Different English And British Words

[The Dude]

Like, Color we spell it (colour) and Mom when we spell and say it (mum) cant think of anymore, just got up lol

 

not sure what you mean by that, but if you said in which context it is in i will know.

 

I see. I had my mind on the spoken word and you were talking about the written word. I gotcha now. I don't know. I guess we just want to simplify and leave out what we see as superfluous. I'm sure if Americans had it their way we'd just spell everything phonetically. Like the word Island. Why the S in there. It serves no purpose. I understand the etymology of the word and the history of this word as well as others like it. I'm not going to go into that now. I'm just using it to try to help answer your question. Unless it wasn't a serious question, then nevermind.

 

 

It's 'up in here'

 

I don't really know what you mean by this phrase.

 

You know, like "We gon' get crazy all up in here."

[flying kiwi]

^^I think we'd just leave the ''up in here'' out of the sentence, we'd just say we're going to get crazy

 

I don't know much about word differences between English and American English, I.e. jell-o, jelly, and jam, since I have not yet befriended a Brit.

And I haven't a clue how in the world Brits come up with these words. Like "nappy" for "diaper"? Really. I don't see the idea behind it! Lol! I feel like it's much simpler to call a "baby carriage" a baby carriage, instead of a "pram".

WHERE DO THESE WORDS COME FROM?!

I do find this super interesting, though, so I hope this thread gets larger. And I am saving this list to my phone, for future reference, as I speak. This is entertaining.

Wouldn't these words be considered "colloquial"?

And, also, adding the "U"'s to everything. Is it necessary? (I am only joking, so don't get mad at me! Lol!) "Color vs. Colour", "Favorite vs. Favourite", etc.

Or, the "S" in place of the "Z", as in "Organization vs. Organisation".

I have to say, if I decided to spend time in Britain in the future I would probably be really confused. LOL.

 

It's physically a lot easier to say Pram though lol

 

and English came first so it's actually Americans who came up with alternative words.

 

Although diaper was the original word according to wiki I don't know how we came up with the word nappy, but I prefer it to diaper

[Unreal]

I'm British but I find that a lot of those "American" words are used here too? lol

 

Ah whatever...British words ftw

[Danielle]

Following a little research... English and American English have different words and grammer because the langauge wasn't standardised until the early 18th century. The first English Dictonary was published in 1755, the first American English dictionary was published in 1828.

 

You know, like "We gon' get crazy all up in here."

It still makes absolutely no sense

 

and English came first so it's actually Americans who came up with alternative words.

Yep, the clue is in the name, there is a reason the language is called 'English'

[The Dude]

It still makes absolutely no sense

 

It's like they all retarded up in there.

 

Here, maybe this will help: Link

[Kim.]

It's like they all retarded up in there.

 

Here, maybe this will help: Link

 

Oh, my God. How'd you find this? It's hilarious!

I think that video just demonstrated everything that is wrong with American English. One point relinquished. Lol.

[yorkshire]

Another is difference is arse vs ass. I love in Philosopher's stone where Draco says about Neville, "Did you see his face? Maybe if the fat lump had given this a squeeze, he'd have remembered to fall on his fat arse".

 

One of my friends used to say ass instead of arse. I think he watch a lot of American tv when he was younger, so that's where he picked it up from. We have since heckled him and he has changed his ways . Nothing wrong with either way though.

 

edit: oh and i've just reminded myself, and was hoping for an explanation; why is Philosopher's stone Sorcerer's stone in the US?

Edited December 1, 2010 by yorkshire

[Imagine]

^^I think we'd just leave the ''up in here'' out of the sentence, we'd just say we're going to get crazy

 

 

 

It's physically a lot easier to say Pram though lol

 

and English came first so it's actually Americans who came up with alternative words.

Although diaper was the original word according to wiki I don't know how we came up with the word nappy, but I prefer it to diaper

 

haha how i love you Donna, your so right.

 

 

 

edit: oh and i've just reminded myself, and was hoping for an explanation; why is Philosopher's stone Sorcerer's stone in the US?

 

Another word americans changed lol philosopher means sorcerer over there. However philosohper over here means someone who is concerned with problems concerning how we got here, values, languages etc. So americans must see that as magic lol because the last time i checked, Sorcerer was a wizard lol

[The Dude]

why is Philosopher's stone Sorcerer's stone in the US?

 

Because they were afraid that Americans wouldn't know what the Philosopher's Stone was. Which is probably true (especially when dealing with 10 year olds). But I don't know that Sorcerer's Stone makes a whole lotta since either. It just sounds like a sorcerer trying to pass a kidney stone.

[Jade]

English and British are the same thing lol.

 

Don't you mean American English and English?

 

(trailer trash) Chav

 

(soda) Pop

These one's annoy me the most. haha.

