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.

Amazon adding lockers for customers at 7-Elevens and drug stores

Andrew (from the evening class) passed this along:

 

Amazon adding lockers for customers at 7-Elevens and drug stores

 

Also....

 

Delivering the goods

 

So, would you be interested?

 

 

CIVETS, Part 2 (South Africa)

We're not going in strict order here; South Africa is actually the last on the CIVETS list.

In general, we're all a lot more positive about Africa these days.  Article after article after article talks about Africa's vast untapped consumer market, a growing middle class (incomes between $2 and $20 per day) now able to afford more -- life insurance, Danone yogurt, basmati rice (imported from India),Heineken-brewed cassava beer and cosmetics from Avon, all paid for with mobile banking.

Exams in MGMT 320

The evening class has an exam tonight; the day class has an exam Wednesday.

For the evening class --

1. I sometimes have problems in keeping Columbia and Venezuela straight on the map. I hope you don't.
2. Was Adam Smith a mercantilist?

For the day class --

1. Fortune global 500 companies, including the largest employers
2. Think about languages; what ones are most useful to know?

"Stuff"

The next installments on the CIVETS should be up tomorrow, but in the meantime, look at this Chinese photographer's project to take pictures of people and all of their possessions.  The New York Times article's comments pointed out that photographer Peter Menzel did the same thing twenty years ago.....

See some of his pictures from Material World here..  A follow-up book, Hungry Planet, looked at what people eat.  Women in the Material World moved beyond possessions and food to look at women's experiences overall (this is, I believe, a chapter from that book).