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From: mikeb@inset.UUCP (Mike Banahan)
Newsgroups: net.internat
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Alphabetical Order
Message-ID: <797@inset.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 15-Nov-85 06:00:09 EST
Article-I.D.: inset.797
Posted: Fri Nov 15 06:00:09 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 17-Nov-85 07:15:51 EST
References: <125100001@ima.UUCP> <2435@sunybcs.UUCP> <787@inset.UUCP> <35@diku.UUCP> <36@diku.UUCP> <40@diku.UUCP>
Reply-To: mikeb@inset.UUCP (Mike Banahan)
Organization: The Instruction Set Ltd., London, UK.
Lines: 30
Xpath: stc stc-a

In article <40@diku.UUCP> kimcm@diku.UUCP (Kim Christian Madsen) writes:
>......
>others are blasting americans (you know the people from over the sea,
>NO, not australians YANKEE's...(-;) because they don't speak a 'proper'
>english (and not even proper american!!! )-;) .....
>				Kim Chr. Madsen

Ho ho ho. Now, as I put on the flame reistant underwear, asbestos suit
cooled by liquid nitrogen, let us open a debate (which should soon
move to net.nlang.

PROPSITION: Americans, in the large, not only cannot speak English,
	they can't even *understand* it.

SUPPORTING EVIDENCE: Whenever I go there, I have to drop into Standard
English (restricted vocabulary of 1500 words, no idiomatic use), and use
Received Pronunciation (special attention paid to stress points, word endings;
standardised vowel sounds), if I want to be understood. I find that use
of normal spoken English results in incessant requests from U.S. native
citizens for me to slow down and repeat things; occasionally blank
gazes make me realise that I am just not being uderstood at all.

Interestingly, Australians have no trouble whatsoever with English English.
We, of course, have trouble understanding them :-)

Has anyone else noticed this phenomenon?

-- 
Mike Banahan, Technical Director, The Instruction Set Ltd.
mcvax!ukc!inset!mikeb