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US English is more ''global''.
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US English is more ''global''.
British American English confrontation?
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<<You thus imply that somehow Received Pronunciation and literary British English are *the* standard, and that Genera American and literary American English are non-standard, or at least that for some reason the former are "more standard" or "more international" than the latter... So on just what grounds do you base such, aside from the stupid "it was invented in England" line? And even for the idea that literary British English is "more international" than literary American English is because there are multiple successor states to the (post-American War of Independence) British Empire which are scattered about the globe whereas the US is a single federal state whose core land area is contiguous today and because literary British English has simply been heavily marketed as such in the past.>>
You misunderstood me. All I meant to say was that it is wrong for people to 'correct' people for using British spelling (it has actually happened to me many times).
Edited message:
It's mainly an internet thing. There is a tendency for Americans to act as though they own English on the internet, and like American English is the ONLY standard. In ANY COUNTRY they are free to spell in their own way, I'm completely in favour of that, but the internet is an international medium of communication SO IMPOSING ONE OF THE VARIANTS AS STANDARD IS NOT ON.
After all, it's not as though English dialects differ a lot so there is no hindrance in communication.
You misunderstood me. All I meant to say was that it is wrong for people to 'correct' people for using British spelling (it has actually happened to me many times).
Edited message:
It's mainly an internet thing. There is a tendency for Americans to act as though they own English on the internet, and like American English is the ONLY standard. In ANY COUNTRY they are free to spell in their own way, I'm completely in favour of that, but the internet is an international medium of communication SO IMPOSING ONE OF THE VARIANTS AS STANDARD IS NOT ON.
After all, it's not as though English dialects differ a lot so there is no hindrance in communication.
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colours 57.800.000
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US English is more ''global''. >>
Or maybe it just means that Amnericans play on the internet more often, which I suspect is the case. Not all nationalities are proportionally represented on the web -- not by a long shot. And while Americans are, yes, 300 million strong and counting, we are also disproportionately dominant in cyberspace even relative to our large population.
colours 57.800.000
colors 154.000.000
US English is more ''global''. >>
Or maybe it just means that Amnericans play on the internet more often, which I suspect is the case. Not all nationalities are proportionally represented on the web -- not by a long shot. And while Americans are, yes, 300 million strong and counting, we are also disproportionately dominant in cyberspace even relative to our large population.
generally speaking the American assumption that they own a language native to europe is what annoys most Brits! but essentially the English language has evolved over centuries. I get annoyed when websites and products display the American flag for the English language! As long as Americans don't impose their version of English on others I have no problem. Also note theres Mexican Spanish, I'm sure the Spanish and Mexicans have the same discussions!
>>generally speaking the American assumption that they own a language native to europe is what annoys most Brits!<<
We do not think we "own" English, but we *do* think that our English is not subordinate to English English, and feel no need to really have any kind of deference towards English English. To us here today, English is our own language and not merely some foreign language that we somehow borrowed. Hence we feel no need to consider our standards as "variant" and British ones as "standard". Also, there happens to be a majority of English-speakers in the US today, which gives our own positioning our own standards as being just as standard as the British ones a lot of weight in practice.
We do not think we "own" English, but we *do* think that our English is not subordinate to English English, and feel no need to really have any kind of deference towards English English. To us here today, English is our own language and not merely some foreign language that we somehow borrowed. Hence we feel no need to consider our standards as "variant" and British ones as "standard". Also, there happens to be a majority of English-speakers in the US today, which gives our own positioning our own standards as being just as standard as the British ones a lot of weight in practice.
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