General Discussions

**angele803** · 12-29-2006, 08:02 PM

Im in the US and have a strange question for our British folks. From reading things online and reading some 'Doctor Who' books (yes I am a nerd), I have noticed a lack of the letter "Z". Does that letter exist in the UK???? This is probably the dumbest question ever asked, but I am really curious.

(IE 'Cozy' was spelled 'Cosy')

**stOx** · 12-30-2006, 12:23 PM

<whisper>You *do* know we use the same alphabet, don't you?</whisper> :P

Yeah the "Z" does exist in British English, But you guys like to uze it more than we do.
We also pronounce that letter ZED, Not ZEE like our trans-atlantic cousins.

**blue-dreamer** · 12-30-2006, 01:29 PM

lol... it's not that we don't use the letter "z" but US English has respelt many words replacing letter s's. Differences like Organisation/Organization spring to mind.

**angele803** · 12-31-2006, 10:02 PM

Thanks guys! It was really making me curious!

**dansgalaxy** · 01-01-2007, 06:54 PM

ill be blunt its not that we DON'T use the letter Z its just the Americans have taken our language and f**ked it up lmao.

No im jokeing... well im not but...

sorry im so going to start ranting... i better use the correct code...

<rant>
THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS US-ENGLISH!!!!
Blinking microsoft did most of this!

COLOUR has a U a U not color! its colour!
and flavour NOT flovor!

and this i was discusted when i saw a BRITISH person and labled a cd with software disk! its DISC!

americans have take the english language changed it and it meaning's and they the have the check to still call it english!

u say we dont uZe Z's why the hell dont you use U's colo<u><b>u</b></u>r etc etc... hello? were ENGLISH get that! there fore when it comes to the ENGLISH language i think we are right!...

</rant>

Sorry to all americans i have probally... No... HAVE offended you. im sorry its not my fault i just have a anti- english-us thing. i mean software now says english-us aaargh

anyway

now no one will want to help me...lol

dan

okay please dont like give me bad talkupation lol its only a rant.

i cant wait to c the replies this gets...

**Republikin** · 01-01-2007, 07:11 PM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noah_Webster

Dan, first, take your time to ensure that what your saying is factually accurate, second...

Quote:

im sorry its not my fault

Please take responsibility for your own words.

**angele803** · 01-01-2007, 07:43 PM

Wow, I didnt mean to make someone so angry over the letter "z". I was just curious as to why I didnt see it in English-UK writing.
And I dont think you should be mad at current Americans. We dont sit around and think on how to change the spelling of different words. Most spelling differences had to have happened a long time ago...way before I was born (like in Webster's time. Thanks for the link Republikin!).

**stOx** · 01-02-2007, 05:03 AM

I am also "discusted" at people not taking time to spell English correctly. I "c" this kind of thing a lot on the internet,. The "check" of some people. And I'm not "jokeing".

**Republikin** · 01-02-2007, 08:45 AM

i c, so u tink this is annoying? i think itts ubber 1347

**atwitt57** · 01-02-2007, 12:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Republikin

i c, so u tink this is annoying? i think itts ubber 1347

ok 1st of all its 1337 not 1347. 2nd of all no 1 kars if we use pore inglish

**vangogh** · 01-02-2007, 06:34 PM

I'm pretty sure Republikan's spelling of 1337 as 1347 was done on purpose for the misspelling. I'm pretty sure it was meant as a joke.

One thing about language that people seem to forget is it evolves over time. For everyone here who thinks only their country gets it right look back in history as little as a couple hundred years and see how different your language was. That goes for all languages, not just English.

If any of us were to somehow go into suspended animation for a thousand years and come out of it in the same country which still speaks the same language there's a good chance you might not understand them and they might not understand you.

witt people do care if you use poor English. It's not so much that every thing needs to be proper and perfect, but all the abbreviations and hacker speak lead to a lot of miscommunication. In some circles it's perfectly appropriate and understood fine and in others it's possible no one would have any idea what you were talking about.

Will I likely answer you if you misspell a few words? Sure. But if I have to decipher every other word you use then I'm moving on.

I've also noticed that most people who use abbreviations en masse aren't at all consistent. The same abbreviation can mean 10 different things with 10 different speakers. That's in many ways why it can cause problems in communication.

If you're trying to sell something on a website it absolutely matters as most people will leave your site after seeing one to many errors in language.

But again if you're with a group of friends or engaging in conversation with a community that generally uses a hack version of the language then there's really nothing wrong with it. The whole point of language is to enable us to communicate and if you're able to communicate with misspellings and poor grammar then it works for me.

