| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3] | American English usage in Proz message Thread poster: Steven Smith
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Oliver Walter 
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:17
German to English
+ ...
| Variantenwörterbuch | Jul 1, 2010 |
Nicole Schnell wrote:
Do we consider Swiss (or Austrian) German a lesser language? No. It is a different language, we respect it and it is beautiful. Even if we have to spend an extra second contemplating what the author meant. Because there are texts that are not meant for dumb people. Such as ProZ.com activities.
Not lesser, but also not identical, as you wrote. That's why, when I saw the following dictionary reviewed in "The Linguist" in 2005, I immediately rushed out to Amazon and bought it. Variantenwörterbuch des Deutschen (Die Standardsprache in Oesterreich, der Schweiz und Deutschland sowie in Liechtenstein, Luxemburg, Ostbelgien und Südtirol) - published by De Gruyter in 2004. I have the paperback edition (there is also a hardback) and it weighs 1.7 kg!
For non-German speakers: it's a dictionary of variants of German as used in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, east Belgium and south Tyrol.
Oliver
[Edited at 2010-07-01 14:25 GMT]
| | | | Nicole Schnell
United States
Local time: 12:17
English to German
+ ...
In memoriam | Thanks for bringing this up, Oliver. | Jul 1, 2010 |
Oliver Walter wrote:
Not lesser, but also not identical, as you wrote. That's why, when I saw the following dictionary reviewed in "The Linguist" in 2005, I immediately rushed out to Amazon and bought it. Variantenwörterbuch des Deutschen (Die Standardsprache in Oesterreich, der Schweiz und Deutschland sowie in Liechtenstein, Luxemburg, Ostbelgien und Südtirol) - published by De Gruyter in 2004. I have the paperback edition (there is also a hardback) and it weighs 1.7 kg!
For non-German speakers: it's a dictionary of variants of German as used in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, east Belgium and south Tyrol.
I am not sure if - yes, I am addressing BE speakers in particular - certain colleagues are aware of the variants of other languages. Honestly, I am tired of reading hilarious comments in the DE>EN / EN>DE KudoZ forum, such as: "Well, it does not flatter the true English speaker's ear but it might be good enough for the US."
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| Post removed: This post was hidden by a moderator or staff member because it was not in line with site rule | Oliver Walter
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:17
German to English
+ ...
After the above comments, I realised there is one US-UK difference which can be avoided but often is not - how to write the date. In UK, today is 1/7/10; in the US it's 7/1/10. That's why, when there could be an ambiguity, I write dates in the format: 1 Jul 10.
The 2001 attack on the USA is known in the USA and in GB as 9/11, although if it had occurred in GB it would have been written 11/9 (probably!). A smaller-scale attack occurred in London and is known as 7/7 (in 2005) - which is one... See more After the above comments, I realised there is one US-UK difference which can be avoided but often is not - how to write the date. In UK, today is 1/7/10; in the US it's 7/1/10. That's why, when there could be an ambiguity, I write dates in the format: 1 Jul 10.
The 2001 attack on the USA is known in the USA and in GB as 9/11, although if it had occurred in GB it would have been written 11/9 (probably!). A smaller-scale attack occurred in London and is known as 7/7 (in 2005) - which is one of the 12 dates in a year that would not be ambiguous in this sense (1st Jan to 12th Dec)
Oliver ▲ Collapse
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:17
Member (2008)
Italian to English
l08l wrote:
I am referring to the original problem posted. Why is it a problem when they gave you a reminder (at the top-right of the page) of how many days left to the expiration date.
While about usage of 'through' and 'until', I will just leave it to you guys... ^_^
"expiration date" is very American.
As is "you guys".
Try to enjoy difference rather than being bothered by it.
[Edited at 2010-07-01 17:28 GMT]
| | | | Steven Smith
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:17
Member (2007)
Japanese to English
TOPIC STARTER | Probably more complicated than that. | Jul 3, 2010 |
Nicole Schnell wrote:
Why do I never hear or read any complaints from US native speakers about BE. Maybe because we, oh, so traditionalist Americans are very polite and courteous. Or maybe because we simply don't have any problems understanding BE.
I'm not sure that the British have a monopoly on rudeness, but complaining about declining standards of the mother tongue within our country does seem to be a national pasttime, although I'm not sure we are unique in that.
These complaints often come from a feeling that the language of ones own generation is the correct form and that the deviations of the following generations are not just change but decline. To take a familiar example, I grew up with a clear understanding of the difference between 'imply' and 'infer', but these days 'infer' is used willynilly to mean 'imply'. This misuse jars the ears of people familiar with the distinction - but would the rascal complain if I used 'infer' and 'imply' correctly? No, they would of course admire my mastery of this complex distinction and endeavour to use it themselves thereafter
Just as some people perceive this generational change as a deterioration from an intact archetypal form, which is simply the form they grew up with, so perhaps there is a similar internationally oriented perception on the part of the English, who invented and nurtured this beautiful language and then sent it out into the cruel world of high-rising terminal intonation and deleted prepositions. Perhaps among the English there is (wrongly of course) a strong sense of being guardians of the authoritative and correct form of the language, and this might explain the asymmetry of complaint behaviour you describe.
[Edited at 2010-07-03 10:51 GMT]
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:17
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Steven F Smith wrote:
Just as some people perceive this generational change as a deterioration from an intact archetypal form, which is simply the form they grew up with, so perhaps there is a similar internationally oriented perception
ORIENT ???? I hate that almost as much as I hate "I'll be back momentarily", "He'll likely be here tomorrow", and "As far as......" left hanging in the air without "...is concerned".
American English can be quaintly archaic- due to the fact that when English was taken to America it set off on its own developmental path and preserved expressions that are never used now in BE, such as "gotten" as in "it's gotten bigger". That's soooo 17th. century !!
[Edited at 2010-07-03 13:13 GMT]
| | | | Steven Smith
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:17
Member (2007)
Japanese to English
TOPIC STARTER
Tom in London wrote: Steven F Smith wrote:
Just as some people perceive this generational change as a deterioration from an intact archetypal form, which is simply the form they grew up with, so perhaps there is a similar internationally oriented perception
ORIENT ???? I hate that almost as much as I hate "I'll be back momentarily", "He'll likely be here tomorrow", and "As far as......" left hanging in the air without "...is concerned".
I've obviously spent too much time in the Orient!
| | | | Nicole Schnell
United States
Local time: 12:17
English to German
+ ...
In memoriam
Steven F Smith wrote:
complaining about declining standards of the mother tongue within our country does seem to be a national pasttime, although I'm not sure we are unique in that.
And then we have to deal with peers / associates who apparently never set foot on American soil. They assume that the language used in movies is our standard. It took me a while to train a new client from overseas not to address me with stuff such as: "How R you?". He considered this appropriate for the US.
Edited for typo
[Edited at 2010-07-03 18:43 GMT]
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