"philgurr" wrote in message
...

"Gary Woods" wrote in message
...
Quite a while ago, I bought a neat little tool described as a "Widger."
Just a slightly curved piece of stainless steel sort of the size of a
largish pen; different widths on the 2 ends; used for pricking out
seedlings and transplanting small stuff.
The name sounds very British - is it?
Previously (and still for very small seedlings), I used a pocket sized
flatblade screwdriver.

See :- http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/de...english/widger

Phil

I have quite a few American friends and we disagree all the time about their
idea of English and mine. American English is very different from "English"
English.

On 30/11/2015 20:07, Christina Websell wrote:

I have quite a few American friends and we disagree all the time about their
idea of English and mine. American English is very different from "English"
English.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcHKm0cm-jI


--
mailto: news {at} admac {dot] myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

Christina Websell wrote:

I have quite a few American friends and we disagree all the time about
their
idea of English and mine. American English is very different from
"English" English.

Sorry, that is complete nonsense.
Ask someone if a book they are reading was published in the UK or US,
and I'll guarantee they will have no idea 90% of the time.
The language spoken in the two countries is essentially identical.
I don't know why people make up this pretence
that there is a great difference between them.
Even the accents are converging,
as are accents within the UK.

--
Timothy Murphy
gayleard /at/ eircom.net
School of Mathematics, Trinity College, Dublin

"Timothy Murphy" wrote in message
...
Christina Websell wrote:

I have quite a few American friends and we disagree all the time about
their
idea of English and mine. American English is very different from
"English" English.

Sorry, that is complete nonsense.
Ask someone if a book they are reading was published in the UK or US,
and I'll guarantee they will have no idea 90% of the time.
The language spoken in the two countries is essentially identical.
I don't know why people make up this pretence
that there is a great difference between them.
Even the accents are converging,
as are accents within the UK.

--
Timothy Murphy
gayleard /at/ eircom.net

Disagree. The Harry Potter books were pages shorter when they took out the
"u"s in colour, behaviour, etc. for Americans.
I'm not saying that Americans don't speak English (as such) it's just that
it's their version. It's American. I'm not trying to horrible about it.

On 7/12/2015 12:48 PM, Timothy Murphy wrote:
Christina Websell wrote:

I have quite a few American friends and we disagree all the time about
their
idea of English and mine. American English is very different from
"English" English.

Sorry, that is complete nonsense.

I think so too.

Ask someone if a book they are reading was published in the UK or US,
and I'll guarantee they will have no idea 90% of the time.
The language spoken in the two countries is essentially identical.
I don't know why people make up this pretence
that there is a great difference between them.
Even the accents are converging,

Indeed they are. I know there are a lot of British, Australian and Kiwi
actors on US TV and play spot the actor and then try to find a hint in
the accent of their home country. It's almost impossible these days.

as are accents within the UK.

"Chris Hogg" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 30 Nov 2015 20:07:25 -0000, "Christina Websell"
wrote:


"philgurr" wrote in message
...

"Gary Woods" wrote in message
...
Quite a while ago, I bought a neat little tool described as a "Widger."
Just a slightly curved piece of stainless steel sort of the size of a
largish pen; different widths on the 2 ends; used for pricking out
seedlings and transplanting small stuff.
The name sounds very British - is it?
Previously (and still for very small seedlings), I used a pocket sized
flatblade screwdriver.

See :- http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/de...english/widger

Phil

I have quite a few American friends and we disagree all the time about
their
idea of English and mine. American English is very different from
"English"
English.

"Two nations divided by a common language"
(attribution uncertain, but probably not Churchill)


Americans think they speak English, I can assure them that they don't.

On 05/12/2015 20:44, Christina Websell wrote:
"Chris Hogg" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 30 Nov 2015 20:07:25 -0000, "Christina Websell"
wrote:


"philgurr" wrote in message
...

"Gary Woods" wrote in message
...
Quite a while ago, I bought a neat little tool described as a "Widger."
Just a slightly curved piece of stainless steel sort of the size of a
largish pen; different widths on the 2 ends; used for pricking out
seedlings and transplanting small stuff.
The name sounds very British - is it?
Previously (and still for very small seedlings), I used a pocket sized
flatblade screwdriver.

