Today I'm angry about.....

[Wandering Willy]

Quite probably.

As Monty says - Americans don't do socialism.

Some would say that the long term trend should be people not living in low-lying swamp land if it is unsustainable on its own terms.

Or even people who keep rebuilding expensive homes on crumbling cliffs on the West coast or indeed whole cities built on geological faults.

Will everyone one in San Fran please leave.

[mummywhycantieatcrayons]

Quite probably.

As Monty says - Americans don't do socialism.

Some would say that the long term trend should be people not living in low-lying swamp land if it is unsustainable on its own terms.

Or even people who keep rebuilding expensive homes on crumbling cliffs on the West coast or indeed whole cities built on geological faults.

Will everyone one in San Fran please leave.

Well yeah, if they require outside subsidy there's a strong argument that it's a bad idea.

[thebish]

The sheer number of messages I get on facebook from people who post stuff like:

"I am posting a poppy on my fb page and I don't care who the f*ck is upset by it."

or

"I am proud to display a poppy on my fb page and anyone who is upset or offended can f*ck off"

stuff like this...



here's the news... nobody is stopping you - and nobody is offended... and...

[sarcasm]I am sure the people who fought and died in both world wars are deeply touched by your commitment.[/sarcasm]

[BWFC_Insane]

The sheer number of messages I get on facebook from people who post stuff like:

"I am posting a poppy on my fb page and I don't care who the f*ck is upset by it."

or

"I am proud to display a poppy on my fb page and anyone who is upset or offended can f*ck off"

here's the news... nobody is stopping you - and nobody is offended... and...

[sarcasm]I am sure the people who fought and died in both world wars are deeply touched by your commitment.[/sarcasm]

Translation: I am posting a poppy on my facebook page, please can some (ideally) brown person or (if needs must) non-British person become offended, so that I can offend you in a mildly racist way and justify my casual racism with some over the top moral outrage and then go and tell all my friends how this country has become "anti British"

[thebish]

The sheer number of messages I get on facebook from people who post stuff like:

"I am posting a poppy on my fb page and I don't care who the f*ck is upset by it."

or

"I am proud to display a poppy on my fb page and anyone who is upset or offended can f*ck off"

here's the news... nobody is stopping you - and nobody is offended... and...

[sarcasm]I am sure the people who fought and died in both world wars are deeply touched by your commitment.[/sarcasm]

Translation: I am posting a poppy on my facebook page, please can some (ideally) brown person or (if needs must) non-British person become offended, so that I can offend you in a mildly racist way and justify my casual racism with some over the top moral outrage and then go and tell all my friends how this country has become "anti British"

^ translation spot on...

which is why I am angry about it - because if anyone is "disrespecting what the poppy symbolises" it is the cretins who post this kind of shoite on their fb pages using the poppy as some kind of weapon in a vague anti-muslim agenda...

the people I know personally who post this stuff are NEVER the ones who actually turn up at the cenotaph on 11th of the 11th at 11am - and are often (oddly) seen NOT wearing a poppy on that day...

I am also vaguely angry about the poppy-fascism (ok - strong word - but I couldn't think of another) that seems to attach itself to the media. WEEKS ahead of 11th Nov. EVERY presenter on the BBC has been wearing a poppy - presumably because they HAVE to and are subject to a torrent of abuse and a witch-hunt if they don't - which (AGAIN) is a kind of anti-celebration of what the poppy is supposed to be about.

[Lord Kangana]

Yeah, but real fascism isn't as bad as liberal fascism.

Some c*nt at work walked in the other day saying "You have to wear a poppy if you're English". She got completely lost when I asked her what the Scots, Welsh and Irish were to do, or even if she'd prefer we had a society where you were told what to do and think. I mean completely lost. Bless her.

[Lost Leopard Spot]

Just a point. A small one. Muslims can be non-brown and British. They can even be white and British. They can even be White, English and born in this country. So why is it that when anybody is anti-muslim they are accused of racism. Islam is not a race, it's a religion.

(PS I don't post pro-poppy, you can fxck off if you don't like, messages on my facebook page. I wouldn't even if I had a facebook page. I'm just making a specific point. A small specific point.)

[thebish]

Just a point. A small one. Muslims can be non-brown and British. They can even be white and British. They can even be White, English and born in this country. So why is it that when anybody is anti-muslim they are accused of racism. Islam is not a race, it's a religion.

(PS I don't post pro-poppy, you can fxck off if you don't like, messages on my facebook page. I wouldn't even if I had a facebook page. I'm just making a specific point. A small specific point.)

indeed. I referred to a vague anti-muslim agenda because that's what it is. It is nowt to do with skin colour or even nationality.

[CrazyHorse]

Why is software always installed with the language option English (United States)? There's never an English (British) or god forbid an English (England) option.
Why is that?

[malcd1]

Why is software always installed with the language option English (United States)? There's never an English (British) or god forbid an English (England) option.
Why is that?

Because American's probably don't realise they speak English. They speak American don't they?

[Prufrock]

Guy in that London asking directions to Leicester (Lye-sester) Square was astounded and pleased to find my neighbour's map was 'printed in American'.

