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My Perception of the English
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6EY6ihHjqU&feature=related
German He says he is German, several times! It is a very long recording so most people do not listen to it all. Actually he reminded me of someone from Germany.
Is the use of the article "the" correct in this sentence:
My perception of THE English I speak English or I speak the English language.... Am I wrong?
>>Is the use of the article "the" correct in this sentence:
My perception of THE English<<< Yes, it's correct. It means the English PEOPLE, not the language.
This is from someone's Profile in Livemocha
However I'm still interested in Anglo-Saxon culture and I'm determined to become fluent speaker of English. I live in Scotland, like Damian. On the South Coast (of England) you will see various references to 'Saxons'. Where my brother lives in the Chilterns, there are various references to the 'Iceni'. However where I live, people pride themselves on being 'Scots' even though this area was once settled by 'Picts'. So, this reference to 'Anglo-Saxon Culture' is a little misleading. In fact, it is a label that people looking in apply to both British and American culture. Winston Churchill in his history, wrote about the 'English Speaking Peoples'.
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However I'm still interested in Anglo-Saxon culture and I'm determined to become fluent speaker of English. >> You will never be good at English if you keep capitalising words for no reason. Take note and just stop doing it. It doesn't make you look cool, it makes people think "idiot". If you want to sound native, take the advice of native speakers.
Robin Michael:
My typing here may go all haywire as I've only just come in from the pub in town but didn't stay on to go to a club as planned because of a wee bit of a migraine - blame it on pressure of work blah blah....anyway it was noisier than usual which is saying something so I came home - we're losing an hour tonight too and I have to be off to Oban for the day tomorrow which means an early start. Yes, I did mention in my post elsewhere that that guy was German - I also said he didn't sound typically German to me - the German type accent is quite easily identifiable isn't it? I mean, many of us in the UK come across Germans from time to time don't we? Especially if you live in a very touristy area, and most of Scotland is just that right enough, and this area most certainly is. Am I right in saying you're up in Aberdeenshire? I love it up there - I have a friend who used to live in Ballater but he's moved to Edinburgh now. I didn't know the Iceni extended down as far as the Chilterns? I thought they were mostly East Anglia based - Boudicca (Boadicea) the fearsome Queen of the Iceni and all that? I have grandparents who live down in England now but on the western side - in Herefordshire - really lovely countryside and fantastic cider and pubs and Morris Dancers with blacked up faces in the locality where my grandparents live - nothing whatsoever to do with racism of any kind - purely ancient tradition. The local "tribes" in the 8th century were the Silurians apparently - and it was the area called Mercia - the western limit of Anglo Saxon influence before hitting onto the Celtic stronghold of Wales therefore inducing the Anglo Saxon Mercian King Offa to build his famous Dyke all along the length of the border with Wales - from Chepstow in the south all the way up to Prestatyn on the North Wales coast....the dividing line between the Welsh Language and the Anglo Saxon tongues which then gradually evolved into Early English which in turn, over the ensuing centuries, grew into the Language we all speak today. The Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Shropshire area is still called West Mercia to this day and it's the name of the local Police Force. Of course Aberdonians call themselves Scots! We're all Scots now, irrespective of our ancestral origins. I made a study of British placenames and the strong influence of each of the specific groups of original indigenous inhabitants of these islands, and the later settlers from the Continent, are very apparent in these placenames across the country. Scotland and Wales, and also Cornwall, are "separate " from the rest of what is now England, as you would expect. The influence of the Angles, the Saxons, the Danes, the Vikings etc. is clear in the placenames we have on our maps today, with those areas of the country in which all these groups were the most dominant now have placenames clearly indicating their respective influences. For instance, using just one example here otherwise this post would go on all bloody night! - places such as Derby, Grimsby, Thornaby, Hemsby, Willoughby, Digby - and so on....are all in the more esatern parts of England - ie closest to the Continent just out to the east of us on this island....the regions first to be settled by the invaders way back all those centuries ago from what is now Northern Europe. Fascinating subject isn't it? How we all developed and evolved....Scottish, English or Welsh......and recently we've experienced a wee bit of an "invasion from the east" again haven't we? ;-) The current economic nosedive is having its own influence on that now though! Talking about economics - this is easily the best economic journalist in my opinion - Evan Davies - fantastic sense of humour and a colourful character in allways - he works for the BBC and among all his colleagues he is nicknamed Tinsel Tits - underneath his smart city suit he sports pierced nips and saucy tattoos - you can always tell from his smily face that he's one cool guy in spite of his serious line of business! His life partner is a French guy who in turn is an architectural designer and they live in West London. Evan originally comes fom Ashtead, in Surrey - very English English Home Counties RP. Comic Relief this year raised £57,000,000 from the British Public over a weekend - and in a recession at that! Doesn't it make you proud to be British? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSv3iApK3DQ&feature=PlayList&p=956074251E9FEC05&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=17
Wrong link!!! I told you I was pissed!
