Axe & Ax

[Kinvig]

What gives?

And Jail and Gaol.

Anyone?

[tigersaw]

imflammable,
non-flammable,
non-inflammable

[GastonJ]

Ax is the American use of the word.
Axe is for the people in a country that can spell.

[GastonJ]

Thos people across the pond are also to blame for the demise in the word gaol in favour of something they can spell easily as well.

[simesb]

Was it not something to do with Mark Twain and the campaign for dropping silent vowels from "American English"?

[CoolGirl]

Um, it's like, uh, two nations divided by a common, er, language, kind of thing, you know?

[SoulKiss]

Um, it's like, uh, two nations divided by a common, er, language, kind of thing, you know?

Innit

[Wayluya]

What gives?

And Jail and Gaol.

Anyone?

It's because English is a dynamic (if that's the right word? :rolleyes:) language - and probably the most in the world - it changes over time......by acquiring new words (Bungalow), making new one's up (internet), and adding and changing meanings to existing words (Gay)....and words getting superceded (Gaol), even if they take way longer to drop completely out of use (Ye).

That's one of the reasons that it is such a useful language and is used as a universal second language - obviously a kick start from when half the globe was coloured pink on the map, but that was a longgggggg time ago.

[pencil shavings]

my favorate word in english is understand.
The reason: can anyone think of a possitive word (ie. not inversed) that starts with 'un' ? I cant.

And then I get to say funny things like.. 'that dosent make sence, youre un-understandable'

yeah..... im not helping myself in the cool stakes I fear!:cool:

[simesb]

I like verbing words; it weirds language.

[arenalife]

'Grow the business' ewww I hate that phrase.

Chicago passed a law saying their language be referred to as American and not English in all official text and schools.

[yorkie_chris]

Fair play, Americans don't speak English.

[BanannaMan]

Though pronounced the same .....
In America they are two words with different meanings.
An AX is something used to chop wood.
AXE is slang for "electric guitar".

[pencil shavings]

dont they also call lynx, axe in the states?

[BanannaMan]

Fair play, Americans don't speak English.


Well no...Not the "Queen's English" anyway...

But then who does????

To me...American seems no different than any other particular dialect/accent such as: Cockney, Brummie, Mancunian, Scouser/Liverpudlian, Scottish, Welsh, Irish, etc.
I've heard some older people from Ireland talking who claimed to be speaking English and I could barely understand a single word of it.
I could say the same of the Cockney accent....
And there are vastly different accents/dialects in America as well.
"Some" of their northern accents are very hard (for me) to understand.

Strangely....no matter what English slang/dialect/accent they use.....anywhere in the world...
No one seems to have trouble understanding proper (ie: the Queen's) English....they just don't use it.

[pencil shavings]

Well no...Not the "Queen's English" anyway...

But then who does????

To me...American seems no different than any other particular dialect/accent such as: Cockney, Brummie, Mancunian, Scouser/Liverpudlian, Scottish, Welsh, Irish, etc.
I've heard some older people from Ireland talking who claimed to be speaking English and I could barely understand a single word of it.
I could say the same of the Cockney accent....
And there are vastly different accents/dialects in America as well.
"Some" of their northern accents are very hard (for me) to understand.

Strangely....no matter what English slang/dialect/accent they use.....anywhere in the world...
No one seems to have trouble understanding proper (ie: the Queen's) English....they just don't use it.

acents and slang are different to 'proper' spelling of words and word orders in sentences.

[BanannaMan]

dont they also call lynx, axe in the states?

Lynx...like a cat???
Haven't heard that. They don't where I live..... but tis' not to say they don't elsewhere.
The thing about American slang is it always seems to be changing. :rolleyes:

[pencil shavings]

Lynx...like a cat???
Haven't heard that. They don't where I live..... but tis' not to say they don't elsewhere.
The thing about American slang is it always seems to be changing. :rolleyes:

lol, no the deoderant spray stuff :cool:

[BanannaMan]

acents and slang are different to 'proper' spelling of words and word orders in sentences.

Technically...in the literary sense... yes very different....but only because America adopts it's current slang into the dictionary and books (writing) as bieng so called "proper language".
Certainly Cockney lacks "proper" word order ...and there are some different spellings of words among dialects on the Isles. But you don't see this changing the entire language the way America incorporates it's slang.


However....

What I was referring too.. was in talking with (or learning to talk with) other people.
It doesn't seem that different....like another language...just another local dialect with different slang terms.

[BanannaMan]

lol, no the deoderant spray stuff :cool:


:oops: :oops: :oops:
Oooops...
Oh yes you're right. They do refer to that as Axe as well.

[pencil shavings]

Technically...in the literary sense... yes very different....but only because America adopts it's current slang into the dictionary and books (writing) as bieng so called "proper language".
Certainly Cockney lacks "proper" word order ...and there are some different spellings of words among dialects on the Isles. But you don't see this changing the entire language the way America incorporates it's slang.


However....

What I was referring too.. was in talking with (or learning to talk with) other people.
It doesn't seem like another language...just another dialect of it.

yeah, im with you :)

:oops: :oops: :oops:
Oooops...
Oh yes you're right. They do refer to that as Axe as well.

lol