british english | Imamother

yo'ma

Wed, Dec 10 2008, 11:31 am

I was skimming through my dd's english book (esl) and got is written an awful lot. For example, "he's got blond hair and blue eyes". I always thought got isn't proper. It's better to say, "he has blond hair..". I asked a friend of mine who teaches english. She learnt british english, but she likes american english better LOL

. Anyway, she said that in british english, it's more proper to add more words. For example, got. She told me how her daughter came home and she had the sentence, "have you got...?". Isn't it better to say, "do you have...?"? I'm specifically asking about british english.

Last year at the end of the year, my ds came home telling me that the english teacher refused to give him a check for calling a couch, a couch. It is called, a sofa. Since it was the end of the year, I didn't say anything, but that's the problem when the teachers just know what they learn and not necessarily from conversations.

shalhevet

Wed, Dec 10 2008, 11:34 am

Are these teachers native speakers?

In my humble opinion, it is hard for me to fathom where they procured these strange and inexplainable rules and regulations. Brevity is the mark of a well-written piece in English, and while many British subjects do sit themselves on the sofa, many also indulge in a rest on the couch.

zaq

Wed, Dec 10 2008, 11:38 am

yo'ma wrote:

my ds came home telling me that the english teacher refused to give him a check for calling a couch, a couch. It is called, a sofa. Since it was the end of the year, I didn't say anything, but that's the problem when the teachers just know what they learn and not necessarily from conversations.

aargh, that's so annoying! my ds, american, living in america, had an english teacher, british, who took off credit on a quiz for pronouncing something the american way. something like saying LAB'ratory instead of la-BORE-a-Tory. I was tempted to tell her la-BORE-a-Tory is what a long-winded American patriot did when hogging the conversation with British royalists in 1776.

zaq

Wed, Dec 10 2008, 11:39 am

shalhevet wrote:

Are these teachers native speakers?

while many British subjects do sit themselves on the sofa, many also indulge in a rest on the couch.

not to mention those oddballs who recline on a divan...or a davenport, which, contrary to popular belief, is not another name for the mincha chapel at JFK Airport.

yo'ma

Wed, Dec 10 2008, 11:56 am

shalhevet wrote:

No, they're not native speakers. What's with "got"? Is it normal to use it so often. I can go through the book and tell you how many times it's written. It's nuts!

zaq

Wed, Dec 10 2008, 12:12 pm

avigailmiriam wrote:

I was told got is bad English and shouldn't be used...

It's colloquial. Fine for casual conversation and humorous local color in writing, but keep it out of school papers and business correspondence.

I distinctly recall seeing an interview with some actor who was in a film with Sean Connery quoting Connery as asking him "What d'you mean you don't know how many head of cattle you've got?"

BennysMommy

Wed, Dec 10 2008, 12:17 pm

yo'ma wrote:

Last year at the end of the year, my ds came home telling me that the english teacher refused to give him a check for calling a couch, a couch. It is called, a sofa. Since it was the end of the year, I didn't say anything, but that's the problem when the teachers just know what they learn and not necessarily from conversations.

I think my SIL had the same problem last year!!! I wonder if it was the same teacher. There were a few other things that were wrong bc she said it the American way.

yo'ma

Wed, Dec 10 2008, 12:23 pm

BennysMommy wrote:

yo'ma wrote:

I think my SIL had the same problem last year!!! I wonder if it was the same teacher. There were a few other things that were wrong bc she said it the American way.

I thought all your sil are out of elementary school? Why do they speak americanese when their mother is british? Confused

yo'ma

Wed, Dec 10 2008, 12:28 pm

midwest wrote:

"Have you got..." is acceptable to us Brits, but I know Americans don't think it's correct.

Thank you, because to this American, I cringe when I read her english book.

BennysMommy

Wed, Dec 10 2008, 12:28 pm

yo'ma wrote:

BennysMommy wrote:

yo'ma wrote:

I think my SIL had the same problem last year!!! I wonder if it was the same teacher. There were a few other things that were wrong bc she said it the American way.

I thought all your sil are out of elementary school? Why do they speak americanese when their mother is british? Confused

Nope one is still in elementary and another is in HS (what they call seminary over here)

Their mother is British but they have more American speaking relatives then British ones. 4 siblings married Americans and all the nieces and nephews are spoken to in American English. They also go to the US more then England. (if they've even been to England at all?)

bubby

Wed, Dec 10 2008, 2:54 pm

I'm British born, US citizen, & an English teacher so I appoint myself as the most qualified to pasken. Rolling Eyes

"Got" is definitely slang over here, & rightly so. It's clumsy & (dare I say) low class. Shooting Arrow

"Have" is much more acceptable. I never thought I'd be agreeing with American English!! Wink

As for sofa...we never called it that. However, when my car was in the garage for a damaged wing and the boot was smashed I realized my vest was yucky. Fortunately, you couldn't see it because I was wearing my surprize gift, a lovely new jumper made of angora. How awfully spiffing!!

Yo'ma, just tell said teech there's no tip for her! She'll have to get something out of the cheque you'll write for fees.

Have a nice day, y'all.

shabbatiscoming

Wed, Dec 10 2008, 3:26 pm

bubby wrote:

I'm British born, US citizen, & an English teacher so I appoint myself as the most qualified to pasken. Rolling Eyes

"Got" is definitely slang over here, & rightly so. It's clumsy & (dare I say) low class. Shooting Arrow

"Have" is much more acceptable. I never thought I'd be agreeing with American English!! Wink

bubby, if my husband was not south south african and I now knew half of the words you used, I would have had no idea what you wrote Smile

(cute:>)

yo'ma

Wed, Dec 10 2008, 4:56 pm

bubby wrote:

I'm British born, US citizen, & an English teacher so I appoint myself as the most qualified to pasken. Rolling Eyes

"Got" is definitely slang over here, & rightly so. It's clumsy & (dare I say) low class. Shooting Arrow

"Have" is much more acceptable. I never thought I'd be agreeing with American English!! Wink

Like I said before, they're not british natives, so they just teach what they're taught. As for the word, got, I was just checking if the book was correct. It sounds like, sad to say, that it is.

BTW, what's with y'all, you don't even live in the south now.

Raisin

Wed, Dec 10 2008, 6:40 pm

we had a sofa. some people had a couch, and others had a settee. My Grandmother a'h had a chaise longue of itchy red velvet.

And nobody uses spiffing outside of a pg wodehouse book!

Strudel

Wed, Dec 10 2008, 7:39 pm

DH (100% American) always quotes Churchill when we hit a language barrier.
He said of the US and UK " Two countries divided by a common language".
It's so true!