**dansgalaxy** · 01-03-2007, 09:04 AM

IM NOT MAD! i was p***ing my self laughing while doing it! lol i was only jokeing, and *most* of the misspelling was be becasue my keyboard was mucked up so it kept missing letter when i was typeing. lmao

also while looking up the differances between English and us-english i found out somin which i found terrible funny.

Us-english is actually closer to old english because england has been invaded etc and are language has adapted and been modifed and alterd and influenced by many other languages.

so apologies to anyone i offend in my rant. i was kidding!

dan

**vangogh** · 01-04-2007, 01:10 AM

I can only speak for myself Dan, but I wasn't offended at all. I'm getting a kick out of this thread myself.

That's interesting that US English is closer to Old English. Does that mean we Americans can now make fun of the British for mangling the language?

I never imagined that would be possible.

English in generally is a pretty adaptive language constantly borrowing from other languages so it's no wonder that two communities with enough distance between them would develop different versions of the language. I think it's also what makes it hard for people to learn.

Maybe we can call the Americanized version English 2.0. My apologies for even using that phrase.

**dansgalaxy** · 01-04-2007, 07:01 AM

actually if the english version of english is more adapted would that be english 2.0 and us-english be english 1.0?

anyway we have improved out language! theres one way to look at it! ur unadaptive we are hehe!

dan

**ladycazzeh** · 01-04-2007, 08:10 AM

For some reason, it really gets on my nerves when people litter their conversations with abbreviations for simple words like a U instead of You.

And as for the latest fad of typing completely in text speak its really annoying to say the least. I tend to avoid places where people cannot be bothered to try and type messages properly (I dont mind typo's though because I'm fond of mis-spelling words when typing fast.)

As for the Z point, Ive noticed us Brits dont tend to use it a lot. I wonder why that is.

**vangogh** · 01-04-2007, 12:34 PM

Dan I think you're right. Maybe the US is just hanging on to English 1.0 and is behind in adopting the new 2.0 standard.

Cazzy, I'm not really sure that Brits aren't using text speak. Have a look through Dan's posts. (sorry Dan for calling attention to it)

I think text speak has more to do with things other than country of origin. My apologies for the generalization, but youth seems to play a role often. I think in many cases it depends on what technologies are in place with which you communicate.

personally I don't text message much or at all, but it's easy to see how if you do you'd want to save on the characters you type. Similarly with instant messaging, which I do more often.

When I am on IM I do use more shortcuts to communicate. It tends to be less of the accepted text speak as it is abbreviations that have developed over time with the specific people on the other end of the messenger. I am aware though of the medium over which I'm communicating and so generally don't take text speak here to a forum.

I think though that as more people are becoming accustomed to communicating first or most often over mediums like text messaging and instant messaging or chat rooms that the text speak spills over into other mediums.

I agree with you in that I don't like seeing it everywhere. I still think it's the communication that's most important and as long as I can understand the abbreviations I don't mind and I will respond. I do think that communication does break down somewhat with text speak since not all will use the same abbreviations or understand all of them. And for me the abbreviations carry less meaning than the full word.

I suspect though that for many who engage in text speak more often than I that there is a lot more meaning carried in some abbreviations than I'm aware.

In the end I see it as another form or dialect of language. It may not always be appropriate to use, but when it is it's fine.

**dansgalaxy** · 01-04-2007, 01:38 PM

with regards to text type... hey lets call it that maybe texttype?... anyway.

i tend to use nly simple abbriviations like U instead of you simply becasue it is the easiest to know even if you dont know the shortcuts etc

i do agree though it is over used and i am guilty of it becoming more of a norm that using he full words, without realiseing it i wrote u instead of you on a daft of my gcse coursework for english. which my teacher kindly pointed out... so i would like to get out of da habbit (intentional.. da)

btw (example of texttype lmao!) haha i was agreed lmao im on a high language! well maybe not... lol

Just to say... i want to get people talking on this thread

http://www.webmaster-talk.com/genera...-about-it.html
Its all about monty python!

python fact: john cleese was the first person to say s**t on british TV!

(please talk about python on my python thread not here lol)

**vangogh** · 01-05-2007, 02:01 AM

Dan I don't think you overuse it at all, but your teacher is right that it's good to break the habit. I think you just have to know where it's appropriate to use.

You probably don't use the same language when you're hanging out with friends as you do when you're talking to your mother. I think with texttype it's the same kind of thing. In certain chatrooms it's perfectly fine and acceptable and in other places it's best to type out full words and be as grammatical correct as possible.