Posts Tagged ‘American English’
Political Correctness
March 8, 2012 | 
Author Hello Pals!
America is recognized as a land of political truthfulness, so that you must be very careful with your verbal communication to avoid aberrant anyone. Actually, most Americans think that a little compassion to issues of race, gender and sexual orientation is a good idea but actually it does not mean that they are watching every thing they say. In general, Americans may seem quite willing to discuss about sexual matters and family oriented problems with most people, judging by the huge number of informative talk shows on television, but they are found to be exception somewhat than the rule. But, whereas in other countries they feel that sex is a very personal matter and not usually a subject of conversation during the party and it is also not well-mannered to ask anyone other than a child how old they are.
But, certain conditions have however made their way into each one American English and are viewed as normal, rather than the correct but unusual way of saying something. This is probably most true of terms such as sexist, actor, server and letter carrier as actress, waitress, and mailman. People are also more careful and cautious when referring to Americans of nonwhite racial or ethnic origin. Terms like African-American, Mexican American and Asian-American are now frequently used rather than preferred to someone as being handicapped, because it is best to say that they have a disability or they are disabled.
Posted in Personal Life | 
Tags: African-American, American English, Asian-American, careful and cautious, Mexican American | 
3 Comments »
Profanity
Hello Pals!
Generally Americans tend to watch their language carefully in every place like business, formal situations or in informal places, even if it is obvious from watching the average Hollywood movie that Americans can be pretty rude when they want to be. So it is considered to be best to save more bright language for more informal-moments, if you feel logically confident that none of your listeners will be affected by your speech. It is also significant and you need to keep in mind that while most swear words are equally the same in all varieties of English. At the same time, there are some differences between British English and American English.
Generally, Americans do not use the words wanker, prat, tosser, opting for something like jerk or asshole. One such word that may cause confusion and offense is the word fag, which is an offensive term for homosexual, but it is considered to be slang for a cigarette. The variant faggot is also equally offensive. Other terms that are likely to get strange looks in the United States are sod off, bollocks, and shag, although the latter may make it into common usage after featuring highly in the Austin powers movies. When expressing disapproval or abhor of something, Americans do not use the following words or edifice. It was a shit, crap, shite movie, instead they are more likely to say something to the effect of “It was a really shitty, crappy, bad movie” or “that movie really sucked.”
Posted in Profanity | Tags: American English, British English, common usage, language, varieties of English | 1 Comment »