[General] British and American combination

[Rihan]

:-|
That's the reason why I proposed a new English British and American combination(but many people say that You would be laughed at if you do that)

Though the situation is hot, I am going to ask a funny question . I have not good idea about the differences between British and American English . As you all have good ideas on this English language , so,can you guess how much differences or dissimilarities have between the British and American words, phrases, idioms and grammar. The answer may be in percentages, such as 20% 10% or 30%. A rough estimate would be very helpful.

Thank U all for The valuable advice and information....

 

[birdeen's call]

No, I mean Celsius. When you adjust the thermostat on your house or your car's A/C, it moves in half degrees.

Why?

Because a degree C is too big of a shift.

It makes no sense for the normal range of human existence to be expressed on a scale of negative 15 to 35. There's not enough gradation there.

That's a valid point, but it's not enough to say that Celsius degrees aren't useful. There's certainly enough gradation in this system to say how cold it is outside when you're trying to decide which jacket to put on. Fewer possible values means less information to process, which may be an advantage.

When we are measuring our body temperature, we still use fractions, whether we use Celsius or Fahrenheit degrees. So there's no difference in this regard.

With Fahrenheit you get small numbers when it's cold, big numbers when it's hot. When it gets into the 90s, it's hot. 100 is a milestone. And when it gets below zero it is really cold.

This is not a good argument in my opinion. Actually, the milestones in the Celsius system seem more natural and more useful. Everybody in Europe remembers what the freezing and boiling points of water are because there's just no way someone could forget the numbers. Yes, it is a weak argument. But I don't think there are any strong ones on either side. The advantages and disadvantages of either system are barely noticeable for a regular human being. The only real advantage of one of the systems is that it is used and understood by more people.

 

[Tdol]

:-|can you guess how much differences or dissimilarities have between the British and American words, phrases, idioms and grammar. The answer may be in percentages, such as 20% 10% or 30%. A rough estimate would be very helpful.
[/B]

It's hard to provide a number, but from daily contact with American speakers for several years, I would say it's low- there are plenty of words and some grammatical differences, but my guesstimate would put it in single figures, and probably at the low end.

 

[emsr2d2]

As far as the temperature question goes, I think it just depends on what you grew up with.

For me, it's centigrade (and it wasn't called Celsius as a general rule when I was a kid!) So although I know that 100 degrees Fahrenheit is damn hot, I don't know what 50, 70, 85 feel like.

I know that my heating kicks in at 15 degrees C, I'm comfortable with an outside temperature of between 21 and 25 degrees, and that once it hits 30 degrees plus, it's a bit too hot for me!

 

[SoothingDave]

That's a valid point, but it's not enough to say that Celsius degrees aren't useful. There's certainly enough gradation in this system to say how cold it is outside when you're trying to decide which jacket to put on. Fewer possible values means less information to process, which may be an advantage.

When we are measuring our body temperature, we still use fractions, whether we use Celsius or Fahrenheit degrees. So there's no difference in this regard.
This is not a good argument in my opinion. Actually, the milestones in the Celsius system seem more natural and more useful. Everybody in Europe remembers what the freezing and boiling points of water are because there's just no way someone could forget the numbers. Yes, it is a weak argument. But I don't think there are any strong ones on either side. The advantages and disadvantages of either system are barely noticeable for a regular human being. The only real advantage of one of the systems is that it is used and understood by more people.

We are completely off topic here, but I'll address it one last time.

There are arguments for easily divisible units, and factors of ten as a rule. It reduces chances for error in certain calculations.

But for natural human existence and when speaking of such things, it makes sense to have natural units. Not scientific ones.

We can speak of highs in the 50s or 60s, without having to specify a small range of Celsius degrees. To do the same you have to give a range like 10-15 or 15-20.

It just doesn't seem to flow as naturally to me.

(And few people encounter temperatures apart from the weather, so the boiling point of water as a reference point is of little help. Fahrenheit was attempting to set 100 F as the normal human body temperature. )

It likewise makes sense, as I noted above, to have words for common sizes of things. A kid has a cup of milk, dad has a pint of beer, they buy a gallon of milk for the family.

 

[suprunp]

Let's leave the realm of a written language for a minute.

