After That: 2020

Friday

British English versus American English

The English language was first introduced to the Americas by British colonization, beginning in the late 16th and early 17th centuries.

The language also spread to numerous other parts of the world as a result of British trade and colonization and the spread of the former British Empire, which, by 1921, included about 470–570 million people, about a quarter of the world's population.

Written forms of British and American English as found in newspapers and textbooks vary little in their essential features, with only occasional noticeable differences. (Source: Wikipedia)

The main difference between British English and American English is in pronunciation. Some words are also different in each variety of English, and there are also a few differences in the way they use grammar.

ACTIVITY

VIDEO QUIZ

"Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" is a song written by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin for the 1937 film Shall We Dance, where it was introduced by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers as part of a celebrated dance duet on roller skates.

The song is most famous for its “You like to-may-toes /təˈmeɪtoʊz/ and I like to-mah-toes /təˈmɑːtoʊz/” and other verses comparing their different regional dialects.

The differences in pronunciation are not simply regional, however, but serve more specifically to identify class differences. At the time, typical American pronunciations were considered less "refined" by the upper-class, and there was a specific emphasis on the "broader" a sound. This class distinction with respect to pronunciation has been retained in caricatures, especially in the theater, where the longer a pronunciation is most strongly associated with the word "darling."

Enjoy the video!

Which words do you know that are spelled differently but have the same
meaning? Name as many as you can.

A different version :-)

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