When someone from Britain speaks, Americans hear a "British accent"...

[Grant Edwards]

On 2005-10-06, DaveM <asma61 at dsl.pipex.com> wrote:

>>Frankly, I can't watch Shakespeare or movies like "the full
>>monty" or "trainspotting" because I can't understand a damn
>>word they say. British talk sounds like gibberish to me for the
>>most part.
>
> Not just you. It always amuses me in trips to the US that
> British voices (outside of the movies) are often subtitled,
> while first-generation Americans whose English is. um,
> limited, are not.

What?!?  I've never seen a British voice (inside or outside of
the movies) subtitled -- with the exception of one of a
nightclub scenes in one movie (I think it was Trainspotting)
where the dialog was inaudible because of the music.

While we're off this topic again topic, I was watching a BBC
series "Space Race" the other night.  The British actors did a
passable job with the American accents in the scenes at Fort
Bliss in Texas, but the writers wrote British English lines for
them to speak in their American accents.

For example: In British English one uses a plural verb when the
subject consists of more than one person.  Sports teams,
government departments, states, corporations etc. are 
grammatically plural.  In American, the verb agrees with the
word that is the subject, not how many people are denoted by
that word.

In sports (thats "sport" for you Brits):

 American: Minnesota is behind 7-0.  The Vikings are behind 7-0.
  British: Minnesota are behind 7-0. The Vikings are behind 7-0.

In politics:

  American: The war department has decided to cancel the program.
   British: The war department have decided to cancel the program.

And so on...

-- 
Grant Edwards                   grante             Yow!  I think I am an
                                  at               overnight sensation right
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