You're saying it wrong!!!

[Mongo Skruddgemire]

I do agree with you on the "Cadillac Converter" and the "Chevy Mustang" issue.

That's just plain stupidity or a simple lack of giving a rat's ass about what things are really called.

But I have to disagree with you on the rest of them since a large part of that is either attributable to accent (English as Second Language) or regional dialect.

Cah in particular is an example of a New England dialect. We frequently refer to a really slow ass driver as "Out walking the cah".

Many well spoken people have a New England accent. Two off the top of my heat are Norm Abhram from New Yankee Workshop and Former President John F. Kennedy.

And who is to say which dialect is the proper one? We don't even have an official language in this country. Why should we have an official dialect?

[Greenday]

And who is to say which dialect is the proper one? We don't even have an official language in this country. Why should we have an official dialect?

Pretty sure I just said which one was right.

And the reason we don't have an official language is because politicians are too big of sissies to just declare English our national language already.

[AdminAssistant]

Pretty sure I just said which one was right.

No, you said which one seems to be the standard for actors and reporters. Which I disagree with, since when I was in voice classes and working on getting rid of my Southern accent*, they were telling me that the Midwestern accent was the standard. So, Ohio, Iowa, and Kansas, not New York or Jersey. And there is no "right" way to speak.

*I was willing to ditch the accent for the purposes of acting, but not for everyday speech.

[drunkenwildmage]

Really? Because I've always heard that the ideal for newscasters and actors, the most "neutral" accent is the Midwestern accent.

Back when I was taking Broadcasting Classes..It was thought that the "perfect" or neutral "accent" for newscasters/actors/etc was from Iowa, so you were taught to sound like your from Iowa.

[Eisa]

Correct. There is no official language in the U.S. OR official dialect. And even what is referred to as the 'standard' dialect simply means that there is standardization of it, i.e. it can be taught, there are grammar books for it, etc.

Personally I love regionalisms and dialects. They are soooooooo fun to listen to!

[Ladeeda]

Pretty sure I just said which one was right.

And the reason we don't have an official language is because politicians are too big of sissies to just declare English our national language already.

FYI, an Official Language only means it can legally be used on contracts and legal documents. Given how many people speak Spanish, it'd make more sense to have English AND Spanish be the official languages. I think in Canada, their's are French and English.

Heck, the Spaniards were here before the British, so if we're going by Who Got Here First Except For The Ones That Were Born Here, we should use Spanish from Spain rather than Spanish from Mexico. Or maybe Norse.

Did the Vikings get here before the Spanish?

[blas87]

I know not everyone from Jersey talks like that, but I want to beat the living hell out of the Jersey Shore retards. My God, they talk like their mouths are full of marbles (more than likely shit marbles).

Well, I'd love to beat every single one of them until they were no longer talking for reasons other than how they sound, but that's definetly a big reason right there. How can people watch that and listen to them talk like such fucking idiots?!

I swear, people from the most backwoods swamps of Louisiana probably sound more intelligent than those idiots.

[Andara Bledin]

Ok, here's one everybody should be able to get behind:

nuke-ye-ler

And I don't mean the ignorant people who don't know any better, but the college educated people who are on video pronouncing it properly, and then go on to be coached to sound like an ignorant hick because if you sound like you know how to enunciate, you'll be derided as being "pretentious."

Watch pre-nomination footage for both Bush Jr and Palin and you'll see that they have no difficulty pronouncing "nuclear" properly. It seems that Palin was also told to play up her accent, too, as she sounds a bit more "midwest" prior to the VP nomination.

^-.-^

[Greenday]

FYI, an Official Language only means it can legally be used on contracts and legal documents. Given how many people speak Spanish, it'd make more sense to have English AND Spanish be the official languages. I think in Canada, their's are French and English.

Heck, the Spaniards were here before the British, so if we're going by Who Got Here First Except For The Ones That Were Born Here, we should use Spanish from Spain rather than Spanish from Mexico. Or maybe Norse.

Did the Vikings get here before the Spanish?

Did the Spanish or Vikings form the colonies that became modern day America? Nope. The British did. Which is why we speak English.

