Aluminum and cars

[Falcon500]

Originally Posted by Matra et Alpine

( Reality is of course that the English went through a loving the French period and changed the spelling of many words to look "more sophisticated" )

AT least you guys didnt do what the americans did after ww2 like change the spelling of words, ban french words and my favoerite change the very american term "french frys" to "liberty Frys"

[90ft]

I was of the impression that the only reason Septics pronounce it Aluminum is because some idiot allowed a company to patent the name Aluminium in the USA. So as not to confuse the specific product of one company and the metal - they changed the chemical name by dropping the i.
So when you say Aluminum you know its aluminium in general as opposed to the metal from he company with the patent.
Although I've never seen this proven in writing.

[NSXType-R]

Originally Posted by Matra et Alpine

Sadly the language IS dumbed down to the lowest common denominator. Wish you guys had a better education system to fix that

( Reality is of course that the English went through a loving the French period and changed the spelling of many words to look "more sophisticated" )

True, our education system does stink. At least the Cold War made our education system better. We need another Cold War.

Who's to blame for the Francophiles then?

[culver]

Originally Posted by Matra et Alpine

( Reality is of course that the English went through a loving the French period and changed the spelling of many words to look "more sophisticated" )

One of the best lectures I ever heard was in high school and was actually about the history of the English language. One of the parts of the lecture talked about that period. According to the prof who was speaking, that fascination with sounding more French was the origin of saying things like Ca (short A) vs Car (with the R sound). Due to a quirk of how people think, that also resulted in things like bananar (with an R sound) rather than banana.

What I thought was more interesting still was, where can you find the best Shakespearian accent? The costal south of the US of course. The story goes that the costal, proper southern drawl, a Charlestownian such as a girl friend of mine has is actually the closest to the English used in Shakespeare’s time. This UK language reformation came after the establishment of the American colonies. The old south wanted to maintain the etiquette standards and practices of the English elite. Well the English changed but the southerners never got the memo. Net result, that costal draw has changed less from the old days.

Before anyone jumps on my case, It's been a long time since I heard this lecture and I'm sure I don't have all the details right but I also believe the basic facts are sound.

Who would have thought that the evolution of language could actually be an interesting thing?!

[Falcon500]

Originally Posted by culver

What I thought was more interesting still was, where can you find the best Shakespearian accent? The costal south of the US of course. The story goes that the costal, proper southern drawl

OH MUH GAWD

And here I am being told a drawl is not a proper way to talk

[NSXType-R]

Originally Posted by culver

One of the best lectures I ever heard was in high school and was actually about the history of the English language. One of the parts of the lecture talked about that period. According to the prof who was speaking, that fascination with sounding more French was the origin of saying things like Ca (short A) vs Car (with the R sound). Due to a quirk of how people think, that also resulted in things like bananar (with an R sound) rather than banana.

Before anyone jumps on my case, It's been a long time since I heard this lecture and I'm sure I don't have all the details right but I also believe the basic facts are sound.

Who would have thought that the evolution of language could actually be an interesting thing?!

Yeah, that accent thing is interesting indeed. New Englanders have very strange accents. They don't pronounce their "r"s (no offense to New England members).

We in NY think that's the strangest and most annoying accent ever. I bring this up because my one of my teachers is from Rhode Island.

[Kitdy]

Originally Posted by NSXType-R

Yeah, that accent thing is interesting indeed. New Englanders have very strange accents. They don't pronounce their "r"s (no offense to New England members).

We in NY think that's the strangest and most annoying accent ever. I bring this up because my one of my teachers is from Rhode Island.

The accent that annoys the hell out of me is the Western New York accent. I can't stand it, and whenever I go down to Buffalo I am astounded by the way people talk just 2 hours away form where I live.

My ex-girlfriend told me that Torontonian English is next to neutral English - as close as any region out there is. This could be untrue, but I'd like to think it is.

[NSXType-R]

Originally Posted by Kitdy

The accent that annoys the hell out of me is the Western New York accent. I can't stand it, and whenever I go down to Buffalo I am astounded by the way people talk just 2 hours away form where I live.

My ex-girlfriend told me that Torontonian English is next to neutral English - as close as any region out there is. This could be untrue, but I'd like to think it is.

I've never heard the Western NY accent.

I think I speak neutral or standard English, but I'm not sure of it.

[fisetdavid26]

The only English accent I don't like is mine, actually.

[Kitdy]

Originally Posted by fisetdavid26

The only English accent I don't like is mine, actually.

Having actually heard this man's voice, I must also agree.

He sounds like shit.

Naw, I'm just kidding. He speaks good english.

[Falcon500]

Originally Posted by fisetdavid26

The only English accent I don't like is mine, actually.

Most people dont like the way they sound. Look at most people reactions when they hear recordings of themselves (everytime i got to voice mail i hear my short message and it kills me every time)

[The_Canuck]

Originally Posted by fisetdavid26

The only English accent I don't like is mine, actually.

eand when i ohpened the door dere it waz, gone!

*just for laughs

[fisetdavid26]

Originally Posted by Falcon500

Most people dont like the way they sound. Look at most people reactions when they hear recordings of themselves (everytime i got to voice mail i hear my short message and it kills me every time)

Yeah I don't like my voice on recordings either. There's not much we can do though...

Originally Posted by The_Canuck

eand when i ohpened the door dere it waz, gone!

*just for laughs

Haha, my French accent is hard to overcome sometimes, but I try. Asshat. <3

[Rockefella]

Originally Posted by fisetdavid26

Haha, my French accent is hard to overcome sometimes, but I try. Asshat. <3

Bwahahaha... French accent. That's punishment in itself.

I think I sound like a gentlemen. Either that or I have a NY/NJ accent that I'm unaware of.

[fisetdavid26]

Originally Posted by Rockefella

Bwahahaha... French accent. That's punishment in itself.

I think I sound like a gentleman. Either that or I have a NY/NJ accent that I'm unaware of.

First: Fixed
Second: A gentleman? In New Jersey? Bahahahaha! I've seen crack dealers and whores, but no gentlemen.
Third: Asshat <3