This is the Comic Relief link with Evan Davies: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5S4rqxTeSCc Goodnight - don't forget to put your clocks and watches forward an hour!
Dear Damian
I admire your verbal fluency, and your use of colourful and unusual language, but ... You knew there was going to be a 'but'! I just feel that sometimes your posts are a tad on the long side. 'Tad' is not a word that I feel comfortable using. But I feel that it is the sort of word that you would use. I had a holiday in the Chilterns and I was very impressed. However it is generally a very expensive area and it is not really a tourist destination. Unlike 'Royal Deeside' which is desperate to attract wealthy tourists. I did do a little research on the Iceni before making my post. What I had noticed in the Chilterns was the Iceni Way - 'Icknield way'. The Chilterns are very rich in Flints, which would have been very useful to prehistoric man. Rather like 'Greenstone' is used by the Maoris in New Zealand. I read up about Boudicca, our home grown national heroine. It reminded me of the time that I had visited Colchester Castle. I liked Colchester, I found the people there had an accent very similar to my own. I could even understand the Garage Mechanics (Whoops sorry - mistaken Capitalisation). BBC - History - Boudicca (died c.AD 60) Boudicca was Queen of the Iceni people of Eastern England and led a major uprising against occupying Roman forces. www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/boudicca.shtml - 22k - Cached - Similar pages Language unites and divides. The best Web Site that I could find on the Icknield Way is the one below. There are also other famous walks like 'The Ridgeway' in the south of England and famous sites like 'Solsbury Hill'. I am planning a trip round Wessex in July. I grew up near Manchester which is not really a very pleasant place. Can I rephrase that: I grew up near Manchester which is not a nice conurbation. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Lodz Guide by In Your Pocket. Free guide to Lodz, Poland You may ask why anyone would go on holiday to Manchester? And why in heavens name go on holiday to Poland’s version of Manchester? But while Łódź cannot ... www.inyourpocket.com/poland/city/lodz.html - 52k - Cached - Similar pages +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Icknield Way http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icknield_Way +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Peter Gabriel - Solsbury Hill http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMwn_hnoS5Y +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ BBC - History - Boudicca (died c.AD 60) Boudicca was Queen of the Iceni people of Eastern England and led a major uprising against occupying Roman forces. www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/boudicca.shtml - 22k - Cached - Similar pages +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Bye
I just feel that sometimes your posts are a tad on the long side, Robin.
"I didn't know the Iceni extended down as far as the Chilterns? I thought they were mostly East Anglia based - Boudicca (Boadicea) the fearsome Queen of the Iceni and all that? I have grandparents who live down in England now but on the western side - in Herefordshire - really lovely countryside and fantastic cider and pubs and Morris Dancers with blacked up faces in the locality where my grandparents live - nothing whatsoever to do with racism of any kind - purely ancient tradition"
___________________________ I still haven't fathomed out why certain people deem it to be "racist" when actors or dancers blacken their faces if they are playing black people as part of their act How could a white person possibly play a black person without blackening their faces?
