Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id GAA23758 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Sat, 18 Nov 2000 06:18:49 GMT Date: Fri, 17 Nov 2000 22:15:46 -0800 Message-Id: <200011180615.WAA11745@mail9.bigmailbox.com> Content-Type: text/plain Content-Disposition: inline Content-Transfer-Encoding: binary X-Mailer: MIME-tools 4.104 (Entity 4.116) X-Originating-Ip: [209.240.221.69] From: "Scott Chase" <hemidactylus@my-deja.com> To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk Subject: RE: FW: NOTICE OF REVOCATION OF INDEPENDENCE Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk('binary' encoding is not supported, stored as-is)
>From: Vincent Campbell <v.p.campbell@stir.ac.uk>
>To: "'memetics@mmu.ac.uk'" <memetics@mmu.ac.uk>
>Subject: RE: FW: NOTICE OF REVOCATION OF INDEPENDENCE
>Date: Fri, 17 Nov 2000 09:06:04 -0000
>Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
>
>There was a similar occurance recently with the 'honour virus' joke.
>
What a waste of the letter "u". What purpose does "u" serve in this word honor? And while you're on a spelling flame binge, try double checking "occurrence". I'm not the best speller in the world, but my handy dandy _Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary_ says you're in error.
>
>I've already been passed another, more detailed version of the revocation
>joke as well (adding, for example, an instruction for Americans to check the
>spelling of aluminium against their pronunciation of it).
>
Why? Aluminum is fine with me. I think we earned the right to spell and speak the way we wish when the redcoats got shown the door.
>
>Quite aside from the interest of this kind of e-mail equivalent of chinese
>whispers, it got me thinking about pronunciation as being memetic,
>particularly out of this joke.
>
>After all where and when did Americans start mispronouncing (and let's be
>clear about it, despite the jokes it is a mispronunciation) aluminium as
>"aluminum"?
>
Mispronunciation by whose standard? I see our variations as an improvement. Well, come to think of it New *England* accents are somewhat annoying compared to the rest of the US. They habitually forget to pronounce "r"'s where they belong and add them where they don't belong. It's funny to hear them talk about the Boston Tea potty though. For some reason you're inducing the "spirit of '76" in me.
When Brits get around to fully dismantling the vestiges of monarchy, they can start lecturing us about politics and such. As far as gun control goes, we know full well why Yanks with muskets instill fear in Brits, unless it involves our stepping in to tip the scale of power in their favo(u)r ;-)
>
>I recently saw a newspaper article that suggested that there were more
>people who spoke English as a second language than spoke it as a first
>language, and as such, the kind of English spoken by these people- with
>their native accents influencing pronunciation was likely to have more
>influence on the development of the language. Certainly in my teaching of
>masters' degree students from places such as India, Malaysia, Hong Kong and
>so on, where English is a formal language of business, their spoken (and
>written) English in comprehendable if rarely grammatically correct. So,
>this suggests that pronunciation is a crucial factor- but what makes one way
>of saying a word or phrase take hold within a population? This, IMHO, is a
>memetic question.
>
>
I wonder what memes have influenced the situation in Northern Ireland.
Scott
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