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Off topic: Is UK English very different from US English?
Автор темы: AniseK
esperantisto
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But aren't American and English two different languages? Aug 19, 2008

I've heard once a curious thing: when BBC started broadcasting American talk shows somewhere in the 50s or 60s, they had to provide subtitles, because Brits just could not understand Americans. A bit strange for what is supposed to be the same language.
 
lexical
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urban myth? Aug 19, 2008

esperantisto wrote:

I've heard once a curious thing: when BBC started broadcasting American talk shows somewhere in the 50s or 60s, they had to provide subtitles, because Brits just could not understand Americans. A bit strange for what is supposed to be the same language.


I think this must be an urban myth. My family acquired its first TV set in 1957 and we watched a number of American programmes on the BBC such as the Lone Ranger and the Lucille Ball Show, and they were never subtitled. We also didn't have any comprehension problems.

In fact, some of the earliest British TV game show presenters such as Hughie Green and Bob Monkhouse deliberately cultivated mid-Atlantic accents, which they would hardly have done if it made them less comprehensible and less popular.

You need to remember that British cinema audiences had been accustomed to hearing American accents in Hollywood films since at least the 1920s (again, without sub-titles) and that hundreds of thousands of American troops were stationed in the UK during the Second World War, mingling with the local population in bars, clubs and dance halls.

The other flaw in this 'myth' is - how do you subtitle a talk show? Talk shows are live, impromptu speech - without speech recognition software, you couldn't possibly produce sub-titles simultaneously. Besides, I don't recall the BBC ever broadcasting American talk shows, if you mean the Oprah Winfrey type of show.

[Edited at 2008-08-19 08:51]

[Edited at 2008-08-19 08:51]
 
esperantisto
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Ah, an urban myth… Aug 20, 2008

OK, I see that.

However, the truth is that if you study English, you'll fail at an exam in American, and vice versa…

Still gonna call it the same language?
 
George Hopkins
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Marital sex Aug 21, 2008

The book referred to above, 'Eats, Shoots & Leaves', is a must for anyone interested in English. It will at least make you aware of how little you know.

For example, the expression 'extra marital sex' with and without an hyphen is an eye-opener.
 
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Is UK English very different from US English?






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