chip@dartvax.UUCP (Brig Elliott) (08/04/84)
Any English-speakers who want to browse through a fascinating book
on American English (its history, development, etymologies, and differences
from British English) should read:
The American Language (H. L. Mencken)
and its various supplemental volumes. It's fat, answers lots of questions,
brings up words you haven't ever heard of--and is vastly amusing. Usenet
flames are mild as milk compared to Mencken's.
(As a final aside, it strikes me as surprising that the English are
displeased with American English. The British isles have a much larger
range of English than we, and many of the dialects are more peculiar.
And modern BBC ("King's") English is a fairly new invention, not a great
high holy bit of history. But I am being too dignified. Surely some
Australian reader will give us a bit of invective...?)
Brig Elliott ..dartvax!chip