Alan Cox wrote:
Dialects in the UK and Ireland have all but disappeared.
When I was young Geordies and Glaswegians were unintelligible.
They are alive and well (and unintelligible). As to the US English use
well in the UK proper it is considered a sign of poor education, lack of
intelligence and being socially disadvantaged to speak like an American
(unless you are one, in which case we'll feel sorry for you instead
providing you didn't vote for Bush). Thus it does matter hugely to the
point it determines influence, jobs and career paths
Wow, now here's something new - someone slipping yet another "slam
America" post into a discussion on this list. And look, it even has one
of those rare political statements about Bush. How original.
Please, let's stick to issues that aren't political in nature. It's
getting harder and harder to find places where people have the common
decency to keep their political opinions to themselves and I would hate
to see this forum become polluted with more of this inappropriate
content. Besides, it's just plain impolite; nobody likes to have their
country bashed by anyone much less someone who doesn't even live there.
Tom
