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Originally Posted by Philly  Hi Bob
In your opinion, what percentage of Brits think that way (I mean the avoiding of "Americanisms" and the drawing of lines)? Considering that English is a language that so happily absorbs so many words from so many languages, that really is quite an inexplicable mindset. What about Americans saying e.g. "fall" instead of "autumn"? What do people make of that in the UK?  |
Is it not natural to wish to preserve the purity of the language from colonial imperfections
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I think the vast majority of British English speakers, like any other language community, simply use whatever vocabulary and grammatical styles are current in their social group. That will vary with age, class and region. Since the influence of American English on British English is primarily through the media, it has a stronger effect on the speech patterns of younger age groups than older ones. The conscious avoidance, or even recognition, of 'Americanisms' is not a factor I detect to any great degree at all.
'Fall' is an interesting case, because there seems to be no sense that it has begun to supplant 'autumn' in British English at all, despite being almost universally recognised.
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Originally Posted by Philly ...................................
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Hi wuwei
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I haven't seen the test you're referring to, but I would assume it's a typo and the word should be here. |
I'd agree. It has to be 'here'. The taxi 'will be heard' sounds extremely odd, albeit grammatically correct.
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Originally Posted by Philly ...................................
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Hi englishstudent
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The phrasal verb " listen out" sounds a bit like British slang to me but the meaning seems to fit the test sentence nicely and I'd say your understanding of it is correct.
You could also say (at least in the US) " keep an ear out for something". In other words "listen and be prepared to hear some specific and expected sound." 
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To 'listen out' for something is standard in British English, rather than being slang. To 'keep an ear out' for something is perfectly acceptable too. They both mean the same thing.