America stole our language...and changed it!?

amother

OP ↓

Sun, Oct 29 2023, 4:52 pm

English Ima here.
I'll start

Buggy-stroller
Car boot-trunk
Pavement-sidewalk
Nappy-diaper

Anymore?

amother

Azure ↓

Sun, Oct 29 2023, 4:54 pm

And where did the English language come from? (Hint: from other languages)

amother

↑ Azure ↓

Sun, Oct 29 2023, 4:56 pm

And America didn't steal a language. That was their native language, and languages adapt over time. Even British English adapted over time. I guarantee someone speaking old English would think you butchered their language.

amother

Brass ↓

Sun, Oct 29 2023, 4:57 pm

That's so cute how you think ppl should have invented a completely different language the second they arrived in America from England...

GLUE ↓

Sun, Oct 29 2023, 4:57 pm

I heard that in UK,

Lolly-truck
Flat- apartment
Lift- Elevator
Indicator- Blinker

Did I get any of them right?

amother

↑ OP ↓

Sun, Oct 29 2023, 4:58 pm

Sorry America, English was spoken in England before Columbus discovered America!!

schoolbus

Sun, Oct 29 2023, 4:58 pm

I’m American but I can think of these

Lift-elevator
Biscuit-cookie
Jumper-sweater
Chips-French fries

Last edited by schoolbus on Sun, Oct 29 2023, 5:00 pm; edited 1 time in total

happy chick

Sun, Oct 29 2023, 4:58 pm

Jumper - sweater
Rubbish - trash
Holiday - vacation

amother

Snow

Sun, Oct 29 2023, 5:00 pm

Pacifier dummy
Garbage rubbish
Smart and gorgeous have a different meaning

amother

↑ OP ↓

Sun, Oct 29 2023, 5:01 pm

amother Brass wrote:

That's so cute how you think ppl should have invented a completely different language the second they arrived in America from England...

They can take our language, I mean as the saying goes 'if it ain't broke don't fix it', but don't change it!

amother

↑ OP ↓

Sun, Oct 29 2023, 5:02 pm

GLUE wrote:

I heard that in UK,

Lolly-truck
Flat- apartment
Lift- Elevator
Indicator- Blinker

Did I get any of them right?

Yep, except it's lorry not Lolly

↑ GLUE ↓

Sun, Oct 29 2023, 5:03 pm

amother Brass wrote:

That's so cute how you think ppl should have invented a completely different language the second they arrived in America from England...

I was reading about American English spelling and there is a movent starting from Benjamin Franklin to change the way English is spelled.
Franklin felt that just like we were liberated from there government we should liberate from there spelling.

He proposed making the a & u a new letter among others. Don't remember any more of hand.

amother

Ballota

Sun, Oct 29 2023, 5:04 pm

This might be a good time to remember that we are not American or English. We are and will always be Jews first. And that said, our language is Hebrew (or rather Lashon HaKodesh).

amother

↑ Brass ↓

Sun, Oct 29 2023, 5:04 pm

amother OP wrote:

They can take our language, I mean as the saying goes 'if it ain't broke don't fix it', but don't change it!

How do you propose changing this? Recolonization, perhaps?

amother

↑ Brass

Sun, Oct 29 2023, 5:06 pm

Supposedly there was debate during George Washington's time as to what the official language of the new country would be.

They actually considered Hebrew. Hebrew was spoken at Harvard.

Fast forward 250ish years later, this could have been posted by an Israeli about Yinglish instead of a Yank about the plebe thieving colonists

amother

Kiwi ↓

Sun, Oct 29 2023, 5:08 pm

Aubergine - eggplant
Courgettes - zucchini
Trousers - pants

amother

↑ OP ↓

Sun, Oct 29 2023, 5:11 pm

Crisps-potato chips
Car park-parking lot
Clever-smart
Lemonade-soda

Wolfsbane ↓

Sun, Oct 29 2023, 5:15 pm

I would imagine many of these particular usages (on both the British and American side) developed post American independence - so not a matter of changing the language so much as both developing on different trajectories. As an obvious example, trucks/lorries didn't exist in 1776. And some terms (like soccer) were originally British.