Who speaks 'proper' English - the British or the Americans?

Question

This question is just for fun as we all know deep down which nation have no conception how to use the language correctly, but just for fun I'd like to hear from both sides and how those guilty parties can possibly justify referring to crisps as chips and chips as french fries! I mean, come on!!! ;-)

kent_shakespear: Bong! Sorry, wrong answer. What you really meant to say was, "The British".

Sirsnoozealot: I didn't bother with you Aussies, because let's face it, you're the guys that came out with words like 'didgeridoo', 'billabong' and 'Rolf Harris', so after a little chuckle, I politely decided to leave you out of the poll! You do get a point for guessing my profession though! lol

Jessycuh!!!: Sorry, much like the words 'thin' and 'American' don't go together, neither do the words 'normal' and 'American' either! Ha ha ha. Just kidding, I love all you aliens really! :-)

Assiqtaq: I'll direct you to my answer to Kent (misspelled) Shahespeare, up there.

Milkme2002003: Is that your name or an invitation?

C.J.: I would try and explain the gross error of your ways, but you are American and therefore it is impossible that you would understand. Hee hee.

Niall B: Ha ha. Thanks. Much like our Aussie friend up there, it's nice that we have some comedians in this evening.

Karleeluvsfatmaggie: You're right... I won't!

Rag Doll X: Let me guess, you are American? Umm, anybody, is there an interpreter in the house?

Makeitright: You are so looking for the best answer prize, aren't you? Ha ha.

Charlotte Paranoia: They also pronounce Vincent Van Gogh as 'Van Go' rather than correct way, 'Van Goff'.

Nikki251017: A lovely and surprising show of honesty! Thank you. By the way, the word is 'probably'. Try to remember it for future usage. ;-)

PRONGS!padfoot!MOONY: Well, with a name like yours, I wasn't expecting for much, but you did give me a laugh with your contradictory answer! Americans, you've gotta love 'em...

T C: Please don't let us down. 'Brits' starts with a capital letter.

Justiceformaddie: Nice! I love people with delusions of grandeur! You're in the running!

herbtoker_420: Sure ya did Herbie my boy. That Bush is a smart guy too, isn't he?

salvatrucha_ninyo: I rest my case your honour.

DoctorJohn: I am disappointed in you! I have seen some of your other answers and you are very witty normally speaking. Still, you can't be faulted for honesty. I did however ask about BRITISH, not English per se. I am Scottish myself and have never heard an English man or woman with a command of the language that equals mine. Modest too.

Joyce_m rosalind: Ok, I am truly praying that your display of incompetence was really just you being ironic.

peachyone: Ooh, another one who has tried the smartypants approach! You did however blow it slightly by the unnecessary comma right at the end there! ;-)

Jessica H: Unfortunately, you have made a very astute observation. Don't worry though, when I become overlord of Earth, things will be different!

Glenn P: Sorry Glenn, we've been through this already. The answer is: The British.

goldylocks_candy: I like Canadians... couldn't eat a whole one, but I do like them...

David B: Actually, as far as I'm concerned, Shakespeare's work is a load of B*ll*cks and the English only rule, because I let them... for now....

Me e: Please, please, please read the question! Where did I mention the English nation anywhere? I asked about the British, not the English!

Jonv: You were correct up until 30 years ago. At that particular point in world history, I was born and when I learned to talk, people quickly realised that what I say goes. So there IS proper
English, because 'I' say so! Can you really find a flaw in my logic?


SundaeG1rl: I admire the force behind your belief, but I admire your avatar's eyepatch more. Hope it doesn't dampen your enthusiasm in future.

cleocat: Where was I when the 51st state was incorporated? Also, you missed the letter 'd' off your last word.

sweet16whatever: Sorry, I drifted off somewhere between the first and second of your words.

Oracle: I think your source information says it all! lol

pat from ohio: At last! Someone who actually has made an attempt to challenge me! Nice try there my friend, however, you really shouldn't be trying to pick holes in my grammar when you have no conception that 'pat' is a name and therefore starts with a capital letter and also that 'ohio', being a place name, ALSO starts with a capital. 10 out of 10 for trying, but as usual, I win. ;-)

Rod T: No, no, no! Say it slowly with me: B-r-i-t-i-s-h i-s t-h-e c-o-r-r-e-c-t a-n-s-w-e-r.

mavisky: No, I don't believe I'll go changing my question just to suit your whim. Thank you for having such audacity though.


