What if America Had Remained Part of the Crown?

[glyn]

Just because Georgie III was as mad as a box of frogs there really was no need to overdo things. Lunacy can strike in any family. You ex-colonials have some funny ways. You seceded from the Crown and thought that a spiffing wheeze, but what a great tizzy you made when the Confederacy wanted to do the same less than a century later. Can't you even try to be a little more consistent?

[gunnut]

The chances are that you would be speaking correctly, employing better manners and even spelling things the right way!

We would use petrol instead of gasoline and drive on the wrong side of the road.

[dalem]

Damn, dale, you picked a lulu.

I was yammering with a buddy about the AWI, and we were discussing books (I recommend Benson Bobrick's "Angel in the Whirlwind" very highly. A little Washington-worship, but a very readable overview), etc. I was thinking that maybe if the Stamp Tax had been better presented or received, for instance, the whole thing could have blown over. As you say, in the beginning the Franklins and the like were horrified at the idea of leaving the Empire and most definitely could have been accomodated.

I hadn't even thought of the territorial aspects that have been brought up. I can't imagine France selling Louisiana to their blood enemies the English :). Probably would have gone to Spain or Portugal. Or Rome! A Holy Roman Bayou! :)

-dale

[Kernow]

You would all be poor. You would have a Queen and not a First Lady. You would be far more civilised. Fast food would not have been invented and there would be no obesity in the world. You would be eating scones and cream. You would be driving vehicles and not not vee-hiccles. Oh yes and you wouldn't be so loud.

[Kernow]

Oh yes and you would play soccer as bad as we do.

[JAD_333]

:)

I was yammering with a buddy about the AWI, and we were discussing books (I recommend Benson Bobrick's "Angel in the Whirlwind" very highly.

Always on the hunt for a good read. I'll look for it. Recent?

I was thinking that maybe if the Stamp Tax had been better presented or received, for instance, the whole thing could have blown over.

Good point. The Crown was trying to defray the high cost of protecting the colonies from the French during the French-Indian war and thought the taxes they'd levied were a pittance. I think what rankled the colonists was lack of representation in Parliament. The colonists were ungrateful wretches. :)

A Holy Roman Bayou! :)

lol..good one.

[dalem]

:)

Always on the hunt for a good read. I'll look for it. Recent?

No, about 10 years old I think.

-dale

[glyn]

We would use petrol instead of gasoline and drive on the wrong side of the road.

Well done, that man there! :) You have restored my faith in Americans almost single-handedly.:) Spread the word that 'petrol' is to be used in place of the nonsensical 'gasoline' and encourage your politicians to re-organise the rules of the road so that we all know which is the correct side to drive on. Ensure you have slow lanes and fast lanes on your oversized Interstates. Driving in the US is like being in Paddy's market - bloody chaos!
Now you need to master diction, so have a cockshy at "May maid Mary marry merry Murray, mother?" (hint: It should not sound like murrymurrymurry!). Next, you are required to do something about the spelling of words lke 'donut', 'nite', 'lite' and other common outrages. Do this, and I can see a peerage coming your way!:)

[astralis]

glyn,

just wondering, is there any particular US accent that you find, ah, less outrageous in the pronunciation of the english language? or is it all the same? i've wondered about this in regards to brits.

[dave angel]

glyn,

just wondering, is there any particular US accent that you find, ah, less outrageous in the pronunciation of the english language? or is it all the same? i've wondered about this in regards to brits.

hearing an educated - i suppose i mean less-strident - southern accent is like having Liv Tyler make love to your ears, a New York/Jersey accent drives one to beat its owner to death with the nearest wall. the rather nasty 'like, OMG' califorinan accent (or perhaps dialect?) produces a similar result.

i suppose its a kind of a reflection on the way we view the differing parts of american society, with a southern accent you can imagine the speaker smiling at you while they're speaking, with a dreadful New York nasal accent you can imagine them stabbing you for standing on the PAVEMENT!, while the Californian accent - or perhaps 'shopping mall' accent - gives the distinct impression of absolute inactivity between the ears and appears to intone that while said imbecile may be speaking at you, they aren't actually aware of your existance...

perhaps, in light of Shek's rather excellent idea of a monthly book club, we should lay on a monthly 'how to speak and write English' club where the chosen among us can give gentle help to our less fortunate cousins in putting the letter 'U' in words, not subtituting the letter 'D' for the letter 'T', and not devising really naff alternative words for high-quality offensive language.

yippee ky-ay muddyfunsters!