[Montreal Wanderer]

Why is software always installed with the language option English (United States)? There's never an English (British) or god forbid an English (England) option.
Why is that?

Because Canadians, being bilingual, would not know which option to chose.

[thebish]

Why is software always installed with the language option English (United States)? There's never an English (British) or god forbid an English (England) option.
Why is that?

Because Canadians, being bilingual, would not know which option to chose.

American or French?

[americantrotter]

Why is software always installed with the language option English (United States)? There's never an English (British) or god forbid an English (England) option.
Why is that?

Because American's probably don't realise they speak English. They speak American don't they?

Sadly, this is more true than I'd like to admit.

[Montreal Wanderer]

Why is software always installed with the language option English (United States)? There's never an English (British) or god forbid an English (England) option.
Why is that?

Because Canadians, being bilingual, would not know which option to chose.

American or French?

No, as a jest I suggested American English and British English since our language is a bit of a mix. Our softwares even offer Canadian English as an option.

[TANGODANCER]

Don't suppose it matters really. There are English on here who don't understand English.

[thebish]

Why is software always installed with the language option English (United States)? There's never an English (British) or god forbid an English (England) option.
Why is that?

Because Canadians, being bilingual, would not know which option to chose.

American or French?

No, as a jest I suggested American English and British English since our language is a bit of a mix. Our softwares even offer Canadian English as an option.

my Bro-in-law is canadian and he insists canadian is different to american... but not really enough to be THAT obvious!! - he certainly couldn't give me many examples where the canadians follow the english rather than the american...

can you offer some examples where Canadian is different to american? how many such examples are there?

[bobo the clown]

Why is software always installed with the language option English (United States)? There's never an English (British) or god forbid an English (England) option.
Why is that?

Because American's probably don't realise they speak English. They speak American don't they?

Sadly, this is more true than I'd like to admit.

I have, on 3 occasions, managed a project where we installed a 'global' system in a range of languages. On one occasion English/English simply wasn't an option. On two others it was, and it was installed in one case and not in the other ... largely because the firm (American owned) were not willing to pay for that option. It wasn't all that expensive, but persuading the seniors that it could actually matter and the "corridortime" (whinging) lost following its omission would more than cover the cost.

But hey, pre Euro, the conversations a colleague had trying to get the Yanks to understand that a). Europe wasn't a country and
b). Yes, there were many, many currencies ... even more than one called 'Franc' which were different
... were many and difficult.

In an attempt to clarify he even likened it to the US $ & the Canadian $. One person then "got it" as they then understood, after all this time, that France must have the Canadian Dollar .... which made sense coz they spoke French, like the Canadians.

Then, when he made some progress & returned home, upon arriving again it was as if the previous discussions had never happened !

[TANGODANCER]

American English? Is that where they pronounce "T" as "D"? ie, Putter=pudder, patio=padio, get= ged in the hole, etc etc. Where Colour=color and Honour = Honor, as in: "Americans talking about honour? They can't even spell the fxcking thing" (From, I think, a Flashman novel).

[Montreal Wanderer]

Why is software always installed with the language option English (United States)? There's never an English (British) or god forbid an English (England) option.
Why is that?

Because Canadians, being bilingual, would not know which option to chose.

American or French?

No, as a jest I suggested American English and British English since our language is a bit of a mix. Our softwares even offer Canadian English as an option.

my Bro-in-law is canadian and he insists canadian is different to american... but not really enough to be THAT obvious!! - he certainly couldn't give me many examples where the canadians follow the english rather than the american...

can you offer some examples where Canadian is different to american? how many such examples are there?

I believe your B-I-L lives out west in Alberta (I may have got that wrong). Canada is a very large country in area and there are huge regional differences. Now to attempt an answer to your question.

In terms of spelling we tend to be over 90% British (check the Canadian English Dictionary), so it is honour here - however we do use some Americanisms - e.g. program versus programme. We also tend to use -ize rather than -ise (the Oxford English Dictionary uses z like the Americans, but most English dictionaries go with s).

With regard to idioms, these are a very regional thing. Newfoundland English is very different from Canadian standard English (the locals are mostly descended from immigrants from the Celtic fringes and, combined with their relative historical isolation, this affects their language and accent. The other Maritime provinces are closer to Canadian standard. In Quebec the local English speakers historically had Francophone nannies and nurses, and so Quebec English has a kind of babblefish ring to it - for example we do not turn the lights on and off, we open and close them. Ontario comes closest to Canadian standard. In the US a flat is something unfortunate that happens to a car tire (sic) while here it can be an apartment and we would say flat tyre (sic) (flat can of course mean many other things as well from shoes to a box to put plants in). Across the prairies to the Rockies the local idioms tend to be closer to Western Americanisms, although altered by our much larger immigrant influences. For instance, Edmonton Alberta is ofter called Edmontschuk because of the large Ukrainian element. One Canadianism that always made me giggle was the word HOMO written in large letters on milk cartons.

Americans who come to Canada do become puzzled by linguistic differences and misunderstandings. They tend to write books for the edification of those who come after them. If you want a bunch of examples check these. This one is online:
http://americansguide.ca/isms.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; .