"Laurence Payne" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 12 Mar 2010 19:12:10 +0000, David Kennedy
wrote:

Surely this has to be a wind up. Even an American /can't/ possibly be as
dull as Arny is pretending to be. Even G.W. wasn't that stupid.
What Arny (maybe) doesn't realise is the damage he does to our
perception of (a) Americans and (b) christians.

I am sure there is no one here naive enough to confuse
Arny's version of Christianity with the real thing.

"David Looser" wrote in message
...
"Arny Krueger" wrote

Virtually all native Americans speak American English, usually as their
first languge. Far more native Americans have been totally assimilated
than not.

What a thoughtless comment. Are you not aware that there is a revival of
interest in native cultures and languages? That the way these cultures and
languages were oppressed, indeed outlawed, during most of the history of
the US is deeply resented by native Americans?

I saw a car in Copenhagen fairly recently with UK plates. It
had a bumper sticker: "Protect Whales" Someone had written
underneath in marker pen "And the Whelsh language too"

:-)

Iain

"Iain Churches" wrote in message
...

"David" wrote in message
...
"Iain Churches" wrote in message
news
Hmm. Interesting. I have just asked my Swedish colleague if he
can diffeerentiate between "service" and "repair" in English. He
looked at me as if I were mad, and said "Surely the two are
totally different things? You repair something that is broken,
but service something as a part of routine scheduled maintenance"
He gave "car service" and "crash repair" as good examples to
illustrate that he reconginsed the difference.
This is absolutely correct IMO

Well at least they teach English in Sweden then.

Most Swedes take a pride in
speaking a foreign language correctly.

Personally, I hate those sloppy Americanisms
such as "You did good" . Are they not able
differentiate between adjectives and adverbs?
Sadly, given enough exposure, these
expressions will spread into common usage amongst
people who really should know better.

My French friend, a translator, has impeccable English but I once heard
her use the word 'gotten'! I was disgusted and put her straight.

That's what I mean by spreading into common usage:-)

The French themselves have made great efforts to preserve
the integrity of their own language. Hats off to them
for that:-)

**Not really. The French insistence on maintaining their language 'purity'
(the French Canadians have, arguably, a more legitemate claim to French
language purity) spelled the death of French as THE international language
of choice. The ready acceptance by the English to incorporate new words and
genuine growth has assured English of THE international language. Unlike
many other languages, English is constantly evolving and growing. That is
it's strength. Like it or not, many Americanisms (and even Australianisms)
will be incorportated into English.


--
Trevor Wilson
www.rageaudio.com.au

On Mon, 15 Mar 2010 09:31:14 +0200, "Iain Churches"
wrote:

I am sure there is no one here naive enough to confuse
Arny's version of Christianity with the real thing.

What? Is Arny sucking up to the WRONG sky fairy?

"Arny Krueger" wrote in message
...
"Ian Bell" wrote in message

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article
, Don
Pearce wrote:
It is all a result of their extreme parochialism. I
can't remember the numbers, but I do remember being
deeply shocked at how many of them have never owned a
passport, for example. It has become a culture in which
ignorance is lauded.

Especially how often the Hollywood myth of the US
winning WW2 for 'us' is trotted out.
Oh - and the vast amount of money they extracted from
the UK for their help is also conveniently forgotten.


IIRC we only finished paying off that debt in the 1990s.

Probably with zero interest and with highly devalued currency. ;-)
I think you will find that that was a deliberate attempt to try and bring
the British Empire to its financial knees - in fact almost bankruptcy - as
Roosevelt was almost paranoid about the British Empire and how it might
dominate after WW II.

Mike

fredbloggstwo wrote:
"Arny wrote in message

Probably with zero interest and with highly devalued currency. ;-)
I think you will find that that was a deliberate attempt to try and bring
the British Empire to its financial knees - in fact almost bankruptcy - as
Roosevelt was almost paranoid about the British Empire and how it might
dominate after WW II.

Next you'll be trying to tell us that Suez was an American plot...

--
David Kennedy

http://www.anindianinexile.com

"Iain Churches" wrote in message


Most Swedes take a pride in
speaking a foreign language correctly.

Too bad you often stumble so badly when trying to speak American English,
Iain. You remind me of it early and often.

One of the first mistakes that Europeans seem to make is to asume that UK
English is the world standard for English. I was watching a movie called
"Bloody Sunday" last night and I was reminded of all the differences in
usage and pronounciation. BTW the movie is an interesting comment on the
English ability to immerse themselves in something and then simply not get
it. You'd think that Ireland was a world away. The awards and medals awarded
to the murderers were the final ironic twist. Not that the US has not made
the same mistake, even worse.

Personally, I hate those sloppy Americanisms
such as "You did good" .

Iain, one of the first things you need to learn about speaking a language is
that the goal is not to fall in love with the language, the goal is to be an
effective user of it.

BTW, the preferred form of the phrase you just mentioned is:

"You done good".

Do try to keep up! ;-)

Are they not able
differentiate between adjectives and adverbs?

It's an inside joke, Iain. More specifically, it is a dialect joke.
Understanding dialects and local idioms is one of the first places that
non-native speakers fall flat on their faces.

If you have any manual dexterity at all Iain, you are living proof of the
non-essential aspect of that bone called the humerus. ;-)

"Trevor Wilson" wrote in message


Like it or not, many Americanisms
(and even Australianisms) will be incorportated into
English.

It seems to take an Aussie or a Brit to not realize that current American
English is 90% of the effective current definition of the language.

We'd be in trouble if the (asian) Indians would get together and actually
use English all the time. ;-)

"fredbloggstwo"
wrote in message
"Arny Krueger" wrote in message
...
"Ian Bell" wrote in message

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article
, Don
Pearce wrote:
It is all a result of their extreme parochialism. I
can't remember the numbers, but I do remember being
deeply shocked at how many of them have never owned a
passport, for example. It has become a culture in
which ignorance is lauded.

Especially how often the Hollywood myth of the US
winning WW2 for 'us' is trotted out.
Oh - and the vast amount of money they extracted from
the UK for their help is also conveniently forgotten.


IIRC we only finished paying off that debt in the 1990s.

Probably with zero interest and with highly devalued
currency. ;-)

I think you will find that that was a deliberate attempt
to try and bring the British Empire to its financial
knees - in fact almost bankruptcy - as Roosevelt was
almost paranoid about the British Empire and how it might
dominate after WW II.

Yeah, the US were malevolvent to not give the British Empire yet another
free ride at our expense. ;-)

"David Kennedy"
wrote in message
o.uk
fredbloggstwo wrote:
"Arny wrote in message

Probably with zero interest and with highly devalued
currency. ;-)
I think you will find that that was a deliberate attempt
to try and bring the British Empire to its financial
knees - in fact almost bankruptcy - as Roosevelt was
almost paranoid about the British Empire and how it
might dominate after WW II.

Next you'll be trying to tell us that Suez was an
American plot...

The CIA put something funny into the British drinking water that drove
parlament and the Prime Minister crazy like that, right? ;-)