Britain and America are two countries forever divided by a common language. Laurence Brown is an immigrant from Britain who is now an American. He explains in great detail what many of us Americans always knew- the difference in British English and American English is because the Brits changed how they spoke. The best part of this video is hearing Brown doing his best American accents.
Saturday, October 14, 2023
Why American English is Highly Misunderstood
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
8 comments:
I live in an area of the U.S. that still uses words and expressions from 16th century France on a daily basis. It's often ridiculed as not being "proper" French. It's a universal behavior I guess.
Wait until he figures out who brought feet and miles to the Americas.
This was actually quite fascinating! And yes, his broad American accents are hilarious. But, man oh man, do his shifty eyes bug me.
I've never noticed how frequently he glances to the left while speaking.
I wonder if that's intentional or just a nervous habit.
If you're interested in this kind of linguistic/pronounciation analysis, look up Dr. Geoff Lindsey on youtube. His videos are fascinating.
There's an American mobster to the side of the camera, holding a gun on him and forcing him to say nice things about America. Brown is nervously glancing there to see if he's saying the right sorts of things, or if he's about to get shot.
I was born in Great Britain, long since left for warmer climes.
There are many different accents in Britain, some, unlike the guy in the video, are pleasant ... his is grating.
When he says '... as a former linguistic student' all I hear is 'couldn't hack it, dropped out'.
I nearly committed Harry Carry watching it, so stopped.
Presumably he grates on about centre/theatre/litre being spelt incorrectly, and the incorrect use of the word but in a sentence.
As a former computer programmer student, I dropped out and bought a cafe, mixing with people was more attractive than hexadecimal .... Java over Java, if you like.
Former student ! Pffsst.
He may be glancing at a teleprompter, cue cards or a clock.
Maybe the grating of center, theater, and liter is what he moved here to escape after he graduated.
In spite of moving to America, I'll occasionally run into people from my English university -- at conference, chance encounters at airports etc.
They'll invariably ask about my life, if I'm married, do I have children, etc.
I always respond to the "children" question with:
"Yes, we have two, Skip and Laurie"
Just to watch their face as they process it.
Post a Comment