AnonyJ
Captainess Sensible
- Joined
- Nov 1, 2015
- Messages
- 1,923
- Location
- Having-a-nice-cup-of-tea-and-a-sit-down-shire
I'm fascinated by the variants of English that have evolved independently outside of the British Isles. It's a kind of semi-permanent discussion in our house as my other half isn't a native English speaker so we often have slight misunderstandings of each other's languages, and conversations about words. I've become a bit of an amateur etymologist.
I have to refer to our English as "English English" when explaining some term that's common in "American English" or "Australian English" for example. They really are separate languages after undergoing a couple of hundred years' worth of evolution on different continents. There's also "Scots English" and "Welsh English" to contend with!
"Indian English" is an interesting one - echoes of Raj-era usage plus novel Indian additions. They have a term for when a minister or big cheese has to rush to a place or situation by aeroplane: Air-dash which is both a noun and a verb. In headlines the word 'jabs' is used as shorthand for 'attacks' eg., in today's Hindustan times: Priyanka Gandhi jabs PM’s ‘Main bhi Chowkidar’ campaign. In some sections of Indian society English is the first language, normally in the middle/upper classes and urban elites.
I even found a webpage that aims to help Indians coming to live & work in the USA who speak "Indian English" (with its roots in Britain) negotiate and navigate "American English"! https://www.immihelp.com/newcomer/indian-english-american-english-language-dictionary.html
I have to refer to our English as "English English" when explaining some term that's common in "American English" or "Australian English" for example. They really are separate languages after undergoing a couple of hundred years' worth of evolution on different continents. There's also "Scots English" and "Welsh English" to contend with!
"Indian English" is an interesting one - echoes of Raj-era usage plus novel Indian additions. They have a term for when a minister or big cheese has to rush to a place or situation by aeroplane: Air-dash which is both a noun and a verb. In headlines the word 'jabs' is used as shorthand for 'attacks' eg., in today's Hindustan times: Priyanka Gandhi jabs PM’s ‘Main bhi Chowkidar’ campaign. In some sections of Indian society English is the first language, normally in the middle/upper classes and urban elites.
I even found a webpage that aims to help Indians coming to live & work in the USA who speak "Indian English" (with its roots in Britain) negotiate and navigate "American English"! https://www.immihelp.com/newcomer/indian-english-american-english-language-dictionary.html