Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
LMAO the english did not create the language. It is what was originally German LMAO. Your lanuage is a variation of a Germanic language (old English) that evolved to what you use as Modern English. You can't rewrite history, Mate lol
Yet there you are attempting to do just that! 🤣 FYI; modern English is an evolution of multiple original language influences, not just 'German'. Do your homework.
 
Yet there you are attempting to do just that! 🤣 FYI; modern English is an evolution of multiple original language influences, not just 'German'. Do your homework.
I have done my homework :)
And you just made my point that Modern English is an Evolution and not the original. Which was my point overall lmao.
Come on now. :)
 
I have done my homework :)
And you just made my point that Modern English is an Evolution and not the original. Which was my point overall lmao.
Come on now. :)
Not very well, cos you missed out all the other linguistic influences in the formation of modern English, such as Norse, Latin, French, Norman, Gallic, Pictish, etc etc etc.

For the purposes of this 'discussion', English is the OG and US English is the copy. :cool:
 
Not very well, cos you missed out all the other linguistic influences in the formation of modern English, such as Norse, Latin, French, Norman, Gallic, Pictish, etc etc etc.

For the purposes of this 'discussion', English is the OG and US English is the copy. :cool:
LOL yes double down on being wrong :p I admire it! <3
 
May I throw in time?

At home, we often say things like "half past 17", "nineteen o'clock", etc.

About time (ha!) we universally adopted 24-hour clock.
Yes, but the British often leave 'past' out. Gets very confusing when half five is actually not half of five (i.e. 16:30) but they mean half of six or half past five.

Especially as I'm 2 weeks in the UK and 2 weeks on continental europe my mind explodes at times. So I just use the 24 hour clock as well. And add the timezone to it...
 
  • Like
Reactions: polyphenol
Not very well, cos you missed out all the other linguistic influences in the formation of modern English, such as Norse, Latin, French, Norman, Gallic, Pictish, etc etc etc.

For the purposes of this 'discussion', English is the OG and US English is the copy. :cool:
I'm with you on that one. Sure, English has got its origin in many languages, but US English was forked from English and then evolved on its own fork. But, at the same time, on a global level and with diminishing importance of the UK, I'd say that later merge requests from en-us back into en have overtaken the fork from en to en-gb.

So, in my opinion, you are both right :p
 
  • Like
Reactions: Scepticalscribe
Yes, but the British often leave 'past' out. Gets very confusing when half five is actually not half of five (i.e. 16:30) but they mean half of six or half past five.

Especially as I'm 2 weeks in the UK and 2 weeks on continental europe my mind explodes at times. So I just use the 24 hour clock as well. And add the timezone to it...
But, for example, in German they leave out the "vor"!

Though "fifteen inches half" would never be interpreted as fourteen and a half inches despite not having "and".
 
Actually some US English elements are actually closer to the original English roots and it's UK English that has evolved ( or devolved if you prefer)
You're right. The guys writing the dictionaries in England decided to bring British English closer to French. That never happened in America.
 
  • Like
Reactions: scorpio vega
I agree completely. YYYY/MM/DD is by far the best system to use and is often used by computer programmers. It would make so much more sense to use that as a replacement system.

The YYYY-MM-DD is the best system to use and already standard as part of ISO 8601. Also where helpful to include a date in a filename, some systems prohibit / as part of a filename.

I recommend in all cases where it is not required to use another format.
 
LMAO the english did not create the language. It is what was originally German LMAO.
Err, I'll field this one, as a Brit that lives in Germany. Not quite right. English is a Germanic language, yes, but it certainly was not "originally German". That's a bizarre claim. It's a hodgepodge of mixed European influences (and it's not alone in that). Line up English and German side by side and they're very different, in both vocabulary and grammar.

If you claim that English people did not create English, one could also claim that no Europeans have created their own language... Both claims would be ridiculous, however. Google is your friend... have a gander... 🙄

Edit: Bonus points for finding out where English people themselves originated... 😉 Angles and Saxons did not come from East Anglia 😁
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Scepticalscribe
Yet the tyre industry still uses inches for diameters. (Widths seem to be metric but sometimes presented in inches.) But they also include an unusual element - a percentage - of height to width. And more significantly, this seems to be true round the world.