[dalem]

glyn,

just wondering, is there any particular US accent that you find, ah, less outrageous in the pronunciation of the english language? or is it all the same? i've wondered about this in regards to brits.

I remember hearing, in an interview I believe, the linguist John McWhorter say that it's the British who have moved further away from the King's English since the Revolution, and that blue-blood New Englanders (you know, the "Daaahling" types) actually are closer to how English was spoken at the time.

-dale

[TopHatter]

E2A: Mods and Admins, you really need to sort out the word sensor, you can say 'Bush' but not 'D yke', whas goin' on?

D-y-k-e is a disparaging word for the Sister's of Sappho, so it's censored out.

Yes, it's also a proper noun for a person's surname, but...

Hey, at least we've corrected "saltwater" and "Chardonnay"

By the way, go ahead PM Ironduke or myself directly if you find censor bugs.

i suppose its a kind of a reflection on the way we view the differing parts of american society, with a southern accent you can imagine the speaker smiling at you while they're speaking, with a dreadful New York nasal accent you can imagine them stabbing you for standing on the PAVEMENT!, while the Californian accent - or perhaps 'shopping mall' accent - gives the distinct impression of absolute inactivity between the ears and appears to intone that while said imbecile may be speaking at you, they aren't actually aware of your existance...

Don't worry Dave, you chaps aren't the only ones that feel that way.

New Yawk and New Joisey accents tend to be just a tad harsh on the ears, not to mention the classic Bostonian and Rhode Island "pahk da cah" stuff...

The California "Valley" accent is equally inane to the rest of the country. Fortunately you don't usually encounter it outside it's native territory.

A lovely belle with a soft Virginia accent is one of the finer pleasures in life...:)

You ex-colonials have some funny ways. You seceded from the Crown and thought that a spiffing wheeze, but what a great tizzy you made when the Confederacy wanted to do the same less than a century later. Can't you even try to be a little more consistent?

Point of order! They (the Confederacy) fired first!

And hey, I didn't exactly see the Queen's ships and the Queen's men rushing to the Confederacy's aid either...!

[glyn]

I remember hearing, in an interview I believe, the linguist John McWhorter say that it's the British who have moved further away from the King's English since the Revolution, and that blue-blood New Englanders (you know, the "Daaahling" types) actually are closer to how English was spoken at the time.

-dale

He might even be (partly) right, but he is undoubtably an expert and the problem with experts is they rarely find something to agree on.:)

[BD1]

Well , the English members should start this purity campaign in their homeland ;) . About a year ago a Englishman became a customer to my employer. Came in several times , spoke with impossible accent and luckily was a good-humoured man , because everybody kept asking him (unintenionally) ´Sorry , do You speak English?´

[glyn]

glyn,

just wondering, is there any particular US accent that you find, ah, less outrageous in the pronunciation of the english language? or is it all the same? i've wondered about this in regards to brits.

Good question, and not an easy one to answer. The American accent has been changing, as we can see from watching old films (movies). 50 or 60 years ago it sounded quite different from films made today. It was closer to standard English then. Pronunciation of the name 'Bob' has changed to BAAB in that time span. I like regional accents and I think they add interest. In the UK regional accents were even more marked before the advent of radio, and then TV came along - so we are changing also! I think a lot of early settlers went to the Appalachians and because they were rather isolated their speech could be different from mainstream America. I know they kept dulcimer music alive while it has all but died out here.:)