Ulysses A: Ah... That's the problem with opinions though, isn't it? They have no bearing on truth!

del: It would have helped our cause if you could have spelled 'course'. Next time, please just keep to sweeping up after I'm gone. Thanks.

just-me: The question is, what language has the word 'speek' in it? Is it mouse language? Oh no, they squeek, not speek...

claire: I do believe someone sees the light!

joecool's girl: Thanks. I read the first seven words. I'll read the rest of it when I am... well, to be honest, I'll never read the rest of it, but thanks for making the effort!

strontium_9t: Another pretentious wannabe!! I love it. People who start sentences with 'actually' never fail to amuse me! So all linguists agree on that, do they? This is a unanimous
finding by all linguists the world over? Well, you could knock me down with a feather. Also, you really sealed your fate by saying the Scots are the worst talkers, because apart from the scum
element (of which I will admit there are a fair amount), the Scots are very clear indeed. Perhaps you need to ask some of your linguist friends for a cotton bud to clean out the old ears! ;-)

Pam: Full of it too. I hate people like that! lol

Quizard: I didn't ask about the English and please finish your sentences with a full stop and not a comma.

Landgirl: As that renowned philosopher of our time - Homer Simpson - would say: Doh! Anyway, apart from getting the old, 'toMAYto, toMAHto' song wrong, the guy you are talking about is Dick Van Dyke. He was actually born Penis Van Lesbian, but he had to change it when he became an actor.

Jose: Wow! A girl after my own heart. Unfortunately, it is already taken by another smarty girly poo. If she doesn't answer, then you will be getting awarded the prize. :-)

013megustastu013: 'Whoever' is all one word. ;-)

Danielle: Umm, okay. You're a bit all over the place with that one, but thanks anyway!

XoOx: And I love the Canadian/American accent that you guys have! ;-)

fftlandmcrfan: Yawn. Next!

owiginalwabbit: You'll excuse me for not reading all of your diatribe, but I have been making fun of every person that came before you and just can't be bothered. Next time get in
quicker and I may afford you the honour of reading the whole thing!

Sprinkle: Just don't have kids,ok?

juanes addicion: Another one that is almost up to my standard of p*ss taking! You did a great job there of citing all the words mucked up, but you got them the wrong way round!!! You can't be blamed for that though; you are American after all and 'backwardness' just seems to come naturally to, ahem, y'all! Seeing as you brought up bums (and I'm not talking homeless people,
but the REAL definition of the word bum), why do you guys not understand that a fanny is a woman's front bottom and NOT the back??!! [sigh] One of these days you'll get it right. I just hope I live to see it. ;-)

franja: I feel your husband's mate's pain. :-)

rogue: Nothing gets past you, does it, Rogue? ;-)

trigga1uk: True. I am speaking collectively however. Look to the first answer I gave and feel the glorious enlightenment descend upon you.

jacqueline8269: You're right! For instance, you do not believe in using any form of punctuation!

Mexiumbian Spaniard: You really need to get out more! lol

ret w: A very deep, thoughtful and intelligent response. Sorry, you lose all credit for being a fence sitting pansy and not saying BRITISH!!! Ha ha ha.

Helen: You just about meet your own criteria. Thanks.

Triss: Next time, I'll fight my own battles. I have a much better chance of winning!!! lol

hazel iwendi: Short, sweet and true. :-)

Donegal Rose: Sorry, but Jimmy Cricket lets you down. He doesn't even know what foot the wellies go on!!!

I like friends everywhere: I know! I hate people that use adjectives too! I would cast them out along with nouns, verbs and conjunctions!!!

joannie: Nice to meet you. What language do you speak?

Michelle H: Practise doesn't always make perfect. Just watch the Jeremy Kyle show and you'll see!

LuluBelle: I was reading back my answers to all these nutters and noticed you'd been missed out!!! How could I have allowed such an oversight? You say we don't enunciate properly? This from the nation of people that say 'aks' instead of 'ask' and for 'puma', that say 'poo-ma' instead of the correct version - 'pyoo-ma'??!! Sorry, but once again I laugh mockingly at the fact you guys are pointing the finger when you are in fact the guilty party!!!

sakaria h: What can I say? Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

kwistenbiebel: Van Gogh IS pronounced Van Goff and NOT Van Go, like you guys always embarrassingly say. I'm sorry friend, but this is simply a fact of life. You haven't heard it, because quite frankly you live in that blissful state of ignorance which is known medically as 'Americanitis'! ;-)

Afallon: I know. It annoys the hell out of me too, especially when people talk of 'loosing weight'. Grrrr. Just thinking about it irks me the wrong way. I actually made a grammatical mistake myself in the original question (hard to believe, considering its me, I know! lol) and wrote, "which nation have...". It should have been 'has'! Woops!!

Addendum for Strontium_9t (I just knew one of you guys would try and get back at me. Little do you know that I live for it! lol): Yes, you are doomed when you engage in debate with me. Sorry, it is just the way of the world.

As for your source data, it's friggin' Wikipedia for crying out loud!! Don't make me laugh!! ANYBODY can write what they like there and if you think people from Iowa are 'accentless' then you are dumber than I thought!

Also, I know you didn't say Scots were scum, but you were saying that we are bad speakers, which is just nonsense. I was the one who pointed out that only the scum element bring down the perception of the country to outsiders.

