Things you'd like to say, but can't

[Alex321]

I have seen some English speakers in the USA referring to the language that they speak as 'American', which irritates me even more!

But the language they speak isn't quite the same as English, so why does that irritate you?

 

[No Ta Doctor]

But the language they speak isn't quite the same as English, so why does that irritate you?

Because largely when people say they speak "American" they're just doing it through the bog-standard ignorance engendered by a misfunctioning education system and American exceptionalism and insularity. I've no issue with them speak American English (en-US) and labelling it as that.

 

[FishFright]

Very occasionally I feel sympathy for the US people ..

They say they speak English and the chattering classes moan and say they don't.
So they say the speak American and the same people moan and also say they don't.

 

[ColinJ]

But the language they speak isn't quite the same as English, so why does that irritate you?

What @No Ta Doctor posted!

And what this (American!) guy says here...



I will drop the subject now though before I get banished to the politics forum!

 

[glasgowcyclist]

What @No Ta Doctor posted!

And what this (American!) guy says here...



I will drop the subject now though before I get banished to the politics forum!

I didn't see the relevance of anything in his video to the varieties of English that exist around the world, unless you were talking about his sponsor, Lingopie. Even then...

With over 1.8 billion speakers of English worldwide, there are bound to exist different versions. American English is distinct from British English in quite obvious ways and for obvious reasons. And within America there's also (I hope you're sitting down) AAVE, which is African American Vernacular English.

Then there's Canadian, Australian, New Zealand, Indian, and Caribbean varieties of English to name a few more.

Languages evolve, and English is particularly good at it.

 

[ColinJ]

I didn't see the relevance of anything in his video to the varieties of English that exist around the world, unless you were talking about his sponsor, Lingopie. Even then...

What bugs me is the attitude that the USA is the centre of the universe, the rest of the world barely exists, they invented everything that matters there...

I actually watched one video a few years back where one baffled citizen of the USA was asking why so many people in countries like Britain and Australia speak American?

Anyway, enough of that!