[Jade]

Because they were afraid that Americans wouldn't know what the Philosopher's Stone was. Which is probably true (especially when dealing with 10 year olds). But I don't know that Sorcerer's Stone makes a whole lotta since either. It just sounds like a sorcerer trying to pass a kidney stone.

I agree, I think the book shouldn't have been changed full stop though. The title that is.

[Imagine]

These one's annoy me the most. haha.

 

thank you

[Jade]

thank you

haha, your very much welcome. >.<

[Imagine]

I agree, I think the book shouldn't have been changed full stop though. The title that is.

 

i feel sorry for the americans lol it was as if the publishers assumed they wouldnt understand lol. quite bad if you think about it.

[The Dude]

Another word americans changed lol philosopher means sorcerer over there. However philosohper over here means someone who is concerned with problems concerning how we got here, values, languages etc. So americans must see that as magic lol because the last time i checked, Sorcerer was a wizard lol

 

Not exactly. Over here a philosopher is someone like Aristotle or Kierkegaard. A sorcerer is a wizard.

 

 

Also, we don't say soda over here (I guess some may, but the majority don't). We ask for a drink by name or just call everything a coke.

[yorkshire]

Well I just put "Philosopher" in to my computer dictionary and it says someone who is concerned with the nature of knowledge, existence etc, and when I put "Sorcerer" in it comes up as wizard. But it also recognises "Philosopher's Stone" as an entirely different definition, as a substance than turns anything to gold and gives immortality, which is consistent with the book. So it seems JKR had the original phrase to be interpreted as "Philosopher's Stone", and when it was published in the US, it was swapped to "Sorcerer's" and "Stone", in some ways losing meaning?

It's not really important though, it's just the title of a book (albeit a great book).

[The Dude]

It's not really important though, it's just the title of a book (albeit a great book).

 

It's not the title of the book, Philosopher's Stone is the title. But some genius at the publishing house had the bright idea to change it. It's actually a bit insulting as in the dumb Americans couldn't piece it together so we'll just spoon feed them.

 

Philosopher's Stone would have a bit different definition than just Philosopher. It's a mythological artifact having to do with alchemy and immortality.

[Kim.]

 

It's physically a lot easier to say Pram though lol

and English came first so it's actually Americans who came up with alternative words.

 

Touché, Flying Kiwi, touché. Lol.

[Tomâ„¢]

Is is sooo true

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQoGz4jkxTo

 

 

And this is just funny

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkr6upo-czo

[Imagine]

Is is sooo true

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQoGz4jkxTo

 

 

And this is just funny

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkr6upo-czo

 

haha i just love the second video, the way he stretched out the american accents and then at the end "we gave you the english language" lmao

 

Michael said some really really valid points lol i love him

[The Dude]

Is is sooo true

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQoGz4jkxTo

 

 

And this is just funny

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkr6upo-czo

 

You're treading on dangerous ground here. It's all fun and games until someone post a video of American comedy about how British people seem gay or something else that could be taken as offensive.

[Imagine]

You're treading on dangerous ground here. It's all fun and games until someone post a video of American comedy about how British people seem gay or something else that could be taken as offensive.

 

trust me, we have heard it all before we dont get offended lol. Besides its not a serious debate, were just all having a conversation about the differences between english words and american slang. Its a universal joke, dont take it seriously lol.

[The Dude]

trust me, we have heard it all before we dont get offended lol. Besides its not a serious debate, were just all having a conversation about the differences between english words and american slang. Its a universal joke, dont take it seriously lol.

 

I'm just sayin'...

 

I've seen it happen on message boards before. It's starts out as a joke. Then somebody posts something in response. Then there's a lot of back and forth and it ends with name calling and cussing each other out. Maybe that won't happen here, but I've seen it before so I'm just going on personal experience.

[Imagine]

I'm just sayin'...

 

I've seen it happen on message boards before. It's starts out as a joke. Then somebody posts something in response. Then there's a lot of back and forth and it ends with name calling and cussing each other out. Maybe that won't happen here, but I've seen it before so I'm just going on personal experience.

 

I appreciate the concern, and if i or you for example see a post that is crossing that line that would lead into the danger zone just press "report" and it will go straight to a mod And that way it can get sorted before anything escalates. Hopefully it shouldnt, but if it does we can always report it to get removed.

[yorkshire]

I'm just sayin'...

 

I've seen it happen on message boards before. It's starts out as a joke. Then somebody posts something in response. Then there's a lot of back and forth and it ends with name calling and cussing each other out. Maybe that won't happen here, but I've seen it before so I'm just going on personal experience.

 

Could you post something that takes the mick out of the British in response? I'm interested to see what comedians say about us limeys.