Kevin's Watch

It's a hard, oblong block of cereal (wheat mostly) that people drown in milk (or apparently spread jam on ) and eat.

Awful stuff.

Hey, I just realised that was my first post in The Galley.

I can't disagree that English as a language is an aggregate of many languages, it is. And it does make it flexible. Unfortunately, it also makes it one of the most complex and senseless languages that there is. I mean bow/bough sew/so/sow etc.

--A

It's the complexity of the language that makes English so unique. More complex thoughts and emotions are capable of being expressed in English than any other language because of it's very quirkiness and mixed heritage. It lacks the beauty and order of languages like spanish and French, but it does what language is supposed to do better than any other language.

One of my fondest memories of the USA is some dear friends who were really proud of their liking for Worcestershire Sauce - except they pronounced it phonetically - 'war-sest-er-shire', rather than the correct way ('woorster').

And I still maintain Weetbix is best with butter and Marmite.

I hear Americans like visiting Lice-ester square too!

Mmm... solidified pig blood.... Yummy!

Watch it! I'm American born this decade, and I spell colour the right way.

Of course, the teachers think that I'm a bit incompetent, but it's them, really.

Edge wrote:One of my fondest memories of the USA is some dear friends who were really proud of their liking for Worcestershire Sauce - except they pronounced it phonetically - 'war-sest-er-shire', rather than the correct way ('woorster').

Nathan wrote:I hear Americans like visiting Lice-ester square too!

English is indeed ridiculously random. But that just makes it fun

You know, I have to say I'm proud of this thread. Here I thought I'd get a couple of responses from a couple of Brits, and maybe a joke or two.......and instead, we've spanned Buffy, congealed blood, Germans, English cuisine, phonetic spelling, Worcestershire sauce, the linguistic fundaments of the English language, and occasionally touched back upon Weetabix.

You guys are cool!

Turiya Foul wrote:...I'm American born this decade, and I spell colour the right way.

Well done Turiya. Living proof that there is hope for the Americans.

Edge--I can't believe that you'd sully a noble thing like Marmite by spreading it on weetbix. One of the most awful combinations I've heard of.

BirdandBear, isn't English cuisine a contradiction in terms? I mean, their national dish seems to be curry!



--Avatar

Curry's Chinese. It's Chicken tikka masala, and proud of it.

I beg your pardon? I think you'll find greasy, lukewarm fish and chips is the national dish!

...and curry's actually Indian.

Edge wrote:...and curry's actually Indian.

Although you'd never think it walking down a London High Street

--A

Hahaha... yes yes, you definately started with a post about weetabix and ended up with an analysis of the dumbing down of society as an aspect of language, and also theroots of the english language. I don't know if he started it, but my instincts tell me to blame Avatar. Hehehe... *dissapears back to the Close*

Ha Ha. Weetabix is 'orrible. It gets soggy far far too quickly. Whats best is Shreddies, preferably frosted. Or maybe Scott's Prorridge Oats. Yum. Best thing on a cold winter's morning. Or maybe Shredded Wheat with mucho sugar.

On the weirdness of English... anybody read Bill Bryson's book about the history of English Language? I think its called something like Mother Tongue 'Specially entertaining when it comes to British place-names, which are generally bonkers, much better than American ones, which were standardised by the american postal service in the 1920s or so he says.

And on the wierdness of British cuisine... we used to be able to cook, honest! the trouble is the rationing of WWII. Food was too precious to waste so nobody got taught and we only got the bare essentials until the 1950s or summit.

JemCheeta wrote:I don't know if he started it, but my instincts tell me to blame Avatar.

I can honestly say it wasn't my fault this time, although I may have contributed. I arrived in the middle of the language discussion, and didn't even realise it was a thread about Weetbix until halfway through my post.

I think Dr Evil makes a good point though. We don't always realise what an effect WWII still has on the British perspective, even to this day.

--Avatar

Weetabix rules!

Looks like I missed this discussion first time around, heh. On the rare occasions I actually eat breakfast, Weetabix is what I have (with milk and sugar - there's no way I'm eating one of those things dry). Great stuff.

I've heard from a friend at school who's pakistani, (so he knows what he's talking about) that curry is actually not the thing we call curry. It's potato samosas (they have a proper name but I've forgotten it) mashed up in a bowl with rice.