MaggieL |
08-30-2006 06:17 PM |
Quote:
Originally Posted by DanaC
I used the term Continental Europe to differentiate between two different localities and cultures. Britain is both separate from and part of Europe. It comes from being an Island. We are cultural brethren in many ways and are of the same stock. We are also different in many ways because of the geographical break and the branching off of cultural development.
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Yes, I understood how you meant each usage...and of course geography has been a powerful force in shaping that. The differences and commonalities are fascinating...and the same is true in contrasting the UK and US as well.
"Two nations divided by a common language" is one humorous take on that situation. But I've never felt like I had trouble understanding the various flavors of British speech. Certainly there's 'Murican dialects that I find more troublesome, but usually intellegible. My boss (Australian citizen, but raised in the midwest US) tell me I do have a Philadelphian (pardon me; we call it "Fluffian" :-) ) accent, but of course *I* can't hear it.
As time goes on I think geography will be less important and languge/culture more so. Certainly many of us here (not everyone, of course) love television from the UK. What gets here is usually quite good. I hope you're getting some of our best, because our worst is utter rubbish.
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