Oh, and you most certainly are NOT Scotch. Unless you are an alcoholic and your insides are swimming in a pool whiskey. You may however be Scottish or Scots.

Addendum for Strontium_9t (continued): With regard to the subtitles thing, that doesn't count, because we have the same thing when your rednecks are shown on TV. Plus, I didn't say it was just you - I condemn your entire nation! lol

Lastly, yes, you most certainly do care, otherwise you wouldn't have made such a passionate, if ultimately flawed attempt at a rebuttal! Have a nice day now, y'hear? ;-)

Answer 1

Ha ha ha! I liked this answer the best: "Actually, linguists agree that a "neutral" accent in the English language is in the American Mid-West, around Iowa. The rest of us all speak it with an accent."

I think he was talking about ME! I speak 'proper' English! LOL!

Answer 2

old english dialects doesnt even sound like modern english from england. the language has evolved over time. The only way to answer your question is to ask another question. What is commonly accepted as the proper usage of the english language? Then there is a regional difference dictated by politic and governement standard. The reason for the control is to make sure that everyone is on the same page and there is no misinterpretation when rules and laws are set.

Answer 3

A pet subject of mine! Since it is almost as inflammatory as the smoking argument (ha) I'll give the most diplomatic answer I can find, and say that I think that the 2 languages, UK-British and US-British, combine and compliment each other beautifully - witness some of the classic literature from both sides. Nothing can eradicate the rich depth and texture of "the Queen's English" when used to capacity, for a clumsy language (comparable to German in its gutteral timbre), with a vast choice of words it can be as mellifluous as the Latin tongues. But Americans have constructed another kind of beauty in developing a unique metre that runs through the best of American poetry, from Hiawatha to Kerouac to Salinger, and is echoed in uptown and downtown and suburban America now with the same lyricism.

So they both add up to make the most fantastic language ever.

Answer 4

Hi Oliver - didn't you mean "propah" English? lol

Edit: Strontium 9T: You're probably talking about Glaswegian - not Scots in general. I find it hard to understand some Weegies - and I only live about 6 miles outside Glasgow!

Edit 2: Check this out folks - this is a preface in the Colllins Scots Dictionary 2007 - for the people who say the English invented English!!

"When the Angles, Jutes and Saxons began to settle in Britain from the fourth century on, they brought with them their own GERMANIC dialects and these became Old English, the language of the parts of England and Southern Scotland under Anglo-Saxon rule. This eventually developed into what is known as Middle English".

Answer 5

Update 5: pat from ohio: At last! Someone who actually has made an attempt to challenge me! Nice try there my friend, however, you really shouldn't be trying to pick holes in my grammar when you have no conception that 'pat' is a name and therefore starts with a capital letter and also that 'ohio', being a place name, ALSO starts with a capital. 10 out of 10 for trying, but as usual, I win. ;-)

Answer 6

The English (some British speak Welsh), but the current American English has retained some parts of old English current when English people first moved there.
But language is a living thing and England is home to English, so however the English speak it, that is the proper English.
American English is called American English.

Answer 7

My accessory has impacts of the two British and American accents. replaced into taught British accessory in school, and accrued American accessory observing Hollywood video clips and soaps, and listening to music! i will want somebody who's acquainted with the two the accents to verify how my accessory particularly is :P i think of that could be a mix of Indian, Bristish and American accents LoL! I do pronounce words like that Hahah..:D It in basic terms comes clearly now... I additionally experience if one knows Hindi, selecting up diverse accents is a lot extra handy:) considering there are particular sounds in Hindi, that are actually not recent in English. provides me an ingredient!;)

Answer 8

i am going to say the Brits because my parents are from west africa and their country was colonized by the British, so the national language i English. One of my parents has a very strong British accent and he is always correcting the way Americans speak. My siblings and I all were born heres and growing up, he hated when we spoke slang to each other. He felt we should always speak properly. He also feels that Americans speak lazily.
And I can understand where my father is coming from. We Americans may speak normal, but I think some of us are lazy when it comes to saying certain things or sometimes we're just plain ol' blunt, while the Brits choose their words carefully when they want to get their points across.

Answer 9

Having read many questions and answers on YA from so -called English first language speakers, I'm surprised how many don't know the difference between 'than' and 'then', 'there' and 'their', 'lose' and 'loose' etc.
These are much worse than using different names like 'vacation' for 'holiday' , 'diaper' for 'nappy' and 'color' for 'colour'.
There are many dialects in England that use different words to 'standard' or Queen's English.
Joannie....You can't tell me that scousers, brummies and cockneys speak the Queen's English.
Let English speakers correct their own glaring mistakes before criticising others.
By the way, my first language is Welsh.

Answer 10

I have never heard somebody say Van Goff instead of Van Gogh. Maybe that is why he cut his ear?

Of course British speak proper English. Americans speak Amenglish.

Ledder gedda bedder wädr heedr. = Let her get a better water heater.

Have a nice day.