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Subject:Re: QUESTION: British vs. American spelling From:JIMCHEVAL -at- AOL -dot- COM Date:Mon, 20 Oct 1997 12:54:36 -0400
In a message dated 97-10-20 12:22:25 EDT, midannen -at- si -dot- bosch -dot- de writes:
<< It's not that people wouldn't understand it, but rather they'd be
reminded of
the colonial oppression they suffered at the hands of the Brits >>
LOL LOL LOL
Aside from the fact that that's a while back, and an awful lot of Americans'
ancestors arrived far too late to suffer said oppression, if anything the
relative power of the two countries has long been such that if anything the
Brits seem to feel some, if not oppression, arrogance from our side - as
evidenced already in the World War II remark that "they're over-fed,
over-sexed and over here".
What is probably more to the point is that the average American [I'm sure I
just offended a bunch of people right there] finds most things foreign a
little 'off'. To put it another way, most native-born people I know
(including many children of immigrants) would rather eat hamburger than steak
au poivre. Not to mention tripe or steak tartare.
The fact is, if it's not spelled in the familiar way, many people will assume
it's misspelled, plain and simple. The same way an American arriving in
Paris can't understand why these damned French can't learn to serve coffee
the RIGHT way (i.e., with dessert, rather than after it) (and with a pot of
cream, while we're at it.)
It's probably cold comfort to you to realize that we inherited this cultural
arrogance from our Anglo-Saxon side (it was YOUR king who said "Abroad is
bloody.") It certainly is a reality.
Jim Chevallier
Los Angeles
currently available for contract/freelance work
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Visit Chez Jim: Jim Chevallier's Home Page - http://www.gis.net/~jimcheval
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