Two nations divided by the Atlantic Ocean (Eddie Izzard ftw)

[tzikeh]

I know the poll is imperfect, e.g. Brits have had far more exposure to American culture over a longer period of time than Americans have had of British culture; many of you are non-native speakers, but have acquired one of the two forms, or a hybrid of both (and, sorry sorry, but I lumped Australia and New Zealand in with the Brits, and Canadians in with the Americans, which was stupid, but I haven't had coffee), but please choose the best answers you can.

ETA for clarification: If you're American, answer question one of one and two only. If you're British, answer question two of one and two only. A question that starts with "I'm British" probably shouldn't be answered by you if you're, you know, *not British*.

EATA: :sigh: in a coincidental, and sad, turn of events, William Safire (he of the "On Language" column at the New York Times) just died. Okay, 2009, I surrender. You win.

[Poll #1463194]

Comments

[wolfling]

*raises hand* and if you are a native English speaker but are neither British or American? *waves Canadian flag* Should I not fill out the rest of the poll because I don't fall into one of those two nationalities?

(as an aside, I have found the Canadian common usage English tends to have a lot more Britishims in it than American English and a lot more Americanisms in it than British English.)

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

I edited because I was stupid - I did lump Canadian into American because it is part of North America, even though it was a British commonwealth. Answer as best you can. Sorry!

[pocketmouse]

I use Brit spelling vs American spelling to denote different meanings, but I've been doing that for ages, since before the 'net, I'm pretty sure. Example: grey has a different color in my mind (moors, fog, dull) than gray (battleships, flat paint).

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

OooH! That's fascinating re: grey/gray. Come to think of it, I associate "gray" with dull--sort of the opposite of you -- flat paint, crappy weather day) and "grey" as more eyes, hair... somehow *richer* than "gray." Weird.

Here's another odd thing -- I find that fanfiction stories set in British tv series or movies are jarring if they don't use the proper British spelling of words, even when written by non-Brits. And vice-versa. Not just the words (truck/lorry, apartment/flat, etc.), but the *spelling* (colour, licence, etc.).

[pocketmouse]

I agree with you completely on spelling in fic. It's like a subtler version of having accents. I mean, you wouldn't have the Doctor saying "Oy," unless he was maybe hanging out with Tevye, would you?

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

you wouldn't have the Doctor saying "Oy," unless he was maybe hanging out with Tevye

INORITE?!

[hubbit.livejournal.com]

I'm actually quite adaptable when it comes to UK/US usage, in that I've known a good many of the differences for over 25 years and thus strive to use the version that is correct for my correspondent. When sending an IM, email or tweet to a UK friend I will use British words/phrases/spelling, and with a US friend I will use the American version.

I do find it somewhat irritating when an American uses British spellings on general principle in the belief that those are more correct, because in my mind those usages are incorrect in American writing. I may be alone in this view, however.

I was raised amongst dour prescriptivists, and in my wayward adult life became aware that every lexicographer of note compiled dictionaries with the thought of reflecting how language was being used rather than dictating how it should be used. Languages live, breathe, and change, and dictionaries are revised and updated. Once I figured that out (oh, about 1990? :P) I became a solid descriptivist.

And with that, for my avatar I have chosen someone who is hopelessly incapable of speaking ANY version of English correctly. :D

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

I became a solid descriptivist.

for my avatar I have chosen someone who is hopelessly incapable of speaking ANY version of English correctly.

CONSISTENCY FAIL

[pocketmouse]

Just in general, I can't imagine that meeting going terribly well.

[hubbit.livejournal.com]

I plead lack of coffee....

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

:ponders:

:laughs so hard the cat flees the room:

:is then sad for both the Doctor and Tevye for different reasons:

[hubbit.livejournal.com]

*sings* Screwdriver, screwdriver, sonic me up....

[shuilianfic.livejournal.com]

I got my preference for British English the old-fashioned way: books. I read mostly British books from the age of 5-7. I was extremely confused when I got to first grade, and would get into arguments with the teacher all the time about how to spell words.

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

1/2-KOHANIM-BLESSING שפּך FTW

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

I find this deliciously awesome.

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

:flees the filk in terror:

(I actually love filk when it's done well, but ... no coffee yet...)

[yahtzee63.livejournal.com]

I use more British English than I used to, but I don't think the net or TV is a main driving force behind it. It's mostly being best friends with rheanna27 (which could be considered "being on the net" but isn't what you meant, I think), with a dash of reading seven HP books.

[ubixtiz.livejournal.com]

Thank you for making it possible to select all of the options for the last question.

As an aside, I'm Canadian, and I find that as I watch more Canadian media, I become more aware of the patterns in my speech that are distinctly Canadian.

I also wonder if it would ever have been useful to ask whether I had started using more American words/phrases since being exposed to high volumes of American media, but I fear it wouldn't.

ETA: Answered for values of "American" that include Canadian, and values of "British television" that include Eddie Izzard, among other things.

[magdalene1.livejournal.com]

Hey, I checked "yes" for your first question but not because of the 'net. They're called books and Masterpiece Theatre, respectively, and I was raised by them (and wolves).

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

:D Masterpiece Theatre is tv!

[carbonel]

Kewl! I didn't know you could put Hebrew fonts in with English text in HTML. I suppose you have to type it in backwards?

[magdalene1.livejournal.com]

I know, which is why I checked "yes" overall, but to be a bit...pedantic...yesssss pedantic... books make me spell things British, Masterpiece Theatre teaches me to pronounce things British, the summer in England when I was 16 made me the teenager with the annoying faux British accent.

Neat poll.

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

:D I just copy/pasted the letters from here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_alphabet#Pronunciation_of_letter_names I know there are proper html codes for each of them, but I didn't feel like coding. :D

[seperis.livejournal.com]

British spelling is actually from when I was abroad and my English class learned British English. After two papers being returned for spelling errors, it was just a lot easier to make the changes. It's never been *consistent*, more situational (my papers in college were hysterical, but my instructor had done a few semesters at Oxford and had what she called situational spelling changes that seemed to be limited to her undergrad thesis topic). In Merlin fandom, it's become situational again, but not consistent.

It's only something I've noticed when spellcheck in Trek started finding a lot of double ll's. Grey's always been grey, but that's been forever, and I have a bad feeling I have the Narnia books to blame.

[seperis.livejournal.com]

the summer in England when I was 16 made me the teenager with the annoying faux British accent.

*winces* When I was seventeen, I was an exchange student in Finland. Everyone I interacted with spoke English, but British English. I didn't pick up a British accent, but on some words I picked up a very weird amalgation of Finnish-British for a few months after I got back. It wasn't like, super-noticeable probably to anyone who wasn't rural Texan, though. The words that I had changed were ones I used to drawl or elide, and for the sake of clarity with my family (my host parents spoke English as a fourth language), I'd gotten into the habit of copying my host brother's and my friends' way of speaking.

The drawl actually kind of went underground, but it still comes out when I'm around rural Texans with a strong drawl or when I'm tired.