it tends to be. I wouldn't consider myself to be fluent in Spanish but I understand and can speak enough of it to be dangerous to myself and those around me. What learning Spanish has taught me--as has simply giving consideration to words in other languages--is that if we give thought to the development of language we can easily arrive at the simple conclusion that all human need to communicate to thrive. I'll grant you, that sounds borderline imbecilic, but that doesn't reduce its veracity.

Given that people not native to America (much less the English language) can learn to use our language to not only survive but thrive, makes the throbbing, teeming mass of English butchers stand out all the more readily, for me at least. I have a great respect and warm admiration for those who come here and manage to learn--and use--English. As you mentioned, English ain't always easy to suss out from context if you don't know the language, for example: meddle, metal, medal, and mettle--I have no problem traipsing between those, but non-native speakers always stumble on them; advice and advise: wound and wound--one is a physical injury, the latter a wrap-around; latter and ladder--yes, these are two different things . . . and so many more. English is at once colorful and nightmarish.

As for our own vernacular, even shaving has idiomatic tendencies. It seems obvious to pursue or achieve 'a close shave', yet we often refer to a 'near miss' as "that was a close shave." We may experience a "brush" with death or celebrity, and as humans occasionally get ourselves worked into a 'lather' over this matter or that. We encounter people with 'razor sharp wits'; something sliced 'wafer' thin is still thicker than something sliced 'razor' thin.

As if trying to understand our idioms weren't enough, as Leverspro pointed out, coming into wet shaving completely new can't help but force one into learning a slew of new acronyms . . . . how daunting must it be to not speak the language naturally and then have to try to figure out what SWMBO means, or TTO, DFS, MdP, PdP, AoS, etc. It is a testament to the human will to push forward, to seek answers to questions, to grow beyond what we were just moments before.

And yet there remains a steadfast collective of people who refuse to differentiate between there, their, and they're . . . and I don't count non-native speakers as violators. For better or worse, I confess, I am something of a stickler. But again, to my original point, coming to B&B is akin to being in the eye of the storm--I know once I leave the friendly confines of these forums I must brace myself against the hurricane force of lunacy in the internet at large.

The definition of NOT getting your point across. Look up "brevity" in your thesaurus.