[W.F. Lantry]

If she lives here a few more years, and still wants to explain america to her friends back home, she'll be able to reduce the entire article to this picture:



Thanks,

Bill

[ChrisGeorge]

Originally Posted by Don Jones

To our Brit friends,

Something tongue in cheek but also quite perceptive and a fun read.

http://www.bbcamerica.com/mind-the-g...ve-brits-nuts/

As I read the list, I found 1, 4, and 5 dead on. I found 8 and 9 deeply offensive! Although I do believe Americans should be forced to celebrate “Happy Zed Day” once a year in hono(u)r of the correct utterance of the last letter of our shared alphabet! On that day all Americans will have to say "zed" instead of "zee" if and when such occasion demands.

Don

I thought this was mildly amusing. The bit about the pets was the best, I thought. In the last paragraph, doesn't the writer mean "But when you live here, occasionally you’re forced to deploy these abominations in real live sentences" and not "life sentences"?

Cheers

Chris

[Jayne Osborn]

Though I'm not intolerant of the differences, as I've already said, I will always think of a 'PURSE' as something to keep my coins and banknotes in.

The rest of the stuff I need to carry around with me i.e. mobile phone, keys, perfume, makeup, tissues, diary, hairbrush, business cards, tape measure, pens, notebook... etc, etc, is what I have in my HANDBAG.

Jayne

[David Mason]

Cally is incapable of learning to speak Amurikan, so I am learning to speak Australian (Ostr-eyel-yin). It's going well. I get an M & M for every word spoken correctly.

I was just out shopping and noticed fifty things that irritate me about Americans. So it goes.

[Jerome Betts]

Jayne, re Marion's point about 'elegance' v. practicality, the difference between 'z' (zee) and 'c' (see) is only voiced/unvoiced and I personally find them difficult to distinguish. With eight letters of the alphabet (b,c, d, e,, g, p, t, v) pronouced with the long 'e' I think it's a good idea not to add a ninth.

The honour colour vigour rigour forms are a bit of a puzzle as you might expect the spelling would be influenced by the Latin once familiar to educated writers.

I've seen 'honor' on an early 19th century monument here and on some 18th century church wall-tablets, so I wonder why the 'our' spellings persisted in these cases but not in governor, tutor etc.

I think the orthographic distinction in BE spelling between metre ( length or scansion) and meter as in measuring device is helpful to the eye, mine anyway.

[Gregory Dowling]

here's something I like about America: frree drinking fountains in all public places - especially airports. Think of Heathrow where after they've taken your harmless water-bottle off you, you can't replace for it less than a couple of quid.

[Cally Conan-Davies]

Tell the truth, Davey - you do NOT get an M & M! You get a timtam!!!!

And I don't mean a 'sandwich cookie'! I mean a 'biscuit'!!!

[Rick Mullin]

Jeez, is that all they got????

[David Mason]

If I tell them will I get another timtam????

[Paul Stevens]

David, "Australian" is more correctly pronounced "Strine":

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afferbeck_Lauder