The English language in 24 accents
It makes the place seem more exotic than it actually is.
A couple years ago, a Colombian friend who was learning to speak English asked me to explain the phrase “to have one’s cake and eat it too”. I recall saying that it was similar to “you can’t have it both ways,” “it’s one or the other,” or something like that.
She couldn’t get it, so I said “having your cake and eating it too” means…you have two cakes. Then I smiled and went to the mall.
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| — | Karl Kautsky (1854-1938), on the importance of speaking perfect English |
If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?
→ I personally thought you were very good in Mamma Mia.
Ashley Madekwe
IA! I edited a column for our site a few weeks ago and Simon Kuper wrote:
“‘To be born an Englishman,’ Cecil Rhodes supposedly said, ‘is to win first prize in the lottery of life.’ But the old imperialist was wrong. What he should have said was, ‘To be born an English-speaker…’ The global rise of bad English is helping us native speakers rise.”
and:
“Of course most of these new speakers don’t speak proper English. They speak ‘Globish’ – a simple, dull, idiom-free version of English with a small vocabulary. Most Europeans at my conference, for instance, spoke Globish. Speakers of Globish often struggle to understand native English. They are confused by idioms, half-sentences, references to ancient TV programmes, or simply the British habit of not saying what you mean.”
/ends