All depends on the tire. Once you get to large offroad truck tires, they go to inches. 33's, 35's, 37's etc. And that's because you wouldn't want to hear a redneck brag about a new set of 315/60's on his truck. Just wouldn't sound right. ;)
 
Meh, I’ll use my vintage 1964 wooden yardstick, and if needed the metric steel one below.
e832f53e13759f842d6cc392786fb281.jpg
 
Actually some US English elements are actually closer to the original English roots and it's UK English that has evolved ( or devolved if you prefer)
One can argue that it’s the result of there being two ‘Tudor Englands’ that eventually split and evolved separately.

There’s also an interesting split in modern ‘English’ English caused by the Normans bringing in Norman French as an imposed language. We almost have two languages - most of our common words (and I use that in both senses of the word) have Anglo Saxon roots but there’s very often an alternative word For the same thing that’s seen as ‘posher’ - for example carpenter is a English spelling of the French but many of us will say and probably think wood worker is a more ‘honest’ description.
 
We should convert to the metric system slowly.
Insist that kids use it in school.
Transition to the use of metric in grocery stores and food.
Insist that companies use it in tooling their manufactured products.
Change the gas from gallons to liters and then the mileage on highways.

We are the only ones that use the Imperial system and we lose a lot of export dollars because many items are produced using inches and feet as opposed to mm and meters.

We need to bite the bullet and make the changes regardless of how much people piss and moan.
Sometimes when you are in a leadership position you need to do what is right and not what is popular.

I am not a fan of the one world government concept and I really, really, hate Klaus Schwab and George Soros; but this is one thing we need to do to be a part of the international community.
 
All depends on the tire. Once you get to large offroad truck tires, they go to inches. 33's, 35's, 37's etc. And that's because you wouldn't want to hear a redneck brag about a new set of 315/60's on his truck. Just wouldn't sound right. ;)
Oh, that is what it means, I thought 33's was a reference to their IQ 🤣🤣
 
  • Haha
Reactions: Herdfan
One can argue that it’s the result of there being two ‘Tudor Englands’ that eventually split and evolved separately.

There’s also an interesting split in modern ‘English’ English caused by the Normans bringing in Norman French as an imposed language. We almost have two languages - most of our common words (and I use that in both senses of the word) have Anglo Saxon roots but there’s very often an alternative word For the same thing that’s seen as ‘posher’ - for example carpenter is a English spelling of the French but many of us will say and probably think wood worker is a more ‘honest’ description.
I think of carpenter as someone involved mostly with wood as a construction element - in building, ships, etc. Very often called a chippy these days. And traditionally often a shipwright or other -wright, or a joiner.

And a cabinet-maker as someone who does fine work such as furniture and mostly standalone items.

With wood-worker covering the above and others such as people who make interesting arty things out of tree stumps.
 
  • Like
Reactions: scubachap
We are the only ones that use the Imperial system
You don't use the Imperial system! You use US customary measures.

Imperial fluid ounce is slightly smaller.

Imperial has 20 fluid ounces in a pint, and two of those in a quart and eight of those in a gallon.

Imperial has 112 pounds in a hundredweight, US customary has 100 pounds.

Imperial uses the 14-lb stone (and numerous other variants of the stone weight including a wool stone of 15 lb.), US customary does not.

Imperial spells drachm differently!

And Wales, though a nation of the UK, also uses Welsh versions of units - llath = yards, milltir - miles, etc. Nowadays identical but you see these on signs.
 
  • Like
Reactions: it wasnt me
I think of carpenter as someone involved mostly with wood as a construction element - in building, ships, etc. Very often called a chippy these days. And traditionally often a shipwright or other -wright, or a joiner.

And a cabinet-maker as someone who does fine work such as furniture and mostly standalone items.

With wood-worker covering the above and others such as people who make interesting arty things out of tree stumps.
Sure - possibly not the clearest example I could have used but interesting you bring up the word wright - very Old English and often associated to my mind with a trade (meaning in Anglo Saxon = worker) and Smith makes me smile (AS = hitter of stuff) etc.
 
  • Like
Reactions: polyphenol
No, I don't live in the US. The reason it is annoying is because I don't want to spend time converting and ****.
so you want us to spend time converting just so you can maintain your comfort zone? What if we don’t want to spend time converting and **** ? If you spend your time learning to be comfortable with discomfort, you can remove your comfort zone and it won’t matter.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.