How nerdy are you about English?

[Thunderfoot]

Heh.

'Strawberries with cream' in Finnish is 'mansikat kerman kanssa'. In Danish I think it's 'jordbær med fløde'.

How hard they are depends on what you're used to I guess. In Finnish you need to know how the words divide into sounds (man si kat ker man kans sa). The Danish pronounciation has you touching the back of your palete with your tongue which can be pretty difficult.

Yep, it was the Danish, as I read it my old senile brain decided to fire.

 

[Thunderfoot]

The basic point is very simple - if you don't talk like Us, you are one of Them. Human tribalism runs pretty deep. And it isn't just a matter of native English speakers treating non-native speakers poorly about language use, specifically.

Back in high school, I took four years of French. I could carry on reasonable conversation. But trying to communicate with people in Quebec was like pulling teeth. I had better luck using English than I did my non-native-accented French.

You can even see the dynamic between different accents of English, where some accents and colloquial speech patterns are correlated with socio-economic status and political leanings, and you can see strong cases where someone who speaks with the wrong non-local accent can get treated like dirt.

Humans, are, unfortunately, pretty darned disappointing at times.

You are dead on here. As a Heartlander, my speech and my written word rarely see I to eye. (yes I meant that.) Ending sentences in prepositions, writing, never speaking I can't help it, it's how I was taught to speak. It took me forever to realize that washcloth, washing and wash didn't have an "r" after the a and before the s; or that across is not pronounced "acrost". When I'm tired (especially after a very long day where the old noggin has been beat to snot) I often find myself slipping back in to some of the less savory aspects of "hick" speech.

And of course my tpiyng si atorciuos.

 

[DumbPaladin]

I don't correct strangers on their English.

I do correct people who have expressed a genuine interest to better their English skills, or people I am friends with. There's nothing douche-y about doing either.

It certainly matters HOW you do it, of course. It helps that I was an ESL tutor ... I just deliver all of my English advice these days as if talking to someone I'm tutoring. I haven't had anyone get offended yet.

 

[jonesy]

It took me forever to realize that washcloth, washing and wash didn't have an "r" after the a and before the s; or that across is not pronounced "acrost".

Warshcloth, warshing, and warsh?

For me those sound really really hard to pronounce. Harder than jordbær med fløde.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I'm reminded of some Icelanders in a news piece who taught the proper pronunciation of Eyjafjallajökull...but found certain common English phrases to be terrible tongue twisters.

...and a recent Norwegian documentary about the Taliban in which, despite subtitles, I could not distinguish names like "Omar" from the flow of conversation.

Languages are tough...

 

[Marius Delphus]

It varies; mostly depends on the context.

My day job includes technical editing. I want my children to learn correct English. My mother-in-law is a retired technical editor and bristles at incorrect English.

On the other hand, if none of those things are at work, I feel that how other people speak and write/type is (mostly) their business. Certainly people for whom English is a second language deserve a break. I'm often too lazy to "prim and proper-ize" things I post on messageboards.

 

[Thunderfoot]

Warshcloth, warshing, and warsh?

For me those sound really really hard to pronounce. Harder than jordbær med fløde.

Wow.... I guess it really is what you know. Pronunciation help below, just in case you're every (that's another one) in Southern Illinois.

/WOOR-sh/
/WOOR-shing/
/WOOR-sh-klah-th/

 

[thastygliax]

"Or as they say back in Indiana, Warshington." --David Letterman

I was an English minor in college, taught a composition class as an English TA for a year, and have done work as a RPG proofreader and editor, so I confess that I do have a bit of an aversive reaction to poor English. But I try not to criticize unless it's my kids (7 and 5), or I'm specifically asked to correct something, or if it's so unclear that I can't follow what the person is saying. OTOH, if a friend has mistyped something in an amusing way, they're fair game.

I can also understand Thunderfoot's situation, as I grew up in rural Indiana. I somehow managed to avoid acquiring too pronounced of a Midwestern twang--maybe it was all that PBS I watched as a kid, where nobody sounded like the people I knew. Occasionally someone here in Boston will comment on how I don't seem to have much of an accent except when I pronounce a few specific words. I do notice my own family's accents a lot more now that I've lived out of state since college.

And I can still shock friends who have known me for years by breaking out a thick hick drawl, channeling various people I grew up with.

 

[Starman]

Ta-nehisi Coates had a great post on his blog a couple of years ago related to this topic in which he spoke with an editor for the OED.

 

[GreyLord]

I was an English minor in college, taught a composition class as an English TA for a year, and have done work as a RPG proofreader and editor,

I have poor English, but claiming that you were an RPG proofreader and editor seems a little less then impressive considering how many RPG's out there seem to have a LOT of grammar errors. I think even the better ones typically have basic grammar errors found in spelling amongst others.

I shouldn't have mentioned this, and I don't mean to be offensive, but I wouldn't claim any expertise or experience in being able to critique others English by stating I was a proofreader for RPGs. They typically have terrible grammar and english, with even the best putting out errata to correct their English.