Lootenant... Sometimes I will drop a "leftenant" on one of them and I just get this puzzled look. 

You really need to add Indian English to those lists in the real world - it has its own collection of loan words like "lakh" and "crore" (for the rather cumbersome English 100,000 and 10,000,000) and that appears all over the place, with a huge number of second language speakers. The writing style is also fascinating sounding quite archaic compared with modern UK English because they still know how to use tenses and grammar properly.

I do find the official lists rather odd. By first language speaker Ireland's rather distinctive take on the language should be up there along with Jamaican English, which is most definitely its own form..

I've had the same experience of needing translation once when I was at a meeting with someone else from the UK (a very broad Geordie accent) but fortunately with someone from the North East who wasn't so extreme.

Fortunately most UK speakers speak their dialect and something resembling a generic UK English nowdays. Some of the dialect forms are near unintelligble to outsiders (things like Glaswegian, Doric, some of the Northern Irish accents, Jamaican English, Geordie, Northumberland, Black Country (although this appears to be dying out) and strong Yorkshire)

At least Wenglish isn't too hard 

The joys of the great vowel shift.

Alan

I have been trying to re-educate the people here in Colorado. I started with tomato, basil (bay-zil here but still Basil as in Faulty), route (rowt) and the correct pronunciation of Arr-kansas. Sadly I write to report that the natives have not followed my lead and have continued to drop prepositions, mainly 'of,' like it was going out of fashion and, in a way, it has. So I thought I would write these couple sentences....woooops.

Mark K

Quote from: Mark K on January 25, 2014, 06:57:01 PM
I have been trying to re-educate the people here in Colorado. I started with tomato, basil (bay-zil here but still Basil as in Faulty), route (rowt) and the correct pronunciation of Arr-kansas. Sadly I write to report that the natives have not followed my lead and have continued to drop prepositions, mainly 'of,' like it was going out of fashion and, in a way, it has. So I thought I would write these couple sentences....woooops.

Mark K

Have you persuaded them to pay bills with cheques yet rather than the reverse 

Like it, damned clever. BTW they're checks over here.

Quote from: EtchedPixels on January 25, 2014, 06:50:41 PM

I've had the same experience of needing translation once when I was at a meeting with someone else from the UK (a very broad Geordie accent) but fortunately with someone from the North East who wasn't so extreme.

Alan

If only we could have spread our dialect as effectively as we spread the railways

Steve (Durham boy!)

Mark

'...They're checks over here'

But are they Slovaks when they're in Europe?

One has to ask....

I'm reminded of a photo I saw years ago that had a sign that said something like this:

"No coaches allowed in stadium parking lot."

To an American this was a confusing sign until properly educated. What? Why can't the coaches go into the parking lot. What did they do wrong?

Oh?!  You mean a bus? Aha!

No wonder learning English is so hard as a 2nd/3rd...language.

Do you mean Czechs pronounced 'checks'? We'll be getting onto the old GHOTI pronounced  'fish' thing - i can feel it coming.

Quote from: EtchedPixels on January 25, 2014, 06:57:43 PM

Have you persuaded them to pay bills with cheques yet rather than the reverse 

Very clever EP! I had to think about that one.  

Best I saw in a car park was in Canada when we visited a Canadian "Highland Games" as a group. A big sign by some of the bays simply said "Clan members only". Had some of the US members of the group a bit perplexed and bothered.

Alan

I could see why - just watched 'The Butler' too. How about the sign which reads 'Refuse to be placed into the incinerator'. Most living Americans would but they might place their garbage there!

Quote from: EtchedPixels on January 25, 2014, 07:21:59 PM
Best I saw in a car park was in Canada when we visited a Canadian "Highland Games" as a group. A big sign by some of the bays simply said "Clan members only". Had some of the US members of the group a bit perplexed and bothered.

Alan

Shouldn't of really, as they spell 'Clan' with a 'K' - I'll get me coat...

Ouch! Don't let the tele spoil your views of the average American!

   Is English English really English or is it an amalgamation of manyCeltic, European, Roman and Greek words that have mingled through Anglo Saxon times and become 'pure English' as we know it today?