American "English"..
Discussion
Having just had a conversation with an American colleague, something cropped up that has always bugged me.
Why oh why make up completely new words by adding a suffix when there are already perfectly satisfactory terms for them.
For Example:
Warification
Used in the context "The Warification of afghanistan"
(He swears blind this is actuall used in the states..)
Burglarised
What on earth is wrong with "Burgled"
I could go on and on for this one, but seriously, WHY?
Is it just me who gets irritated by this?
Why oh why make up completely new words by adding a suffix when there are already perfectly satisfactory terms for them.
For Example:
Warification
Used in the context "The Warification of afghanistan"
(He swears blind this is actuall used in the states..)
Burglarised
What on earth is wrong with "Burgled"
I could go on and on for this one, but seriously, WHY?
Is it just me who gets irritated by this?
Having just had a conversation with an American colleague, something cropped up that has always bugged me.
Why oh why make up completely new words by adding a suffix when there are already perfectly satisfactory terms for them.
For Example:
Warification
Used in the context "The Warification of afghanistan"
(He swears blind this is actuall used in the states..)
Burglarised
What on earth is wrong with "Burgled"
I could go on and on for this one, but seriously, WHY?
Is it just me who gets irritated by this?
He's pulling your leg on the warification one. Burglarised is used however. If you really want hear some made up words, get a copy of a Jesse Jackson speach - any speach
ErnestM
"Warification" sounds like a Bushism to me.
Another word that annoys me is "Obligated" - "Obliged" was perfectly OK.
I'm not altogether against American versions of English - after all, the English we spoke 400 years ago is very different to what we speak today. In some cases (such as "gotten") the American version is closer to the older "English" version.
It's worthwhile reading Bill Bryson's book "Mother Tongue" which covers a lot of this ground.
Another word that annoys me is "Obligated" - "Obliged" was perfectly OK.
I'm not altogether against American versions of English - after all, the English we spoke 400 years ago is very different to what we speak today. In some cases (such as "gotten") the American version is closer to the older "English" version.
It's worthwhile reading Bill Bryson's book "Mother Tongue" which covers a lot of this ground.
It's fairly simple - the reason they do this is because they don't actually know the proper word.
Instead of looking it up however, they will just make one up & because Americans tend to be less cynical & more believing of what they're told (I hesitate to use the word gullible
), they will just accept that this is the word to use.
Then over time, it becomes the word to use.
Instead of looking it up however, they will just make one up & because Americans tend to be less cynical & more believing of what they're told (I hesitate to use the word gullible
), they will just accept that this is the word to use. Then over time, it becomes the word to use.
ErnestM said:He's pulling your leg on the warification one. Burglarised is used however. If you really want hear some made up words, get a copy of a Jesse Jackson speach - any speach
ErnestM
Does he invent words like 'speach' then?
I'll second - um, third - the Bill Bryson ref. interesting and readable. Except that he perpetuates the 'eskimo 50 words for snow' fable - call himself a researcher...
The gulf between American English and British English is strange enough, but the difference between Northern and Southern English is gerrin' bigger by t'minute, ya ruddy great bunch o' wufters. 
Edited fer spellin' and lumps o' laaard.
>> Edited by Spooky on Tuesday 28th January 16:01
Edited fer spellin' and lumps o' laaard.
>> Edited by Spooky on Tuesday 28th January 16:01
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