Snow on the way

[Tony Griffiths]

Tony,

Ian has asked me to post this for him.

Thanks!
Might there be a chance of some high-resolution copies? I've never seen these before.

---

What really riles me is a "passenger" on a train or whatever, being referred to as a "customer".
When in the States I always ask for the lavatory, never the "restroom" or "bathroom" - I neither want a rest nor a bath - use of expression bringing either a puzzled look or one of outrage. Another very annoying thing our American friends do is to refer to Christmas as "Holidays". A TV advert for perfume used that tonight - it's just a waste of time in the UK; mention "holiday" and everyone thinks of the summer. Did you notice that Mr.Trump always insists on using the correct term and wishing people a "Merry Christmas", not a "Happy Holiday"?

[Duncan Grimmond]

"I am horrified at how frequently competence has been changed to competency."
I agree wiv'im.

(And it's faux-pas with an S!!!)

[Tony Press]

Well done- Finger Fault corrected - no comment about French words commonly now used in English compared to American words now used in English ?

Not sure how this fits under the heading of Snow on the way

[Bob Culver]

Whilst straying onto the topic of language I envy cousins in faintly progressive Pommieland. We are being reverted and converted to a stone age language known nowhere else, and compiled extensively in the last 15 years. Worse, although they themselves never figured how to write it, the now controlling natives /trace natives insist it be spelt with a huge smattering of accents, the likes of which disappeared from civilised English decades ago. Probably a more refined form has now been devised, but we all  drove moto ka (the language so primitive there is  no plural). There was a period in th 70s when those not well equipped adapted a wire coathanger as a car aerial, so much so that generally referred to as kotanga (and still by my generation) .

[Erich]

As someone who spent his career in journalism, the dropping of the Oxford comma here in America and then picking it up again, frustrates me. The classic, "man without woman is nothing". Here's to the Oxford comma, long may it reign(or rain). English, the most complicated language in the world.

Erich in Mukilteo

[Andy Bennett]

My 2 language bugs are to 'de...' something. First heard it whilst travelling in the US in the 90s, when we were invited to 'deplane'.

Second is the use of language in television programmes trying to sell themselves to the global (US) market. We can therefore no longer have 'pay as you go' phones to indicate that someone can't be traced, now they are 'burner phones', and the other day I heard trousers referred to as 'pants' in a London drama, who on earth wears 'pants' in London I ask you.....

It is clearly more important to make sure that a UK based, UK paid for, drama can be understood by an American than by someone in the UK

Rant over

[Bob Olive]

We English are of course mainly 'mongrels', having been bred and interbred over more than 2,000 years, the fruit of the loins of invaders, Romans, Angles, Saxons, Vikings of every sort, Normans (mostly Vikings anyway I think?) of whom many became settlers, and no doubt a few others from almost every part of Europe, and latterly the world. 'Tis said that there are over 100 source languages which comprise modern English, and I believe it has four or five times more vocabulary, numerically. than most modern European languages. I have no quarrel with that.  One has only to scan a thesaurus for a synonym of any everyday word to find that there are ten or more variants which could easily be used.

My main complaint though is the way in which, for instance, our media, largely television newscasters, adopt for some reason which I cannot fathom, terms which are specific to American sport in the belief that their use somehow enhances their narrative/discussion. For instance - left field, curveball (googly surely?), softball, raincheck, down to the wire, ballpark figure, and there are many others. These are now becoming part of the language and are probably in the Oxford English Dictionary for all I know (they are not in my 1933 edition...).

Trouble is, if we didn't move with the times, we might all be talking like Chaucer or Shakespeare - but would that be so bad? Imagine the BBC news presented in Chaucerian - now that would be fun!

I'd better get back to my room, Matron will see I'm awol...

[Reckless Rat]

Correct, Bob. The term Norman comes from old French/English which means the "Men from the North" or "Northmen", meaning Vikings. They even got as far south as the Cevennes in France as there are traces of Viking history in this area.

[morrisminor]

This works well for me,  if I get stuck my boy tows me !!        

[Ivor Hawkins]

Great pictures Morris, like your AA badge too!