Why...

[highlandsflyer]

I find that the Americans generally speak English more correctly than we do.

For example you won't hear an American say "John and myself went to...."
they will always say "John and I went to...." and you won't hear them say "less" when "fewer" is the correct word.



But they do have funny spelling

Having spent part of my life living there, and having half my family there, I have to say that US inhabitants tend to go their own way with the language. The best English I have heard is spoken in Scandinavia and some of the South East Asian countries.

One thing US folk tend to do is speak with authority. Albeit on many subjects they know jack about.

Perhaps it is an illusion based on affability and good teeth rather than anything else.

 

[highlandsflyer]

True
How's your Gaelic?

The English language is that in name only.

Some of the greatest writers in that are Scots.

Most of Scotland never spoke Gaelic.

 

[dyna-ti]

Flyer ?
Or
Flier ?

 

[highlandsflyer]

Pourquoi?

 

[Easy_Rider]

Maybe so, I can only speak from my experience in talking to them daily from work.
English is a bastard language, half it's words are French and isn't its closest cousin Flemish?
I don't know why but when people use the word "myself" incorrectly it does wind me up, I'm not anal about speaking correctly, I probably make many mistakes myself.
I didn't realise Gaelic was not widely spoken, having grown up in Wales and studied Welsh in School I thought Gaelic was the Scottish language.

 

[The Ken]

Gaelic is an island and north west coast accent in Scotland, on the north East you have Doric, anything below the highlands is english really.

The Sassenach divide was the highland border (Rhu to Stonehaven) with the lowlands, and not the scottish/english border as a lot think. Sassenach is simply Saxons in gaelic.

Doric although strictly a dialect is the one of the main sources of the Scots language.

 

[yagamuffin]

\\Pedant mode on\\

Movie is a shortened version of 'moving picture' which is what you are actually seeing. The film is held in the projector behind you. Only if you are going to the cinema to work in the projector booth are you actually going to see a film!

//Pedant mode of//

As has been mentioned earlier, sometimes Americans use English better than the English.

Take soccer, this is a shortened version of 'Association Football' and is actually a more precise term than football - which could also be used to describe Rugby (Rugby Football), or even the dodgy American version of the sport.