Path: ...!3.eu.feeder.erje.net!2.eu.feeder.erje.net!feeder.erje.net!weretis.net!feeder8.news.weretis.net!reader5.news.weretis.net!news.solani.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: suzeeq Newsgroups: rec.arts.tv Subject: Re: [OT] Is English just badly pronounced French? Date: Sun, 31 Mar 2024 11:40:37 -0700 Message-ID: References: <20240331135630.000017f4@example.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Injection-Date: Sun, 31 Mar 2024 18:40:37 -0000 (UTC) Injection-Info: solani.org; logging-data="2188925"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@news.solani.org" User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; WOW64; rv:68.0) Gecko/20100101 Thunderbird/68.12.1 Cancel-Lock: sha1:SM8/meUPYCeyAq4OevnoPkaOMIw= In-Reply-To: <20240331135630.000017f4@example.com> X-User-ID: eJwFwYcBwDAIA7CXwrCh54SR/0+oBKOwwwk6Hh5ZAz/jbB1BuNvqqbWyhU5cydsRa5JfascPEakQoA== Content-Language: en-US Bytes: 3371 Lines: 47 On 3/31/2024 10:56 AM, Rhino wrote: > On Sun, 31 Mar 2024 06:35:33 -0700 > suzeeq wrote: > >> On 3/30/2024 10:03 PM, Your Name wrote: >>> On 2024-03-31 03:48:30 +0000, suzeeq said: >>>> On 3/30/2024 7:28 PM, Rhino wrote: >>>>> >>>>> I apologize in advance to Americans who are inevitably aggrieved >>>>> by all things French just on principle but this video actually >>>>> makes a pretty good case for saying that English is >>>>> badly-pronounced French to a large extent. >>>>> >>>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUL29y0vJ8Q [18 minutes] >>>>> >>>>> When he explains all the English words that are borrowed from >>>>> French with only slight spelling and pronunciation changes, you >>>>> may well be persuaded by his argument. >>>> >>>> I wondered why the Brits call cookies 'biscuits'. Then I realized >>>> it comes from the French word for cookies 'bicotte'. They also >>>> call eggplants 'aubergines' and zucchini 'corgettes'. There's >>>> probably dozens of other words I can't recall now. >>> >>> The English language originates from a melding of many sources with >>> words being 'borrowed' from other languages, including French, >>> German, Gaelic, Celtic, etc.   Some words have altered over time, >>> but some words (e.g. rendezvous) have stayed the same as the >>> original. >>> >>> "American English" is a sub-version that has its own unique >>> spellings and meanings for words. Partly because (despite hating >>> the British rule) they have stubbornly stuck to out-dated versions >>> of words, as well as out-dated measurement systems, that the >>> original Pilgrims brought with them rather than staying >>> contemporary with *real* English. >> >> While GB officially went metric, many people still use the Imperial >> measurements, at least for linear measures, not so much for weight. >>> > The Brits weigh themselves in "stones" not pounds or kilograms. (I > believe a stone is 14 pounds.) These stones are definitely not metric > but I'm not sure they can truly be called Imperial either since they > aren't used anywhere outside the UK, as far as I know. Yeah, I don't know where stone comes from. I was thinking smaller, like pounds and ounces. >