Come on Webster

[6079SmithW]

How is English not the main language in america? Where are you getting this from? Publicly, everything is written in English and everyone speaks it, although some not perfectly due to it being their second language.

Now, English may not last as the only main language, as immigration shows that spanish will be an important language in america's future, but that doesn't mean it will be completely replaced. America in the future will most likely be bilingual with english and spanish as our de facto, if not official, languages.

In short, English's role may change but it won't be snuffed out completely.

 

[KJbushway]

^ as was my point.
Its not me complaining, its just concerns.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

IMO:

English will never be snuffed out in the USA, as long as it is the USA. Its common usage may change, but remember, laws are written in English, and so is the Constitution. Even without English being legally mandated as an official language, the reality that the legal system functions using English will keep English anchored in place as the primary language of the USA. Of course, in the future, interpreters may be even more common than they are today.

 

[KJbushway]

Even constitution english has changed agreeing with those above that say it changes and evolves. But it could definitely become a second langauge.

 

[Canadave]

^ That would require a demographic shift that's tremendously unlikely to happen without a solid century or two of significant changes.

 

[sojourner]

Man, the irony of the OP's mangled posts in this thread is just killing me.

 

[scotpens]

^
^
Carrot for truth (too lazy to quote for truth).

Ain't it the truth, Doc!

(BTW, it's "caret." A four-way homophone, incidentally.)

Even constitution english has changed agreeing with those above that say it changes and evolves.

Actually not. The language of the U.S. Constitution is perfectly clear and understandable to modern English speakers, and identical to today's English except for a few details of capitalization and punctuation.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Actually not. The language of the U.S. Constitution is perfectly clear and understandable to modern English speakers, and identical to today's English except for a few details of capitalization and punctuation.

Exactly:

Ee'dplebnista norkohn forkohn perfectunun...

 

[Alidar Jarok]

(BTW, it's "caret." A four-way homophone, incidentally.)

Good to know

Even constitution english has changed agreeing with those above that say it changes and evolves.

Actually not. The language of the U.S. Constitution is perfectly clear and understandable to modern English speakers, and identical to today's English except for a few details of capitalization and punctuation.

Yeah, the only thing that bugs me is the use of "chuse" for "choose," which is completely understandable, but absolutely grating.

BTW, about English losing its dominance as a language:

Ben Franklin complained that we'd all be speaking German because of so many German immigrants to this country. I'm sure people thought the same with Italian, Russian, etc. Subsequent generations have always picked up English and gradually (unfortunately) forgotten the language of their grandparents. I don't see any reason to believe this is going to change.

 

[M'Sharak]

Even constitution english has changed agreeing with those above that say it changes and evolves.

Actually not. The language of the U.S. Constitution is perfectly clear and understandable to modern English speakers, and identical to today's English except for a few details of capitalization and punctuation.

Yeah, the only thing that bugs me is the use of "chuse" for "choose," which is completely understandable, but absolutely grating.

That spelling was apparently a holdover from Middle English*, and still in fairly common use through the end of the 18th century.

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=choose




* So there's probably some way to pin the blame for that one on Chaucer.

 

[KJbushway]

Man, the irony of the OP's mangled posts in this thread is just killing me.

Well as long as your having fun.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

That's "you're", not "your".

 

[thestrangequark]

^

 

[scotpens]

Yeah, the only thing that bugs me is the use of "chuse" for "choose," which is completely understandable, but absolutely grating.

That spelling was apparently a holdover from Middle English*, and still in fairly common use through the end of the 18th century.

Like the long “S” which resembles (and is often mistaken for) an “F”, and which had gone out of use by the 1820s.

“Greenfleeves? Well, this is a pretty unlikely title for a fong!”

 

[M'Sharak]

Yeah, the only thing that bugs me is the use of "chuse" for "choose," which is completely understandable, but absolutely grating.

That spelling was apparently a holdover from Middle English*, and still in fairly common use through the end of the 18th century.

Like the long “S” which resembles (and is often mistaken for) an “F”, and which had gone out of use by the 1820s.

“Greenfleeves? Well, this is a pretty unlikely title for a fong!”

Ben Franklin: (reading a draft) "...and among these are life, liberty and the purfuit of happinefs"?
Tom Jefferson: That's "pursuit of happiness"...
Franklin: Well, all your esses look like effs.
Jefferson: It's stylish. It's very in.
Franklin: (peevish) Oh, well... if it's in.

 

[Gepard]

That's "you're", not "your".

^

I have nothing to contribute except agreement with this.

 

[KJbushway]

I'm not perfect, I make some spelling mistakes. But nice catch.

Better?

 

[thestrangequark]

I believe that's a grammar mistake, actually. And the sentence you just wrote is so full of them it barely makes sense. We're not laughing at the mistakes, everyone makes them, we're laughing at the irony.

Don't worry about it, though -- laugh it off and learn from it and it's all good!

 

[sojourner]

The tragedy is that most browsers have spell check built in, and yet here we are. I have no problem with grammatical errors unless they reach the point of incoherence. If you go to the trouble to make a post at least make it legible. Readers shouldn't have to guess what your saying. Heck, it's bad enough trying to figure out the intent of a post when the grammar is good.

And man, I hope this was sarcasm:

I'm not perfect, I make mistakes only spelling. But nice catch.

Because otherwise the irony is tragic. Especially considering how proud the OP is of having graduated High School last year.

 

[scotpens]

The tragedy is that most browsers have spell check built in, and yet here we are.

Of course, a spellcheck can only tell you if a word is recognized or not. It can’t tell you if you’re using the wrong homophone, e.g. “council” instead of “counsel,” “principle” instead of “principal,” “pallet” instead of “palate” or “palette.”

I believe that's a grammar mistake, actually.

No, “As long as your having fun” is a homophone error, which makes it a spelling mistake.

“As long as you having fun” is a grammatical error. Although I believe it would be acceptable in African-American Vernacular English or Black English or Ebonics or whatever they’re calling it this year.