Explanation for French Picard speaking British English?

[euges116]

I have an idea to explain how Jean-Luc Picard, supposedly French, speaks British English.

(Obviously, this is so because Patrick Stewart is from England...)

But what if, in the 23rd or 24th century, EVERYONE from Europe speaks British English, because that has been dominant, and everywhere else, North America most especially, speaks "American" English? This would explain Jean-Luc Picard, who hails from France, speaks British English.


My two cents!

 

[kv1at3485]

I just find it weird that they would be speaking English-as-we-know-it 400, 300, or even 200 years from now. I would very much like to dismiss it all as an abstraction.

 

[Saul]

England Rules France in the 24th Century.

 

[Squiggy]

However, he pronounces lieutenant like an American.

 

[Trekker4747]

kv1at3485 said:
I just find it weird that they would be speaking English-as-we-know-it 400, 300, or even 200 years from now. I would very much like to dismiss it all as an abstraction.

I don't know about you but I don't go around saying "purge the primary phase inducers in the secondary plasna shunt' a whole lot.

I chalk it all up to the UT.

 

[Red Ranger]

Two words: The Chunnel!

Seriously, the o.p. has a point, and there's a real-world example. If you were to learn English in Europe, it would be peppered with Britishisms because you'd most likely learn that kind of English instead of American or Australian English.

Red Ranger

 

[Trekker4747]

Frankly I think England just invaded France and won.

The French, being the French, made it paticuarly easy.

 

[Jack Bauer]

He probably learned it from a Brit. A friend of mine who is from Argentina spoke with a slight British accent when she spoke English because she learned it from a British teacher.

 

[new_mercury]

kv1at3485 said:
I just find it weird that they would be speaking English-as-we-know-it 400, 300, or even 200 years from now. I would very much like to dismiss it all as an abstraction.

I agree. It's like when you see films where it is so obvious certain characters would be speaking with a different accent and in a different language i.e. 2nd world war films or films about British historical events with American accents.

 

[Baba101]

England annexed france in a war. Picard is one of france's english overlords

 

[sbk1234]

^^^^^France "unexpectedly" surrendered. The rest is history.

 

[Christopher]

The precedent is already there -- Europe is becoming increasingly united even today. 400 years from now, European countries may be more like US states. A Frenchman getting his education in England would be no more anomalous than an Ohioan going to college in New York. Even less so, given that transporters would allow near-instantaneous commuting.

If you ask me, the odd thing is not that Picard has an English accent, but that he has an English accent while his older brother has a Scottish accent. But maybe they commuted to different schools.

 

[CaptainJon]

sbk1234 said:
^^^^^France "unexpectedly" surrendered. The rest is history.

Someone from England entered the French Customs & Immigration department looking for directions, shouted "Excuse me, this will only take a second!" and everyone immediately dropped to the floor, and the entire French military (if there is such a thing) slid him their weapons.

 

[Nebusj]

You see, that's funny because France was unable to put up an effective defense against the German blitzkrieg that drove into Paris in May and June of 1940. Unlike the Belgians, Dutch, Luxemborgers, and British, who were phenomenally unable to put an effective defense against that blitzkrieg into Paris in May and June of 1940, or into Norway that month, or into Greece later that month, or into the Channel Islands, or into Malta, or the British who managed in a mere eighty days from 1941 to 1942 to lose Hong Kong, thousands of miles of China and the Malay peninsula, and to manage a defense of Singapore, the ``Gibraltar of the East'', which was based on the assumption that the Japanese would be afraid to actually fire their guns. That's what makes it so hilarious.

 

[Deleted 2]

^ The alternate explanation is that France succesfully conquered England, making West Yorkshire and Arondissement of France

And why not? The only conquerors the British Isles ever succesfully resisted were Napoleon and Hitler. The Kelts, Romans, Saxons, Vikings, Normans and Dutch all had comparatively little difficulty.

 

[The Borg Queen]

It's because Star Trek is an American TV show. If Picard had been "British" instead of French, not only would he have had a fondness for Earl Grey tea and Shakespeare, he'd also have had a fetish for pistripe suits, bowler hats and black umbrellas like all British people.

"Lois & Clark" and "Sliders", I'm looking at you...

 

[Photon]

And likes Earl Grey.

 

[J47]

Nebusj said:
You see, that's funny because France was unable to put up an effective defense against the German blitzkrieg that drove into Paris in May and June of 1940. Unlike the Belgians, Dutch, Luxemborgers, and British, who were phenomenally unable to put an effective defense against that blitzkrieg into Paris in May and June of 1940, or into Norway that month, or into Greece later that month, or into the Channel Islands, or into Malta, or the British who managed in a mere eighty days from 1941 to 1942 to lose Hong Kong, thousands of miles of China and the Malay peninsula, and to manage a defense of Singapore, the ``Gibraltar of the East'', which was based on the assumption that the Japanese would be afraid to actually fire their guns. That's what makes it so hilarious.

Brilliant.

 

[jbake]

The Islands of Jersey, just off the French coast, could have been a better place for Picard to have come from. The people of Jersey regard themselves as thoughly British, and of French/Norman-French ancestry. They often have French names, and speak English, French and Norman French.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jersey

 

[Lee T]

Unless the UK has become a huge player in pop/media culture in the 24th century I don't see the british accent dominating. Nowadays people in europe speaking english are much more likely to have US accents as US series/movies/artists simply saturate each and every media output.

The real puzzling thing is that they never bothered to check out how "Picard" sounds when said by a french (in french the "d" at the end isn't pronounced).

On the other hand Picard's britishism makes him less stereotyped and maybe a bit more realistic than he would have been had they aimed for "frenchman" all the way (as they *shudder* did with Tom Paris's french bar crowd).