Y'all kinda touched on this earlier, but remember that when Webster wrote his American dictionary, it was precisely to distinguish American from British, and to give us a sense of pride in our "own" language. That's always in the back of my mind when Brits rag on Americans for using our own language. They are NOT the same thing. They are NOT mutually comprehensible. And I don't see how when Brits say, "AE is okay in narration but not in dialogue " -- how do they expect Americans to suddenly know how to "speak" proper British?
And of course, German almost became our national language. In the part of the country were I live, a wave of German immigrants came over in the mid 19th century. Some of the older folks here still speak German. But it is not the way people speak it in Germany today. They speak an older, archaic version that died out in the "motherland" long ago. They have trouble understanding modern German.
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Date: 2007-03-28 01:52 pm (UTC)And of course, German almost became our national language. In the part of the country were I live, a wave of German immigrants came over in the mid 19th century. Some of the older folks here still speak German. But it is not the way people speak it in Germany today. They speak an older, archaic version that died out in the "motherland" long ago. They have trouble understanding modern German.