[Vocabulary] Turtlenec/Polo Neck or Roll-Neck/High Neck/Skivvy

[Aamir Tariq]

Jamaicans speak a version of standard English and/or a dialect which is not mutually comprehensible to many Anglophones. Residents of other Caribbean islands speak at lot of other versions of English, but not the Jamaican variety unless they immigrated from Jamaica. A lot of Jamaicans immigrated to Toronto when I lived there. Their Jamaican-accented English was perfectly comprehensible to me.

On the other hand, I worked with a young man who was born and raised in New York City but spoke only a Jamaican dialect which I could barely understand.

Not only Jamaicans but I don't know why most of the black Americans speak with an accent of their own that is different from American accent and closer to Jamaican accent, despite the fact they are Americans. But those on CNN they speak with Standard American accent.

I think same is the case with the black community in Atlanta, Georgia they have their own tone, the rhythm they speak with, they even have their own slangs. I have no idea why the black community prefer to speak informal English.

I had a white American teacher, he was from Florida, and he used to teach us English in Peshawar in early 90s and whenever I used slangs or informal English he always said I shouldn't use them. I was inspired by Hollywood movies, though. And it was hard for me to understand Anglo-American English.

 

[Aamir Tariq]

It often strikes me when hearing Irish accents that some sentences sound American and others don't. My wife spent a week on the island and reported that it was rather eerie to hear an accent seem to shift between American and something else.

That's what I was wondering Irish people live closer to England and their accent should be influenced by British accent.

I remember once I was talking in one of the Yahoo chat rooms, and I was discussing the same thing there that Irish people speak with a nasal accent. And there was an Irish guy in the chat room. And I don't exactly remember if he said, "That's because Americans are Irish" I think that's what he said. He meant that Americans were the decedents of Irish people who migrated to the United States after it was discovered by Christopher Columbus. And that's why Irish and Americans sound somewhat the same.

However, I think the USA was inhabited by people from across Europe and other parts of the world with different ethnic backgrounds, it is the land of immigrants from around the world not just the Irish people.

 

[GoesStation]

Not only Jamaicans but I don't know why most of the black Americans speak with an accent of their own that is different from American accent and closer to Jamaican accent, despite the fact they are Americans. But those on CNN they speak with Standard American accent.

I think same is the case with the black community in Atlanta, Georgia they have their own tone, the rhythm they speak with, they even have their own slangs. I have no idea why the black community prefer to speak informal English.

I had a white American teacher, he was from Florida, and he used to teach us English in Peshawar in early 90s and whenever I used slangs or informal English he always said I shouldn't use them. I was inspired by Hollywood movies, though. And it was hard for me to understand Anglo-American English.

Slang is always singular. As a non-native English speaker, you should avoid slang until you're extremely comfortable with a particular usage; otherwise, you risk sounding rather odd.

African American Vernacular English is a dialect or set of dialects spoken in African-American communities. I don't hear any similarities between its sound and that of Jamaican English. It has a long, complicated history with certain similarities to that of my father's first language, Yiddish. African-Americans suffered first slavery, then severe legal segregation, so it's not surprising they adopted different modes of language. In most of the United States, most blacks and whites still live largely separate lives even if they mingle much more freely than they used to, so it's also not surprising that the differences persist.

 

[Aamir Tariq]

African-Americans suffered first slavery, then severe legal segregation, so it's not surprising they adopted different modes of language. In most of the United States, most blacks and whites still live largely separate lives even if they mingle much more freely than they used to, so it's also not surprising that the differences persist.

Yeah but things have changed now, they did suffer segregation but it was a long time back, I know their history a little bit including their human right activists like Malcom X and Martin Luther King Jr., but that was Old America, now the President of the United States is Barak Hussain Obama. Nobody could have imagined back then that a black American was going to be the president of that nation. So it is not the same America anymore.

 

[Tarheel]

Dear moderators,

You might want to move this thread, as the subject has totally changed.

 

[Aamir Tariq]

Dear moderators,

You might want to move this thread, as the subject has totally changed.

Bro, I was waiting for one of the Australian moderators or perhaps somebody else from Australia to let me know if Turtleneck is called "skivvy" in Australia. And I haven't gotten any response from anyone from the down under yet. So the topic went into another direction.

 

[GoesStation]

Yeah but things have changed now, they did suffer segregation but it was a long time back, I know their history a little bit including their human right activists like Malcom X and Martin Luther King Jr., but that was Old America, now the President of the United States is Barak Hussain Obama. Nobody could have imagined back then that a black American was going to be the president of that nation. So it is not the same America anymore.

Think of issues between Hindus and Muslims, or with dalits in India. These things persist for generations. Racism is very much alive in the United States.

The President's name is spelled Barack Hussein.

And, I agree that this thread has drifted into a different time zone from that occupied by its title.

 

[Aamir Tariq]

Think of issues between Hindus and Muslims, or with dalits in India. These things persist for generations. Racism is very much alive in the United States.

The President's name is spelled Barack Hussein.

And, I agree that this thread has drifted into a different time zone from that occupied by its title.

This shouldn't happen anywhere in the world. Let me give you an example of roses, there are red roses, pink roses, white roses, black roses, all are beautiful and all give out fragrance and add to the beauty of the world around us. The same is the case with human beings we are black, we are white, we are brunets, we are oriental, we speak different languages, we practice different religions, still we add to the beauty of this world, nobody is superior to anyone, we are all equal. we should speak the language of love, we should practice the religion of peace we should look to each other as our brothers and sisters, we should have tolerance towards each other we should have mutual respect for each other's faiths. We should treat each and everyone equally regardless of their race, ethnicity, faith, gender, nationality or religious backgrounds we should all be global citizens then this world will be the most beautiful place to live in.

I am sorry I moved into a totally different direction and I know I can't change the world alone. I can only pray that people should grow mature and prioritize humanity over everything else.

I will move this thread to general discussion after I get my answer about skivvy by an Australian.

 

[jutfrank]

Well, as I too am still waiting with bated breath for the lowdown on the Australian skivvy, allow me to comment.

The way that people speak - their accent, the vocabulary and grammar they use - is largely determined by where they live. This is called dialect. But it's also very much determined by the way they identify themselves and the social group that they feel part of. Man or woman, child or adult, young or old, punk rocker or roll-neck rocker, upper or lower class, dark or light-skinned, minority or majority, etc. This is called sociolect. This explains why people who live in the same city, for instance, can have such different ways of speaking. Their speech tells us who they are in a sense, or who they want to be.

I like you, Aamir Global Citizen - you sound like a good human.

 

[GoesStation]

This shouldn't happen anywhere in the world.

An admirable wish. Sadly, it does. Repeatedly. Everywhere.

To drag this back to the topic of using English, can you tell me how many "rules" of English usage I broke in my previous paragraph? Hint: there's at least one per sentence, and one bonus one in this very sentence which you are reading.

 

[Aamir Tariq]

I like you, Aamir Global Citizen - you sound like a good human.

Thanks, bro. In fact, Everyone of us has a good human inside, but the pity is people don't realize it. Most people don't let that good human take over, they suppress that good human. We are all good humans, each and everyone on this forum has a good human inside him.

This forum is so irresistible that every time I take a look at it, it forces me to keep posting and keep interacting with you guys. You guys are so admirable, you give us such lovely descriptions and people like me get to learn a lot from you. Even when you guys have an argument with one another that goes on and on and on it also gives us an opportunity to keep learning new things out of those arguments.

Thanks for being so nice guys. You are all admirable.