jeffreyhy

Except that practice/practise are pronounced the same, while advice/advise are pronounced differently, so the American spellings serve the same purpose in both cases - to clarify the pronunciation.

Regards, JEff

Pulaski

Nice try, but if the Americans wanted to clarify pronunciation it would be "advize".

In truth, rationalizing and standardizing English is an exercise in futility. The more you adjust spellings the more inconsistencies you introduce. English has taken over a thousand years to evolve into what it is today from a base of Anglo Saxon overlaid with many layers of latin, Greek, and French influences, and other words adopted willy nilly from just about every language in Europe and most others from around the world, a process that continues to this day. It is one of the main reasons it is so popular, and unlike the French, most English speakers don't get pissy about it. The last time I looked, French was only the twelfth most widely spoken language in the world, and is virtually finished as a language used in science. It is headed the same way for business and diplomacy.

robin1234

JEff, my post was a further comment on the post to which you refer. My point was, Webster may have sought consistency, since his day consistency has slipped away.

SultanOfSwing

Ah, since when has the English language been consistent about anything anyway?

That's part of its charm

Sally Redux

I've read this a few times but still don't understand it.

robin1234

And what's with Americans who pronounce PRIMER as if it were spelled "primmer?" I'm pretty sure they don't pronounce the paint as "primmer" even though it is essentially the same word with an analogous meaning.

civilservant

What about Premier as 'Pre-meer'

Drives me batty.

SultanOfSwing

I console myself with the fact that if I hear that said that way in the context of the Premier League - at least I'm able to watch coverage of the Premier League on TV

Sally Redux

A neighbour was talking about somewhere being af-FLU-ent, I thought she was just thick, but then I heard that pronunciation used on a TV programme.

I think maybe American pronunciation is still in flux, you can sort of please yourself.

jeffreyhy

Both of these are foreign to me, as have been some of the other Americanisms pointed out in this thread. (pun intended)

I think that there are regional differences in American English, both in pronunciation and choice of words (though not in spelling), that are as significant as the differences between generic American English and British English. Perhaps the same applies in the UK?

Regards, JEff

hungryhorace

Try hearing them pronounce the word 'twat'. It's hilarious.

(They pronounce it 'TWORTT')

SultanOfSwing

That's a new one! I have heard it said with a longer 'a' sound, like 'twaaht', though. Also they do say c*nt slightly strangely. I think Brits are just better at swearing in general.

Pulaski

Mrs P's pronunciation loses the initial "a" almost completely, and elongates the "u", to make aFFLOO-ent. It drives me nuts.

markonline1

I really don't care how Americans spell or pronounce stuff to be honest (even though I find random words pronounced totally different to the word we're used to - sometimes the vowel is emphasized, sometimes it's not). The one word that really drives me insane, and I mean irrationally so, is when it is called St Patty's day over here! I believe it's more an east coast thing as it's called Paddy's or Patrick's day here. Where the hell did Patty come from? Patty is not short for Patrick!!!

civilservant

I'd rather watch the football on a dodgy stream of Sky Sports than listen to American commentary!