atw: Re: Dinosaurs and punctuation
- From: Robert Levy <robert@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 7 Apr 2011 12:02:53 +1000
A lot of Americanisms were Britishisms before the British changed them. "Fall"
was around in Great Britain since the 1600s, but now it's an Americanism. Go
figure!
I can say that the Americans I know (myself included) say fridge and
refrigerator about equally.
Thanks,
rwl
---
http://savethesemicolon.com
--
On 07/04/2011, at 11:42 AM, Rebecca Caldwell wrote:
> I was recently told that I use 'Americanisms' when I talk, however I learned
> to talk from my Scottish parents and they from their Scottish parents. In my
> household it has always been "bathroom" and never "toilet" or "lavatory". And
> I frequently say the whole word "refrigerator" and not "fridge" which is,
> apparently also an Americanism.
>
> I guess (there it is again!) that I must have learned certain synonyms while
> learning to read/write for the television, and my brain has written over
> whatever had been there previously.
>
> Thoughts?
>
> Date: Thu, 7 Apr 2011 08:54:51 +1200
> From: dave.reynolds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> To: austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: atw: Re: Dinosaurs and punctuation
>
> I still use that technique. When I'm writing some new stuff in a manual, I
> often imagine I'm explaining the product to another person. Effectively, I'm
> reading the text 'aloud' in my head. That way I work out where the natural
> pauses are.
>
> I think I am turning into a dinosaur. I hear American pronunciation and
> emphasis creeping into our local TV and radio, and it irks me!
>
> Cheers
>
> Dave
>
> Christine Kent wrote, on 6/04/2011 7:58 p.m.:
> I have just made another observation regarding the problem of whether “our
> grammar” is defunct.
>
> I was listening to a very young newsreader and finding her uncomfortable to
> listen to and difficult to understand, so I paid attention. Something was
> “wrong” with the “rhythm” of what she was saying. It is something I have
> wondered about with younger people – why I can find some of them really
> difficult to follow, but I have never really paid attention before now.
>
> I had a teacher in year 12 who, instead of teaching us grammar, told us to
> put commas where we wanted the reader to take a short breath and a full stop
> where we wanted them to take a longer breath. In effect our punctuation told
> the reader when to breathe. It’s an excellent system, even if it is
> technically incorrect at times.
>
> This newsreader was putting all her pauses in the wrong place. She would
> run-on at the end of sentences with no pause at all, and put short or long
> pauses in the middle of clauses.
>
> I struggled to follow what she was saying. Did she follow it herself? Was
> she reading for meaning or just reading words? Is there some internal logic
> comprehended by other young people? Or does no-one care anymore whether
> we/they understand what is said or not?
>
> Someone must be researching this.
>
> Christine
>
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