"al_Mossah" <
[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Divided by a common language! Have you ever been on a US 'plane when, on landing, the cabin
> service director informs the passengers that the doors will open "momentarily". The Brits
> immediately panic, assuming that the doors will open FOR a moment, whereas the Americans assume
> that they will open IN a moment.
>
> The Americans have "gotten" things, whereas we have "got" them. But we
have
> "forgotten" things, whilst the Americans have "forgot" things.
>
> I love it.
While the Germans were modifying the rules of spelling and grammar recently (well, within the last 6
or 7 year) I was asked, in all seriousness, at a party who controlled the English language. They
thought my initial laugh somewhat rude. I never did know if they fully appreciated the concept of
anarchy that reigns supreme.
Anyway, I have less problem with Americans than with my teenage nephew & niece -- who seem to speak
a completely different argot.
T