A Language All Their Own...
Even though the Brits speak English sometimes it seems like a different language, spoken and written.
Their alphabet is the same as ours, except for the letter Z, they call it Zed, not Z. In Sophie's music class the other day we were singing the alphabet and we loudly sang Z whilst the rest of the class sang Zed. The main map guide of London is called the A to Zed (we have this in two sizes, mini and Super Scale) a must for getting around, but I never put two and two together until Sophie's class...
The Brits do not seem to like the letter "Z" at all. If words have the letter Z within them, like we would spell it in the states, they use an "S", for example:
US = realize UK = realise
US = organization UK = organisation
US = specialize UK = specialise
US = recognize UK = recognise
the list of words goes on and on like this...at first I thought I was catching typos, and I was feeling quite clever, but no, I was just being American.
The other thing the Brits like to do is add "ou" to many words. For example:
US = favorite UK = favourite
US = flavor UK = flavour
US = behavior UK = behaviour
Other words that are spelled a bit different that I have realised: checks vs. cheques, airplane vs. aeroplane, and while vs. whilst.
Brits like to use the word "scheme" which means plan. Also they like to use the word "queue" instead of line. "Hey - You bloody bloke the queue starts back there." I never have any idea where I am actually supposed to be queueing. Baths vs. pool is another and lovely and brilliant are also heard daily...Maybe I should start an American guide to the British language guide...
posted by Chris @ 1:00 PM
2 Comments:
Thanks, Christopher - I love reading about your adventures. Miss you much! Jack
PS Natalie brought the letter you sent for Valentine's day - with the pic of Buckingham Palace for show and tell today. They both loved the Valentines and Lars LOVED the Maisy stamp. Maisy is one of his favorites!
One of my favourites was always how they pronounce 'clerk' like we would say 'clark'.
Also, phonetically, I always got a kick out of how the Brits, when one word ENDS in a vowel sound, and the word following STARTS with a vowel sound, put an 'r' consonant sound to form a bridge between the words -- much, I suppose, like the French do by adding a 'z' sound in such cases.
That said, when an 'r' is actually in a word, the Brits don't normally pronounce it! (smile)
Joel
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