The Black and White Minstrel Show
Parody: +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Dictionary: par·o·dy (păr'ə-dē) pronunciation n., pl. -dies. 1. 1. A literary or artistic work that imitates the characteristic style of an author or a work for comic effect or ridicule. See synonyms at caricature. 2. The genre of literature comprising such works. 2. Something so bad as to be equivalent to intentional mockery; a travesty: The trial was a parody of justice. 3. Music. The practice of reworking an already established composition, especially the incorporation into the Mass of material borrowed from other works, such as motets or madrigals. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ If another contributor to antimoon, was to copy my style, my eccentric Capitalisation, and other aspects of my Posts, exaggerating the worst aspects - that would be a parody. Bearing in mind the tradition of 'racism' in the UK towards Black people - the liklihood is, that when white people appear as Black people, it is in the form of parody. Example: 'The Black and White Minstrel Show' +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The Black and White Minstrel Show - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Black and White Minstrel Show was a British television series that ran from 1958 until 1978 and was a popular stage show. ... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Black_and_White_Minstrel_Show - 30k - Cached - Similar pages ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ BLACK & WHITE MINSTRELS http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zj6o_DZfSw ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Audiences regularly exceeded 18 million. Controversy The show's premise began to be seen as offensive on account of its portrayal of blacked-up characters behaving in a stereotypical manner. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Find your Roots "The Froots" by the Goodies The Goodies - Alternative Roots (Part 2 of 3) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-bPxNGBh4E ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Cheerio
Adam....our dear Lancastrian friend.....do make some kind of effort to overcome your stupid ignorance and crass political correctness!
The blacking of faces has long since been a tradition in many aspects of British culturl life over the centuries (OK...I should say English here, as it's basically an English issue). It has sod all to do with racism as you would interpret it - much more to do with other reasons, and in the case of the Morris Men I mentioned it is simply a means of hiding one's identity for reasons probably long lost in the mists of time. You would have to research the sites if you really want to find out just what they were. You know full well how different a person looks with a blacked up face - it is extemely difficult to recognise many of them as I well know as I have met up with most of the guys now in the Morris group but not those shown in the YT link below as it was filmed back in 1990- the Silurian Border Morris Men from Herefordshire, where my grandparents live. But I do know the guy in the front and on the right of the clip as he is very friendly with my grandparents, and the group is dancing in the street at Thaxted, in Essex - naturally enough outside a pub......you will never, ever see Morris dancers performing anywhere but in the very close proximity of a pub or an inn. Morris Dancing is very much an English tradition going way back to the Middle Ages, and has all to do with fertility rites for the most part, and if you think the way the blokes are holding their staves in a particularly significant way in that clip then you are bang on the mark - they are. It's all part of the whole procedure in the celebration of fertility and the continuance of life. There are some Morris Dancing teams in Scotland but very few in number compared with England, where you will find them dancing all over the country on summer weekends in particular right across England (and parts of Wales too) and all of them in their various styles of costume. Not all of them have blacked up faces by any means, but Silurian are one of the small group who do just that because they belong to a certain group of MD who have loing since adopted this practice for traditional reasons which have absolutely nothing to do with any kind of racism, Mr Adam of Bolton. Silurian Border Morris Dancers filmed at Thaxted, Essex, England: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c57oJWHUtik
***I just feel that sometimes your posts are a tad on the long side. 'Tad' is not a word that I feel comfortable using. But I feel that it is the sort of word that you would use***
Robin: You are right on the button..spot on....I fully agree with you - I am a journalist and am far too rambling in most of my posts but I blame my profession and also my passionate love of words and, of course, our Language. It pays all my bills for which I am deeply grateful. I will endeavour to curb my ramblings from now on but I make no set in stone promises, but as I will be moving down to London pro tem in mid April I will not have anythingf like so much time to be so long winded in here. What's wrong with "tad" in your opinion? It's used often enough here in the UK surely to mean something little in number or something of slight significance. I see from my dictionary that in America it means a wee lad! Maybe it's an American word in which case I will cease to use it from now on! ;-)
"tad"
I just feel happier with some words rather than others. My mother was quite strict about me being up 'slang' words. Consequently, I tend to be rather conventional in my speech and writing. Mimicry is always dangerous, people are not always flattered. I was not very good at French at School. (a slight amount or degree of difference; "a tad too expensive"; "not a tad of difference"; "the new model is a shade better than the old one") Part of it, although I might have an idea of what a word means, (when I hear it), I am not confident enough to use it myself. Perhaps I feel that I sound 'phony'. In many ways, I have not adapted to living in Scotland. "pro tem" pro tem: West's Encyclopedia of American Law (Full Article) from ... pro tem ( ) adv. Pro tempore. ... A person who acts as a temporary substitute serves pro tem. The term is often used to describe the acting head of a ... www.answers.com/topic/pro-tem - 45k - Cached - Similar pages
Rather an embarrasing mistake.
My mother was quite strict about me being up 'slang' words. 'bringing up slang words' Was that what I meant, I don't know. I will start a Topic on Freudian Slips. |