See :- http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/de...english/widger

Phil

I have quite a few American friends and we disagree all the time about
their
idea of English and mine. American English is very different from
"English"
English.

"Two nations divided by a common language"
(attribution uncertain, but probably not Churchill)


Americans think they speak English, I can assure them that they don't.



Glad that has been sorted out once and for all.

"David Hill" wrote in message
...
On 05/12/2015 20:44, Christina Websell wrote:
"Chris Hogg" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 30 Nov 2015 20:07:25 -0000, "Christina Websell"
wrote:


"philgurr" wrote in message
...

"Gary Woods" wrote in message
...
Quite a while ago, I bought a neat little tool described as a
"Widger."
Just a slightly curved piece of stainless steel sort of the size of a
largish pen; different widths on the 2 ends; used for pricking out
seedlings and transplanting small stuff.
The name sounds very British - is it?
Previously (and still for very small seedlings), I used a pocket
sized
flatblade screwdriver.

See :- http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/de...english/widger

Phil

I have quite a few American friends and we disagree all the time about
their
idea of English and mine. American English is very different from
"English"
English.

"Two nations divided by a common language"
(attribution uncertain, but probably not Churchill)


Americans think they speak English, I can assure them that they don't.



Glad that has been sorted out once and for all.

grin Americans used to speak English once: now it's American.

On 6/12/2015 8:43 AM, Christina Websell wrote:
"David Hill" wrote in message
...
On 05/12/2015 20:44, Christina Websell wrote:


Americans think they speak English, I can assure them that they don't.



Glad that has been sorted out once and for all.

grin Americans used to speak English once: now it's American.

I saw a very interesting TV show quite a few years ago on just this
topic. It suggested that the English now spoken by Americans is more
like the English spoken in the UK a few centuries ago than the sort of
English now spoken in the UK.

The show cited both words still used by Americans that have changed use
over time in the UK and the accent. One example I recall is the way
Americans still use the word "kettle" (ie, a cooking pot, not a spouted
water boiling thingamabob) which is the way it used to be used in the UK
centuries ago. Also the accent in the long "a" when American say "bath"
is the way it used to be said in the UK centuries ago.

Basically, the show said that it was the UK which had changed in the way
it used English whereas Americans had stayed more in line with the
speech and usage of the UK centuries ago.

"Fran Farmer" wrote in message
...
On 6/12/2015 8:43 AM, Christina Websell wrote:
"David Hill" wrote in message
...
On 05/12/2015 20:44, Christina Websell wrote:


Americans think they speak English, I can assure them that they don't.



Glad that has been sorted out once and for all.

grin Americans used to speak English once: now it's American.

I saw a very interesting TV show quite a few years ago on just this topic.
It suggested that the English now spoken by Americans is more like the
English spoken in the UK a few centuries ago than the sort of English now
spoken in the UK.

The show cited both words still used by Americans that have changed use
over time in the UK and the accent. One example I recall is the way
Americans still use the word "kettle" (ie, a cooking pot, not a spouted
water boiling thingamabob) which is the way it used to be used in the UK
centuries ago. Also the accent in the long "a" when American say "bath"
is the way it used to be said in the UK centuries ago.

Basically, the show said that it was the UK which had changed in the way
it used English whereas Americans had stayed more in line with the speech
and usage of the UK centuries ago.

well, lets not tell an American how to speak English eh? they never will.

On 6/12/2015 8:25 PM, Martin wrote:
On Sun, 6 Dec 2015 09:12:51 +1100, Fran Farmer
wrote:

On 6/12/2015 8:43 AM, Christina Websell wrote:
"David Hill" wrote in message
...
On 05/12/2015 20:44, Christina Websell wrote:


Americans think they speak English, I can assure them that they don't.



Glad that has been sorted out once and for all.

grin Americans used to speak English once: now it's American.

