Divided by a Common Language

"England and America are two countries divided by a common language."

Nobody is really quite sure who said this.  Some say it was Winston Churchill, others attribute it to Oscar Wilde.  Most sources I've found give George Bernard Shaw credit, though there's no written documentation of Shaw's having said this.  But, he could have.

While looking this morning for background material on Egypt (which will be part 3 of the CIVETS series), I found an article on the BBC entitled "Britishisms and the Britishisation of American English."  That ended up as a lost hour......

One of the points of particular interest in this article is that, when Americans (USAians ?) use specific Britishisms ((such as "colour" for "color" or "centre" for "center"), that they don't come across as sophisticated, just pretentious.

Picture from Memphis Flyer


The BBC article linked to this page (Not One-Off Britishisms).  I thought I'd read the first few entries, but got totally sucked in.  The author here also skewers the pretentiousness of some US uses of British idioms, but makes an additional point, which is that language in the US is enriched by the addition of British words and phrases for which there is no specific American equivalent.  One I am particularly fond of is the verb "to vet," meaning "to look into," with the implications of determining a person's suitability for a position and of digging for the dirt before the opposition can do so.

Example #1
Example #2

Then, there's my new favourite British news source, The Guardian.  One of their columnists decided to tackle the subject of British English vs. US English. The article is interesting, but the comments are even better.  Some people take their language very seriously.  Other commenters drifted down the byways of Spanish Spanish vs. Cuban Spanish.....

Then, just to make things Even More Complicated, remember that it's not just US English and British English.

• "Hinglish: Not same, very different" (English with a Hindi flavour)
• "G' Day mate: A guide to Australian language" (from a British source)
• "South African English" (Bring on the  vuvuzelas.  And, for evidence that there are people with entirely too much time on their hands.... )

This is enough.