July 15, 2009; In which I contemplate the English language

In less than ninety minutes I will be going to a rehearsal I am honestly not entirely prepared for, and my biggest concern at the moment is that my tushy feels a little damp and I think someone may have spilled something in this chair.

And now my biggest concern is the word "spilled." I am wondering if it should be spilled or spilt. In fact, I think my topic for the day is going to be grammar, and the differences between American English and British (or, "The Queen's") English. And I will point out now that I am doing no additional research, because I don't feel like it.

Aside from small differences in regional dialect, including accents and colloquials, there are a lot of things that make the two English languages legitimately different while remaining fundamentally the same. Take, for example, the spelling of many words. Grey versus gray, aluminium versus aluminum, colour versus color, and so on and so on. Then just look at the different names for common items. What we in America call "potato chips" are refered to as "crisps" across the pond, and our "cookies" are their "biscuits." A lorry in England is a truck, but they have trucks too. Where are our lorries?

Of course, one must wonder at times why the languages seem so different when it's really pretty much the same? I imagine the reason for the differences go something like this:

Back when the colonies broke off and became the States and Britain started looking at this new country like some backwater hootenany that got lucky in a little war, the only way to communicate between the continents was through a long trans-oceanic voyage. So, between America's independence and the invention of the telephone (or radio, or basically anythiing that actually transmitted voice over long distances), the two cultures were allowed to evolve their dialects however they pleased. Other factors included industry, education, science, and immigration. Industry and science both introduced new words to the language constantly, and it could be months before word reached the other country. In that time, the spelling or pronunciation of the words often changed slightly without the other nation finding out for more months, even years. Education levels also contributed, as lower-educated areas often had simplified spellings of words (thru instead of through, or at least I like to think that's the reason). Finally, as immigrants flooded the States, they brought with them their own languages and cultures that didn't factor in as much as in Britain.

Aaaaand, that's why the languages are different.

Was I going somewhere with that?