[Ladeeda]

Did the Spanish or Vikings form the colonies that became modern day America? Nope. The British did. Which is why we speak English.

In this Modern Day America, a lot of people speak Spanish. Many speak both. I wish the American school system would take a hint from European schools and teach a second language starting from grade school instead of high school. I'm terrible at learning languages, and wish I spoke more Spanish than I do. Easier to communicate with more people.

[DrFaroohk]

Nuke-ya-ler.

Oh...and one more: People who "warsh" things.

[Andara Bledin]

Did the Spanish or Vikings form the colonies that became modern day America? Nope. The British did. Which is why we speak English.

Not quite.

The government considered requests to distribute legal notices and laws in German as well as English, petitioned by a group from Augusta, VA. The whole language thing has been going on for as long as the US has been a country, and will go on ad infinitum. It was decided that since most of the governing body spoke English that the laws would be printed in English only, but that's as close to official as any language has gotten, and it's progressively declined as the dominant language in the country since.

I wish the American school system would take a hint from European schools and teach a second language starting from grade school instead of high school.

Some do. One of the three middle schools I attended taught Spanish as a second language when I was 7. I didn't like it as a language then, and still don't really care to speak it (I don't remember anything except that in my young mind I connected the word for 'tree' with the English word 'marbles' - I don't think my teacher was very good).

It is a shame that more schools don't offer alternate language opportunities prior to high school. Then again, they're still trying to teach basic English in high school, too.

^-.-^

[Ginger Tea]

I wish the American school system would take a hint from European schools and teach a second language starting from grade school instead of high school.

iir I was 11 or 12 when I started learning a second langauge in school, well what ever was my first year at secondary school in the UK, I do wish we had something earlier and more choice than just French, I wanted to learn German, I lived there for my first 6 years of my life (dad was in the army), we were in little England though, everyone spoke English and I rarely had contact with Germans. Having never learned more than the odd word and the numbers 1-20 (but I can only do them sequentially) I did want to learn more, but they would only teach German to those that did well in French for the third year, well for one I didn't do well in French, didn't want to, I was offended when told that I had a good french accent and secondly, even if I did do well enough, I moved oop norf at the end of my second year.

Mainland Europe however is more bilingual (and not just taking English classes, but 3 or more langauges by the time they leave school).

If America chose to abadon English after the war of independance instead of altering the written word, I think by the time Hollywood released talkies and exported TV shows, we in England would know English and whatever America took on post independance.

[AdminAssistant]

Mainland Europe however is more bilingual (and not just taking English classes, but 3 or more langauges by the time they leave school).

I knew some Belgians that spoke 4 languages: Flemish, French, German, and English. And they could switch very smoothly between all four in conversation. My high school taught Spanish, which was an absolute joke. I have had some French and could probably pick it up again. Actually, I'm hoping to go to Montreal in November, so I'll need to. I can translate written German, but it's really difficult.

If you have the time, it is possible to learn languages as an adult, it's just more difficult. One friend is fluent in Russian and is learning Ukrainian and some BCS (Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian). Another is fluent in Russian and Ukrainian. And yet another is fluent in Japanese (modern and ancient)* and learning ancient Chinese. Of course, they all study those respective areas and are on grants to learn those languages.

*We were talking once and she said that it took her nearly 10 years to feel comfortable with Japanese. Learning kanji is really hard, and every year they release new characters to learn.

[Ginger Tea]

I took absolute beginners Russian once (where I met Captain Dickhead), within the 3rd of 10 or so lessons (hour and a half each) we were expected to read cyrilic to progress and the teacher went on maternity leave and was replaced with an all Russian speaking woman.

Sorry but this is absolute beginners the "Teach yourself instand Russian" transliterated words so I could read better and that would have been a preferable course book, especially how it came with an optional CD the book we used only had cassette option circa 2004. Makes me think that scene from Borat (only ever saw the trailers) is accurate.

2 years ago I also had a stab at their entry level Japanese, leary after the Russian fiasco, it was easier for me, I tried with the book's at home but I needed a lesson structure or I would put music on my mp3 player instead of the CD I ripped, thing is this time round I was doing 12 hour days so I never had time to study or do much else for that matter and was late a few times too (skipped one lesson for a Gary Numan concert )