Why do English people struggle too pronounce words proper

Tosno · 1 Sep 2015 at 14:42

should have studied English.

bloodiedathame · 1 Sep 2015 at 14:45

wozencl said:
The BBC using 'so-called Islamic State' is a response to MPs objecting to the use of 'Islamic State'. There were concerns that using 'Islamic State' could be seen as legitimising the group or, worse yet, confusing people into thinking the terrorist group is an actual state. As well as that, it's no different from using 'self-styled saviour of Rock music' etc.

'So-called Black Friday' is probably because 'Black Friday', that crazy shopping frenzy, is an American term that is probably unfamiliar to a lot of British or international readers. In a similar vein, 'Black Wednesday' is recognizable to Brits but presumably a lot less so to most Americans.

Whilst that's fair enough for IS, Black Friday is a thing here, whether people like it or not.

A quick google

So-called legal highs
So-called honour killings

Ah it just makes me angry reading these!

DiscoDave · 1 Sep 2015 at 14:49

String said:
Its there language after all.

Also, no question mark at the end of the thread title.

Em3bbs · 1 Sep 2015 at 14:56

ttaskmaster said:
Evolution: accumulating change, progression of change (often branching and diversifying), survival through adaption.

Language evolves.

The very fact 'clique' is part of the English language in the first place proves this.

Captain · 1 Sep 2015 at 15:02

Clov!s said:
It definitely said 'too' earlier! someone changed it!

chief barker said:
Of course.

See my edit.

AmyS · 1 Sep 2015 at 15:15

Tosno said:
should have studied English.

I can't tell who is joking or not on this thread now. :confused:

V F · 1 Sep 2015 at 15:17

Terminal_Boy said:
This and the never-ending diet of American media.

The Americans sometimes drives me nuts with some words. Have you heard them say details? De tales...

They also say Iragh/Irah nians...

I've also wondered why they type checks for cheques.

chief barker · 1 Sep 2015 at 15:18

AmyS said:
I can't tell who is joking or not on this thread now.

Why? What's wrong with that?.

V F · 1 Sep 2015 at 15:19

ttaskmaster said:
Evolution: accumulating change, progression of change (often branching and diversifying), survival through adaption.

Language evolves.

Amazeballs?

Mat · 1 Sep 2015 at 15:20

AmyS said:
I can't tell who is joking or not on this thread now.

Threads like this are like a warm, comforting blanket for people with no grammatical skills. They can come in here and hide among the jokers, safe in the knowledge that nobody will really be aware of their true identity.

Captain · 1 Sep 2015 at 15:25

chief barker said:
Why? What's wrong with that?.

Have.*

dacads · 1 Sep 2015 at 15:27

Mat said:
Threads like this are like a warm, comforting blanket for people with no grammatical skills. They can come in here and hide among the jokers, safe in the knowledge that nobody will really be aware of their true identity.

Not to sure if serious?

Haggisman · 1 Sep 2015 at 16:20

AmyS said:
I can't tell who is joking or not on this thread now.

div0 said:
I hope that was delibarate

And yes, that was deliberate....

I think there's a mod having a laugh, because I triple-checked my post so as not to look like an idiot.

chief barker · 1 Sep 2015 at 16:25

Clov!s said:
Have.*

Oh I see, thanks.

Judgeneo · 1 Sep 2015 at 16:33

Dis86 said:
Going by naming convention of elements the Americans are actually correct. It should be Aluminum. Most up the point were ums not iums. Platinum, Molybdenum, Tantalum. Then Humphrey Davy came along and just decided to play havoc because ium sounds so much cooler!

The "um" and the "ium" is much less of an grievance than the prolonged emphasis on the "u"

Alooooooominum.

One of the reasons that English is such a hard language to learn fluently, up there with Mandarin and Japanese, is because we have taken so many words from other languages and cultures without any attempt at translation - such as Clique.

The Chinese even translate names of foreigners. Hitler becomes Xītèlēi, which is pronounced a bit like Shi-te-lur

Amleto · 1 Sep 2015 at 16:51

Someone mentioned Hitler. /thread. (Thank god)

Cosimo · 1 Sep 2015 at 17:03

Mat said:
Threads like this are like a warm, comforting blanket for people with no grammatical skills. They can come in here and hide among the jokers, safe in the knowledge that nobody will really be aware of their true identity.

U wot mate?

Dis86 · 1 Sep 2015 at 17:12

Judgeneo said:
The "um" and the "ium" is much less of an grievance than the prolonged emphasis on the "u"

Alooooooominum.

I just put that down to them being bovine in stature and nature.

joeyjojo · 1 Sep 2015 at 17:15

Terminal_Boy said:
Make them say 'herbs' and 'international' if you want a good chuckle.

Tacitus said:
A part of me dies inside every time I here an American say "herb".

Interestingly the silent h Americans use in "herbs" is actually the older (Norman French) pronunciation. The British pronunciation is the "wrong" one. (IIRC.)

Similarly the correct article for words beginning with h is "an", e.g. "an historic".

Edit: further reading http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/07/magazine/07FOB-onlanguage-t.html?_r=0

ttaskmaster · 1 Sep 2015 at 17:24

Judgeneo said:
One of the reasons that English is such a hard language to learn fluently, up there with Mandarin and Japanese

Japanese is easy to learn - Just from reading (or watching, if you're a heathen) James Clavell's 'Shōgun', you're already halfway there!!

Written is hard, but speaking it is easier than ordering an EK water block from OCUK!!

Wakarimasu?