Things people say

[mildmanneredjanitor]

Oh, that reminds me of another one: the insistance of putting in z's where there should be an s. E.g. "realize" instead of "realise".

Oh, and "Plumb Center".

I spent a couple of years working on a project bound for Saudi, and all the documentation had to be written in American English (Which is a contradiction in itself!)

It's amazing how quickly your writing skills improve when you are forced to take great care and your work is proof read!

Occasionally though, I slip up with the odd z here and there!

 

[AdamW]

Oooh, I spotted a big pronunciation slip-up in American English.

As you probably all know, Webster's dictionary is the tome that American English speakers refer to in the way that all English speakers refer to the OED.

Now, when perusing said dictionary, I noted that it claims "herb" may be pronounced either "herb" or "urb" (that annoying lack of an "h").

However, it shows that the word "herbivore" must be pronounced "herbivore". "urbivore" is NOT an accepted pronunciation, even in American English. However, Ross Geller on Friends, who is meant to be a PhD Paleontologist, quite clearly says "urbivore" on many occasions.

I quote from another American English dictionary, "The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language" (sic)

In American English, herb and herbal are more often pronounced without the h, while the opposite is true of herbaceous, herbicide, and herbivore, which are more often pronounced with the h.

 

[dingbat]

Oooh, I spotted a big pronunciation slip-up in American English.

Here's my favourite. Americans are unable to pronounce a word with two R's in it. They seem to need to slur the two sylables into one dipthong.

Mirror - mee-ur
Terror - Tee-ur

Etc...

Oh yeah, and many of them like to pronounce Gywneth (Paltrow) as Gwennyth.

Oh, oh, oh... and tidbits!

 

[planenut]

Years ago, I was in Terminal One at Heathrow and an American asked my colleague a question, which was then relayed to me "where can he get a bath". I explained the convoluted route through the terminal, through the next two buildings and connecting bridges to give him the location of the only suitable room," but they only have showers" I added. He then told me directly that he wanted to use the bathroom? "oh, the bog" I said.

 

[kendor]

Stanley Unwins gobbledeygook, on the other hand is a work of pure genius, based entirely on English.

Hope that helps.

oh yes muchtleybold thankingyou