The Decline of British English

Maybe I'm more sensitive to this than others but English is getting less British

https://steemit.com/steemit/@oakstone/the-decline-of-british-english-visualized

 

It's been doing that for at least a hundred years, despite my efforts to stop it. :smile:

Britain itself is getting 'way less British. I never even saw blue jeans, except on a movie screen, while I lived in England. A very few years after I left in 1952, they were all over. While watching Brit TV (still the best, sez me) I now often hear actors talk of "guys" instead of "blokes" etc. There were zero hotdogs or hamburgers - and definitely no Jack Daniel's - when I lived in London. Now there's a McDonald's on the way to my old school. And if I still drank, these days I could get a bourbon wherever...

Certainly, some welcome changes. When I left, there was still meat rationing, seven years after the war had ended.

J.

 

Back then, there was still that universal and ridiculous British custom (or was it a medieval law?) that forced all boys to wear short pants year-round until about age 11. I escaped that one by coming to Canada at nine. Not good in either climate. Another British thingy I'm glad to see gone.

Also glad to see the advent of central heating. And indoor toilets. In the old days, I lived/stayed in British houses - in large cities - that had neither. No furnace - coal-burning fireplaces in every room. Outside privy. Could be difficult to find in a London fog. More British thingies that are best gone, together with unsliced, unwrapped bread delivered to the doorstep, where the cat walks in and out.

English is an amalgam of the languages of most of the peoples who have conquered Britain and lived there over the centuries. If Brits have to accept further changes to their language in the course of progress, I'm sure they'll cope.

J.

 

"Wepyng and waylyng, care and oother sorwe"

 

And refrigeration. Forgot that one. And unlike Canada of old, there were no iceboxes. You kept your shortening, margarine or whatever down in the cellar, near the coal-bin and hoped for the best. Meat and fish? Buy it-eat it-gone. No storage.

There was an icebox that came with the apartment, when we got to Canada. About two months later, my Dad bought a refrigerator. I think it lasted them around 40 years...

J.

 

"I trowe that it be so,
For wel I woot it fareth so with me." :smile:

J.

 

Some proper refrigeration might help with that. :wink:

 

The biggest contributor to the English language has been French about 40%. Anyway, the Académie française has been making changes to the French to make it much easier. I think the changes in English have less to do with US versus UK English because the differences are so negligible; but more to with French and English being living languages.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/05/not-the-oignon-fury-france-changes-2000-spellings-ditches-circumflex

 

Actually 29%. And Latin another 29% . Much of the French influence was absorbed a long, long time ago. Think 1066 and the centuries that followed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_influence_in_English

There are other Latin-based influences on English, too. Especially Italian. Geoffrey Chaucer, whose work Decimon and I were quoting a couple of posts back, worked in Italy, spoke fluent Italian and used Italian rhythms in his English poetry.

About that circumflex, mentioned in the article cited by PhDtobe. It's just a silent leftover to indicate an "s" that was present in the old French word and/or the Latin word that gave rise to it. An "s" that disappeared hundreds of years ago, but the place-marker remained, for some mysterious reason. I'll probably never stop using the circumflex, regardless of l'Académie. Old habits die hard. And I'll keep my oignons, too. :smile:

J.

 

The best language app and free by the way duolingo. Please try it.


There are also English-fr words which are not French words
Mayday! - M'aider - help me
Dandelion - dente de lion - lion tooth
Vinegar - vin aiger - sour wine
Denim - de Nimes - from Nimes
Curfew - courvre feu - cover the fire

Mortgage - mort gage - death pledge

 

When I was deployed to the Gulf War, we were assigned to work with the 1st UK Armoured Division, specifically a Scottish unit. I was assigned to the "interpreter" because no one else could understand them, and all 4 of my grandparents were from Scotland.

 

British English is goin’ dahn t’ nick.

 

It is good - and free. What amazes me is that a free site is worth so much money! From the Wiki on Duolingo:

"As of 2015, the company has been valued at USD $470 million with a total funding of USD $83.3 million.[27] Venture capitalists, private investors and other investor firms that hold a stake in Duolingo include Fred Wilson, Union Square Ventures, New Enterprise Associates, Ashton Kutcher, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Google Capital, and Tim Ferriss. "

(1) Well, uh, at least one of them is. My Canadian bottle of vinegar is clearly labelled "vinaigre" on the French side.

(2) There are a couple of schools of thought about the origin of denim. Here's part of an article from the good folks at Levi Strauss:

"...here are a few schools of thought with regard to the derivation of the word “denim.” Pascale Gorguet-Ballesteros, of the Musee de la Mode et du Costume in Paris, has done some interesting research on both of these issues. A fabric called “serge de Nimes,” was known in France prior to the 17th century. At the same time, there was also a fabric known in France as “nim.” Both fabrics were composed partly of wool. Serge de Nimes was also known in England before the end of the 17th century.

The question then arises: is this fabric imported from France or is it an English fabric bearing the same name? According to Ms. Gorguet-Ballesteros, fabrics which were named for a certain geographic location were often also made elsewhere; the name was used to lend a certain cachet to the fabric when it was offered for sale. Therefore a “serge de Nimes” purchased in England was very likely also made in England, and not in Nimes, France.

There still remains the question of how the word “denim” is popularly thought to be descended from the word “serge de Nimes.” Serge de Nimes was made of silk and wool, but denim has always been made of cotton. What we have here again, I think, is a relation between fabrics that is in name only, though both fabrics are a twill weave. Is the real origin of the word denim “serge de nim,” meaning a fabric that resembled the part-wool fabric called nim? Was serge de Nimes more well-known, and was this word mis-translated when it crossed the English Channel? Or, did British merchants decide to give a zippy French name to an English fabric to give it a bit more cachet? It’s likely we will never really know.

Then, to confuse things even more, there also existed, at this same time, another fabric known as 'jean' ...”

You can read the whole thing here: http://www.levistrauss.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/A-Short-History-of-Denim2.pdf

J.

 

Aye. It’s nut jannock. :smile:

J.

 

To say that something is nut jannock may not be entirely jannock, at least not in Cornwall.

 

Professor Henry Higgins sniffs in disdain.

 

I was saying "it isn't fair." Is my friend mbwa shenzi referring to the other meaning of jannock - bread made of of rye and oatmeal? I have seen a third meaning - basically "highly valued."

If mbwa shenzi (or anyone else) knows other meanings of this word, I'd be very interested in learning them.

J.

 

That's like talking about "the American accent." There isn't one - there are many. If you don't like the one you hear, travel another twenty miles. Less in Britain. I disagree completely with your remark about Southern accents. They sound fine on men. I'm sure Matthew McConaughey and Lincoln div. of Ford would agree. :smile:

J.

 

I just got this (so far)

Adjective[edit]

jannock ‎(comparative more jannock, superlative most jannock)
1.(Northern England) Pleasant; outspoken; honest; genuine; straightforward; generous.

Noun[edit]

jannock ‎(plural jannocks)
1.(Northern England) A small oatmeal loaf.

References[edit]
Concise Oxford Dictionary of current English OUP 1964
OED 2nd edition 1989