An Apology

[nightwind1]

In 1990, in the Usenet group rec.arts.sf-lovers, James Nicoll wrote the following epigram on the English language:

The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Nicoll#cite_note-4

 

[EmoBorg]

You rebellious yanks need to be bought back into the Empire.

On a more serious note, English is English whether spoken in England, Scotland,Wales, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, America or Canada.
The accents might differ greatly across the regions and there will be significant vocabulary differences, but the alphabet and grammar is still the same.

 

[Count Zero]

I think this thread has veered from the original purpose widely enough. So, I'm closing it. But feel free to continue the debate about English in Miscellaneous.