I saw a very interesting TV show quite a few years ago on just this
topic. It suggested that the English now spoken by Americans is more
like the English spoken in the UK a few centuries ago than the sort of
English now spoken in the UK.

The show cited both words still used by Americans that have changed use
over time in the UK and the accent. One example I recall is the way
Americans still use the word "kettle" (ie, a cooking pot, not a spouted
water boiling thingamabob) which is the way it used to be used in the UK
centuries ago. Also the accent in the long "a" when American say "bath"
is the way it used to be said in the UK centuries ago.

The way bath is pronounced in UK depends on where one comes from.

Do those places in the UK pronounce "bath" with a long "a" in an
American fashion or do you just mean that there are regional variations
of the way the word "bath" is said?

On 06/12/15 12:05, Fran Farmer wrote:
On 6/12/2015 8:25 PM, Martin wrote:
On Sun, 6 Dec 2015 09:12:51 +1100, Fran Farmer
wrote:

On 6/12/2015 8:43 AM, Christina Websell wrote:
"David Hill" wrote in message
...
On 05/12/2015 20:44, Christina Websell wrote:


Americans think they speak English, I can assure them that they don't.



Glad that has been sorted out once and for all.

grin Americans used to speak English once: now it's American.

I saw a very interesting TV show quite a few years ago on just this
topic. It suggested that the English now spoken by Americans is more
like the English spoken in the UK a few centuries ago than the sort of
English now spoken in the UK.

The show cited both words still used by Americans that have changed use
over time in the UK and the accent. One example I recall is the way
Americans still use the word "kettle" (ie, a cooking pot, not a spouted
water boiling thingamabob) which is the way it used to be used in the UK
centuries ago. Also the accent in the long "a" when American say "bath"
is the way it used to be said in the UK centuries ago.

The way bath is pronounced in UK depends on where one comes from.

Do those places in the UK pronounce "bath" with a long "a" in an American
fashion or do you just mean that there are regional variations of the way the
word "bath" is said?

In the NW at least it is pronounced with a short "a", whereas
in the south it is pronounced "barth" with a long "a".

I have no idea how it is pronounced in Glaswegian or Geordie.

"Martin" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 6 Dec 2015 09:12:51 +1100, Fran Farmer
wrote:

On 6/12/2015 8:43 AM, Christina Websell wrote:
"David Hill" wrote in message
...
On 05/12/2015 20:44, Christina Websell wrote:


Americans think they speak English, I can assure them that they don't.



Glad that has been sorted out once and for all.

grin Americans used to speak English once: now it's American.

I saw a very interesting TV show quite a few years ago on just this
topic. It suggested that the English now spoken by Americans is more
like the English spoken in the UK a few centuries ago than the sort of
English now spoken in the UK.

The show cited both words still used by Americans that have changed use
over time in the UK and the accent. One example I recall is the way
Americans still use the word "kettle" (ie, a cooking pot, not a spouted
water boiling thingamabob) which is the way it used to be used in the UK
centuries ago. Also the accent in the long "a" when American say "bath"
is the way it used to be said in the UK centuries ago.

The way bath is pronounced in UK depends on where one comes from.
--
English is constantly evolving and it evolves from the UK. Because we are
English and it's our language. Americans speak American. Do you have a
faucet in your house, does your car have a hood or fender? I rest my case.

"Christina Websell" wrote:

English is constantly evolving and it evolves from the UK

Wrong tense, methinks: "evolved?" The various versions that left the UK
at various times have taken their own course like Darwin's birds.


--
Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic
Zone 5/4 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G

On Mon, 7 Dec 2015 00:05:05 -0000, "Christina Websell"
wrote:


English is constantly evolving and it evolves from the UK. Because we are
English and it's our language. Americans speak American. Do you have a
faucet in your house, does your car have a hood or fender? I rest my case.


Ford Anglias had a knob on the dashboard quite clearly marked Hood.
This is a photo of one.
http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/OTU1WDEyODA=/z/mjgAAOSw3ydVlYjK/$_1.JPG
Quite a few people had one at one time.

G Harman