Newsgroups: sci.lang,soc.culture.europe,soc.culture.british
From: peter@psyche.demon.co.uk ("Peter H. M. Brooks")
Path: cantaloupe.srv.cs.cmu.edu!das-news2.harvard.edu!news2.near.net!news.mathworks.com!udel!gatech!swrinde!pipex!peernews.demon.co.uk!psyche.demon.co.uk!peter
Subject: Re: Differences between American + British english
References: <795681149snz@duntone.demon.co.uk>  <3mensc$1ko@netnews.upenn.edu>
Organization: Psyche Trading Company
Reply-To: peter@psyche.demon.co.uk
X-Newsreader: Demon Internet Simple News v1.29
Lines: 32
X-Posting-Host: psyche.demon.co.uk
Date: Tue, 11 Apr 1995 20:48:49 +0000
Message-ID: <797633329snz@psyche.demon.co.uk>
Sender: usenet@demon.co.uk

In article <3mensc$1ko@netnews.upenn.edu>
           Feszczak@email.chop.edu "Zenon M. Feszczak" writes:

> > Quite simple. British English is a language that has been learned at
> > school. American English, on the other hand, is English learned out in
> > the streets with a bunch of people who can't read or write.
> > 
> > Geronimo
> 
> 
> From such few words shall wars begin . . .
> 
> The rather exaggerated generalizations comprise an unnecessary and
> not particularly clever insult.
> 
If it were indeed Mr. Geronimo I would imagine he would have just cause
to be a little less than pro-yank. Of course one has to tailor ones insults
for the audience, there is no point in a clever insult that goes over their
heads, it is then a shared joke with ones friends, not an insult.

The whole point of a generalisation is to exaggerate, that is to enhance
the similarity and reduce the divergence in a population to establish some
fundamental truth. Why, when people have been enjoying insulting one
another since before language was invented, you should suggest that 
insult is unnecessary is beyond me.

Rather than complain about the attack and threaten war, why not come up
with some figures for the level of literacy in America? The land of
the free and the brave. So as to refute this allegation as baseless. 

-- 
Peter H. M. Brooks
