From the U.S. and many people I talk to don't have a very wide range. Maybe it's just the people I know, but we do have a tendency to get stuck on slang. I don't know...just wondering.
2006-09-26 05:18:32 · 19 answers · asked by craftykid22 3 in Entertainment & Music ➔ Polls & Surveys
I'm referring strictly to vocabulary, not grammar. I just mean, that they don't vary up words now and again, that's all.
2006-09-26 05:27:43 · update #1
well it depends on the person really, but americans tend to use a lot of word we don't know and vice-versa. it's the same language but still very different.
2006-09-26 05:26:25 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yeah I think they do. But the few long words Americans know they use all the time. I was on the phone to a travel Agent in America and she was very polite, she spoke well and dropped a few big words here. But the style it was used in was slightly unnatural, it really didn't fit well with the context of the conversation. You do get a lot of toffs over here in England who use every complex word available. Many middle class peeps also have a high command of their vocabulary because of the types of books they read, check out the opening chapter of Oliver Sacks "The man who mistook his wife for a hat"
...." that I am equally, if inadequately, a theorist and dramatist, am equally drawn to the scientific and the romantic, that quintessential human condition of sickness - animals get diseases, but only man falls radically into sickness"
Wow
2006-09-26 05:24:38 · answer #2 · answered by Joe_Floggs 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
i think it really just depends on the person. i know there are certain words and phrases that i use (maybe a little too) often. (by the way, i'm a native new yorker) When i was in England i didnt notice a larger vocabulary on average, but then again i may have been too busy trying to understand thier (percieved) accent. I bet most people have a wide vocabulary, they just don't use it.
2006-09-26 05:37:07 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
They do. I've been overseas many times and the vocabulary is outstanding among Euros. Most speak 4 and sometimes 5 languages very,very well. Wonderful people.
2006-09-26 05:21:39 · answer #4 · answered by Ron B. 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm from the UK and I don't think we are any better than anyone else, I use slang like I would use the shortest route home. The Americans are the same, some are more articulate than others, but that does not make them any better than the ones who use slang.
2006-09-26 05:25:19 · answer #5 · answered by Lyn I 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In the US, as in most of the world, vocabulary is a combination of regional influence (slang), educational opportunity (inner city or affluent neighborhoods), and the individual effort put forth by a person to expand their horizons.
Still, is it better to sing the song as:
Twinkle, twinkle little star
How I wonder what you are…?
Or would one rather that they sound smarter by singing:
Scintillate, scintillate globular orifice
Feign would I fathom thy nature specific…?
2006-09-26 05:41:27 · answer #6 · answered by Maddog Salamander 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm not from the UK/Ireland or the US, still I believe in general, as far as languages are concerned, vocabulary is a matter of education not origin.
2006-09-26 05:38:32 · answer #7 · answered by Kicky 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As a rule of thumb, it is recognised that Americans speak a dialect of English.
Therefore, only the citizens of the British Isles speak correct English.
2006-09-26 12:23:26 · answer #8 · answered by lordofthetarot 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I reckon so, but there are wide differences between English english and american english. Not to stereotype but americans tend to use more slang than brits. But I could be wrong.
2006-09-26 08:20:22 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Maybe you are surrounding yourself with uneducated people. All of my friends and acquaintances have a large vocabulary and perfect grammar.
2006-09-26 05:22:38 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