English, the Language.

[ITL]

The word association thread in the red shirts' lounge has reminded me of another bizarre (to me ) difference in pronunciation between Britain and America - "herb"

The British pronounce the 'h', the Americans don't and it really sounds weird to me as a Brit to hear 'erb (it really stands out when it's Beverly Crusher speaking )

Well, not all Brits. We Yorkshire folk drop our "h"'s all over the place.

It does sound strange to me to hear some Americans dropping the "h" in "herb" (while really stressing the "e") when they don't drop it for other "h" words.

Makes me want to yell "stop dropping your aitches"! Then I realise that I'm channelling my Primary school teachers.

Our teachers spoke the same way we did, so we were spared that!

And thanks to this thread I now know that Americans don't drop the "h" after all - it's us who added it! (and in my case, dropped it again...) It just sounds like a very singular dropped "h" to my English ears, and therefore stands out somewhat.

Still, you live and learn!

 

[iBender]

Some of my favourite words are words like dem, demma. (Meaning Them/Those/They are...)

I like stuff like that.

They are slang, much like "ain't".

That doesn't bother me, I just like that I can grasp slang words like that, no problemo.

It's all English to me.

(Not Greek, get it?)

 

[Gov Kodos]

Well, not all Brits. We Yorkshire folk drop our "h"'s all over the place.

It does sound strange to me to hear some Americans dropping the "h" in "herb" (while really stressing the "e") when they don't drop it for other "h" words.

Makes me want to yell "stop dropping your aitches"! Then I realise that I'm channelling my Primary school teachers.

Our teachers spoke the same way we did, so we were spared that!

And thanks to this thread I now know that Americans don't drop the "h" after all - it's us who added it! (and in my case, dropped it again...) It just sounds like a very singular dropped "h" to my English ears, and therefore stands out somewhat.

Still, you live and learn!

There are some anachronistic usages in American English. Herb was the persons name, but the plants were 'erbs. The use of 'have gotten' rather than 'have got' for present perfect is another kind of anachronism in American English.

 

[scotpens]

"Bof" is a word that I think English should adopt. It has a much deeper sense of world-weary disgust than simply saying "meh" or "hmpf".

"Boff" is an old slang word for "fuck" or "screw." But you knew that, didn't you?

herb with a silent H is a plant.

Herb with a pronounced H sound is a name, short for Herbert.

Herbert! Herbert! Herbert! Herbert!

The way I see it is, Herb and Erb both mean the same thing but Music's the true universal language, so fuzz you all ,

(Music and Maths.)

You mean "math," don't you?

I love Whom, and I try my darndest not to end sentences with prepositions. Ironically, by using whom- which I hear is really going by the wayside- solves the problem of preposition endings.

There's nothing wrong with ending a sentence with a preposition. As Winston Churchill reputedly said, "That is the sort of nonsense up with which I will not put." (Although I'm sure that bon mot has been attributed to others.)

As for whom, I'm afraid it's an obsolescent pronoun. Today it seems to be used mainly by people trying to sound correct, except that they use it incorrectly, e.g. "Whom shall I say is calling?"

Seriously, I get double takes when I say it. And the prepositions! I asked a teammate, 'You are from where?' And she hesitated because of the way I asked it. What was I supposed to say? 'From whence do you hail?' and really scare the locker room?

The usual construction is "Where are you from?", which is perfectly correct.

And "whence" means "from where." Therefore, "from whence" is redundant.

. . . The expression: "I predict that your tenure here is going to be mildly unpleasant" is threatening, inferring that I will have not a pleasant time on trekbbs . . .

You are inferring; he is implying.

 

[Trilliam]

You mean "math," don't you?

No, "Maths" - short for mathematics

 

[iBender]

I'm British, I typed and meant Maths.
Math's cool too.
Math that is.
"It'sallgood."

 

[Gov Kodos]

You mean "math," don't you?

No, "Maths" - short for mathematics

Another of those lovely differences. Something I wonder about at times with a number of Brit colleagues, is the pronunciation of schedule with an sh- sound but not so with scheme or school. The twisted vagaries of language

 

[Trilliam]

It's "Shedule" here too. Possibly reflecting different origins of the 2 words. "Schedule" originated from Old French, "School" from Greek via Latin.

"Skedule" sets my teeth on edge

 

[scotpens]

Speaking of school subjects, I've heard Aussies (and perhaps Brits as well) shorten "physical education" to "Phy Ed." We Yanks call it Phys Ed or P.E. for short. Or just "gym."

It's "Shedule" here too. Possibly reflecting different origins of the 2 words. "Schedule" originated from Old French, "School" from Greek via Latin.

