British English

To a T

Niall O'Donnell 11 Comments

I imagine that you would have no trouble identifying the sound of the letter T, if I asked you. Or any other letter of the alphabet, for that matter. If you’re young enough, you might still remember the chart on the wall of your primary-school classroom, which perhaps said T for Teddy Bear, or Train. But take a moment to say a few words to yourself featuring the letter T. Not only that, include a variety of words with T at the beginning, middle, and end. I’m quite confident that one or two of those sounds didn’t quite sound like the classic T sound you imagined at the beginning.

Let’s look at the following sentence: Continue reading →

Ill-Gotten Gains

Niall O'Donnell Leave a comment

One of those little indications of the difference between American and British English is the verb to get. In American (and Canadian) English its past-simple form is got (I got a new car yesterday), and the past participle is gotten (I’ve gotten better at grammar). In British English, got is used for both forms (I’ve got better at grammar). One exception is using have got to refer to possession, (I’ve got three kids). As this structure is the present perfect simple, strictly it should be I’ve gotten three kids, but that would sound like you’ve bought some kids, and might buy some more. Plus, the real meaning of I’ve got… in this context is a present simple meaning, despite using the present perfect simple, so demanding that one stick to the normal structure of the present perfect simple would be a bit silly. Continue reading →

A Date with Destiny

Niall O'Donnell 6 Comments

-You there, boy! What date is it today!?

-Today!? Why it’s 05/08/16!!

-Wait… so is it August or May?

Why do Americans write the date differently from the rest of the world? Not that I’m really complaining, but, well, it can be annoyingly confusing at times, especially in cases like above where the day of the month is the 12th or lower. Of course I’m just used to the European format, but I do also think it’s more logical, moving from the smallest unit to the largest. Continue reading →

Zed’s Dead Baby; Zed’s Dead.

Niall O'Donnell 7 Comments

How do you pronounce the letter Z?

Chances are that if you’re American, or learnt American English, you pronounce it as zee. For the rest of us, it’s zed. Why the difference? Continue reading →

Only the Winningest

Niall O'Donnell 10 Comments

There are many clear differences between American and British English, particularly in terms of spelling and vocabulary. It’s natural enough, and I’m loath to say that one is better than the other. They both work for the people who use them, and that’s what matters. Recently though, I’ve been thinking about one area in which British and American English are very different: sport.

Even that word itself shows the beginning of the division: if you’re American you probably use sports when referring to the general concept of sport(s) (when I hear the word I always hear Homer Simpson’s final line from this clip:) Continue reading →

A Bit of a Do

Niall O'Donnell 8 Comments

I’ll be getting ready for my office Christmas party soon.

And by getting ready I mean probably changing my clothes.

it reminded me of a now probably old-fashioned Irishism, which is to refer to any kind of social gathering on a larger scale and more  than simply going to the pub as a do.

Sorry, I can’t go out tonight, we’re having our work Christmas do.

We’re having a bit of a do next week, if you want to come.

I’ve been invited to the mass, but I won’t be able to make it, so I’m just going to the evening do. Were you at their engagement do? Continue reading →

Practice Makes Perfect. Or is that “Practise…”

Niall O'Donnell 16 Comments

This post is something of a companion piece to yesterday’s.

Up until early February 2008, I never gave much thought to the spelling of the word practice. Or practise, for that matter. What happened then, in the last depths of winter, to change that?

I wrote my lesson plan for my first teaching practice on my teacher-training course, that’s what happened. Somewhere within that incredibly detailed plan, I wrote something along the lines of Students practice using the target language. Continue reading →