Isn't it true that if a person speaks with a foreign accent a native speaker will be aware, if on a subconscious level, that there will almost inevitably be some 'mistakes' (as it were), if slight, in their language? In other words, a native speaker won't always hear what they expect to. Therefore a native speaker will be conscious and wary of what a non-native speaker says, constantly rechecking what was said trying to fit it into context and asking additional questions if a native speaker has some doubts as to whether the thoughts of a non-native speaker were properly conveyed.
Could it mean then that it is not that crucial for a non-native speaker to use, for example, 'boot' instead of 'trunk' while on English soil (bearing in mind that it is very difficult for a non-native speaker to confine themselves to only one variant unless they are living in an English speaking country)?

On the other hand if one had a perfect, let's say, London accent but used a lot of AmE words or didn't know something that literally every Londoner would know I suspect a 'true Londoner' would think them either an utterly uneducated Londoner or even worse.

Thanks.

 

[emsr2d2]

Let's leave the realm of a written language for a minute.

Isn't it true that if a person speaks with a foreign accent a native speaker will be aware, if on a subconscious level, that there will almost inevitably be some 'mistakes' (as it were), if slight, in their language? In other words, a native speaker won't always hear what they expect to. Therefore a native speaker will be conscious and wary of what a non-native speaker says, constantly rechecking what was said trying to fit it into context and asking additional questions if a native speaker has some doubts as to whether the thoughts of a non-native speaker were properly conveyed.
Could it mean then that it is not that crucial for a non-native speaker to use, for example, 'boot' instead of 'trunk' while on English soil (bearing in mind that it is very difficult for a non-native speaker to confine themselves to only one variant unless they are living in an English speaking country)?

On the other hand if one had a perfect, let's say, London accent but used a lot of AmE words or didn't know something that literally every Londoner would know I suspect a 'true Londoner' would think them either an utterly uneducated Londoner or even worse.

Thanks.

If you had a perfect London accent, but used "trunk" instead of "boot" most people would just think that you had spent a long time living in America and had picked up the vocabulary but not the accent.

I would agree that it's not crucial to use the correct variant depending on which English-speaking country you happen to be in. However, don't forget that there are a lot of people in each country (I'm only talking about the UK and USA at the moment) who actually don't know the "other" word. I was good friends with an American lady in Spain. She had never heard the words "pavement", "knickers", "boot (trunk)" until she met me. She was amazed that I seemed to know the American variant for most things, but not vice versa. I could only put this down to the fact that I have watched a lot of American TV and films, ready many American-authored books and had some American friends when I was growing up. She, however, had never seen a British English TV show or film, read almost exclusively AmE books and publications, and had never travelled outside the USA before the moved to Spain. By the same token, I know that lot of my British friends wouldn't be able to tell you what the AmE for pavement, knickers and boot are.

It's true that most native speakers listen more carefully when they hear a "foreign" accent. However, they don't listen carefully in order to spot errors or to find things to criticise. We just listen more carefully so that we can be quite sure we understand what's being said. We don't want to misunderstand - that's slightly embarrassing for both parties in a conversation.

 

[Ouisch]

I think that more people in the UK understand American terms than Americans understand British terms, thanks to the proliferation of American movies and TV shows shown internationally. An average Londoner would understand "trunk" and "hood" and "elevator" and "crossing guard", but a large percentage of your average New Yorkers or Chicagoans or Detroiters would be baffled by "boot" and "bonnet" and "lift" and "lollipop man." I'm not saying that Americans are ignorant, it's just as a rule we don't get exposed as much to British films/TV shows/magazines.

 

[SoothingDave]

I wasn't aware that "pavement" wasn't an American word. I know I've heard the expression "pound the pavement" meaning to go around looking for a job.

 

[White Hat]

My advice is: master both! Personally, I'd been learning British English since the age of 7 up until the age of 20. Then I lived in the US for 15 years. English has always been my cup of tea. Well, over the years I've managed to figure out the differences between the two brands of English. And I'll tell you - know how to switch between the two! I love British English, but lately I've been speaking mostly American English, maybe just because I actually lived in the US.

 

[konungursvia]

Can an advanced student Combine British English with American English?
Though My level would be intermediate or less, I need some advice and information about this.
The combination of language may be like that first sentence is American and the next is British .
If it is not considered as goof English , what Should we do?

I would not do so. The reason is that you will become the caricature of the foreigner, and each type of English will caricature the other as it falls from your tongue. As a teacher who has a lot of experience in the philosophy of laughter, I enjoy it when people laugh at me. Most others do not enjoy it.