"Skedule" sets my teeth on edge

I've always loved that line in Mary Poppins when George Banks sings, "I run my home precisely on shedjul." It sounds so, you know, British!

 

[RoJoHen]

It's "Shedule" here too. Possibly reflecting different origins of the 2 words. "Schedule" originated from Old French, "School" from Greek via Latin.

"Skedule" sets my teeth on edge

"Maths" does the same to me.

 

[Gov Kodos]

It's "Shedule" here too. Possibly reflecting different origins of the 2 words. "Schedule" originated from Old French, "School" from Greek via Latin.

"Skedule" sets my teeth on edge

This source attributes schedule's sh- pronunciation to French influence. It's curious how these develop.

Word Origin & History

schedule
1397, sedule, cedule "ticket, label, slip of paper with writing on it," from O.Fr. cedule, from L.L. schedula "strip of paper," dim. of L. schida "one of the strips forming a papyrus sheet," from Gk. skhida "splinter," From stem of skhizein "to cleave, split" (see shed (v.) and cf. schism ). The notion is of slips of paper attached to a document as an appendix (a sense maintained in U.S. tax forms). The specific meaning "printed timetable" is first recorded 1863 in railway use (the verb in this sense is from 1862). Modern spelling is 15c., in imitation of L.; the modern British pronunciation ("shed-yul") is from Fr. influence, while the U.S. pronunciation ("sked-yul") is from the practice of Webster, and is based on the Greek original.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/schedule

 

[lurok]

Speaking of school subjects, I've heard Aussies (and perhaps Brits as well) shorten "physical education" to "Phy Ed." We Yanks call it Phys Ed or P.E. for short. Or just "gym."

It is still PE. Sometimes gym (but that implies strictly indoors element). Occasionally but rarely in certain schools/circumstances...'Phys Ed'. What we would call a 'ghastly Americanism'.

It's "Shedule" here too. Possibly reflecting different origins of the 2 words. "Schedule" originated from Old French, "School" from Greek via Latin.

"Skedule" sets my teeth on edge

I've always loved that line in Mary Poppins when George Banks sings, "I run my home precisely on shedjul." It sounds so, you know, British![/QUOTE]

"Skedule" . Preferred, though intermix depending on who speaking to. For example, close and/or London contacts: "have you seen the skedule for tomorrow?".
Anyone else: "have you seen the shedjul for tomorrow?" Why, I don't know.

 

[lurok]

oops....pesky double post though don't know why (I blame the dhd)>

Anyway, to paraphrase: PE. Gym. Or in extreme circumstances: "phys ed" .

 

[Trilliam]

Speaking of school subjects, I've heard Aussies (and perhaps Brits as well) shorten "physical education" to "Phy Ed." We Yanks call it Phys Ed or P.E. for short. Or just "gym."

It's "Shedule" here too. Possibly reflecting different origins of the 2 words. "Schedule" originated from Old French, "School" from Greek via Latin.

"Skedule" sets my teeth on edge

I've always loved that line in Mary Poppins when George Banks sings, "I run my home precisely on shedjul." It sounds so, you know, British!

Nup, it's P.E. here in NSW, actually the full (?) abbreviation is PDHPE (Physical Development/ Health/ Physical Education), but the bit where the kids run around etc, is P.E.

 

[Trilliam]

Oh yeah, it's "Cond-yout" not "con-doo-it". (conduit).

And, the name "McGrath" - long "a", silent "t" - it does not rhyme with the American pronunciation of "bath". It rhymes with "are".

 

[iBender]

P.E. at my school too.

 

[Miss Chicken]

I cannot say schedule as "shedjul", I have to say "Skedule" but I think this is totally as a result of the remmants of my rather serious childhood speech problems (I had six years of speech therapy).


I actually put hatches where I shouldn't them at times i.e I say 'hopen' instead of 'open' and 'how' instead of 'our'. I have trouble with the 'th' sound at times i.e. I say artharitis instead of the correct pronounciation of arthritis. I get stuck on the 'th' sound and have to add an 'a' before I can continue. Up to my teenage years I used to pronounce 'th' as 'f'. My son's speech therapists told me I don't quite pronounce the letters b and v right.

 

[SG-17]

I have a feeling that due to the ever increasing interconnectedness of our world the overall pronunciation of English will slowly become uniform. Most likely more towards the American English side though.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

But that's actually not the case. It's still diverging (I heard one study say it's diverging at an even faster rate).

 

[Canadave]

But that's actually not the case. It's still diverging (I heard one study say it's diverging at an even faster rate).

And you only need to look at this thread to see how up-in-arms people can get over regional differences in dialect.