Please Scroll Down to See Forums Below
Piece Nug. LMAO!!!
HansNZ
New member
bigguns7 said:
I disagree. I hear most Americans do this to some extent or another. Dan Rather is just an extreme example. I don't think many Americans notice though, because this way of speaking has become a part of the accent. It is becoming more and more common - an evolution of the american dialect it seems. Some non-americans do this too, it is just EXTREMELY common among Americans.
I'm not judging these American quirks, i'm just contrasting them with the type of English I speak. You probably find standard English pronounciation and spelling a little strange too".
i.e. spelling:
colour, honour instead of color, honor.
specialise instead of specialize.
i.e. Pronounciation:
"Awction" instead of "auction"
tomato instead of tomayto.
Antarctica instead on an-ardica.
Americans find words like "fortnight" quirky. We find words like "gotten" quirky.
etc., etc.
Last edited:
HansNZ
New member
Y_Lifter said:
But standard English spelling isn't phonetic. You say cough as coff, not as "cog" because it is spelt that way.
We all tend to consider the way we do things to be normal. I was in Texas once, talking to a local woman. She commented on how I have a "strong accent". I thought this was funny. In the strict sense of the term I don't have an accent at all. It is she who has the accent.
Last edited:
I don't understand. You're going to have to cite an example.HansNZ said:
Extremely common to me means something like 4 out of 5 americans say it this way. I can assure you that either you are talking to a group of Americans all from the same region (perhaps a dialect?) that speak this way, or you are using the word "extremely" much too liberally.
You've named Dan Rather - can you name 10 other public figures that speak this way. If it were extremely common, you should be able to come up with 50 well known americans that speak in this manner.
Not to split hairs, it's just that I rarely hear this, and coming from a family with two speech pathologists, I tend to notice these things. Also, I work for an Australian company, and I've heard them make fun of just ebout every quirk in the English language, but this is one I've never heard.
Some differences I've heard:
They think it's funny we say the word 5,500 as "fifty-five hundred." Aussies say "five and a half thousand."
I think it's funny that Aussies and Brits seem to end every sentence with a question mark, or turn ever sentence into a question. ie - my coworker knows I just ordered a steak for lunch - "ordering a steak today are you?"
Other words Aussies and Brits say "wrong"
laboratry instead of laboratory
alumninium instead of aluminum
HansNZ
New member
bigguns7 said:
I mentioned Dick Cheney, Colin Powell, and George Bush as osme other examples. I can't say I have committed the speech patterns of prominent Americans to memory. I'd have to sit down in front of the news with a pen and paper and take notes.
My suggestion: listen to people you meet. I think you will be surprised how often you hear the "sch" sound if you're listening for it.
I would say "five and a half thousand" myself. But I wouldn't think anything about saying fifty-five hundred either.
I haven't heard many Aussies or Brits pronounce laboratory the way you have suggested - although I am sure some do.
As for "alumninium" I haven't ever heard that at all. Most americans say aluminum, we say aluminium.
Ending sentences as a question is a very common quirk of ours. Americans visiting here often ask: "are you asking me or telling me?", lol. I like to think I don't do this.
Last edited:
HansNZ
New member
bigguns7 said:
Perhaps you haven't heard American speech characterised (characterized) this way because this isn't a quirk tied specifically to American speech, although it is vastly, vastly more common among Americans. It is present among non-Americans - listen to Sean Connery for instance.
In any case Dan Rather and Sean Connery are extreme examples. This characteristic tends to be more subtle, more like the way Colin Powell speaks.
Larry King has just come on TV. I've just noticed he speaks like that too. I do hear this type of speech among plenty of younger Americans. It is not a generation thing. In fact I believe it is becoming more common in the USA. I would venture to say that more than 50% of Americans do this to some degree or another.
Last edited:
Similar threads
