In article , k wrote:
On Tue, 08 Feb 2005 11:57:05 +0000, Michael Hoffman
wrote:

k wrote:
I use DD MMM which also cannot be misinterpreted.

Unless you speak a language where the months have different names.
Then you will just be extremely confused.

I don't. I speak English. Although our company has offices
throughout the world the "official" language is English. (As its an
American company it would be, after all "everyone speaks English
(American) don't they? :-))

Well, Ericsson, a Swedish-based and -owned multinational, also uses
English as its official language. So I think in practice, in the
business world, everyone really *does* speak English.

Similarly, I've just accepted a job with a small Stockholm-based company
95% staffed by Swedes and 100% owned by them (if I recall); its official
language is also English.

Niklas
--
"I always wanted to be a mad scientist, but never really got much past the
faintly-annoyed alchemist stage."
-- Mik

"Niklas Karlsson" wrote in message
...
In article , k wrote:
On Tue, 08 Feb 2005 11:57:05 +0000, Michael Hoffman
wrote:

k wrote:
I use DD MMM which also cannot be misinterpreted.

Unless you speak a language where the months have different names.
Then you will just be extremely confused.

I don't. I speak English. Although our company has offices
throughout the world the "official" language is English. (As its an
American company it would be, after all "everyone speaks English
(American) don't they? :-))

Well, Ericsson, a Swedish-based and -owned multinational, also uses
English as its official language. So I think in practice, in the
business world, everyone really *does* speak English.

Similarly, I've just accepted a job with a small Stockholm-based company
95% staffed by Swedes and 100% owned by them (if I recall); its official
language is also English.


But which version of English? Americans claim to speak Englsih, but insist
on deviating from the original.

In message , at 08:58:14 on Wed, 9
Feb 2005, Brimstone remarked:
But which version of English? Americans claim to speak Englsih, but insist
on deviating from the original.

Oddly enough, it's British English which has deviated from the original,
while American English has stagnated.
--
Roland Perry

Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 08:58:14 on Wed, 9
Feb 2005, Brimstone remarked:
But which version of English? Americans claim to speak Englsih, but
insist on deviating from the original.

Oddly enough, it's British English which has deviated from the
original, while American English has stagnated.

To be fair, I suspect that both preceeding statements have elements of
truth, depending on which words and phrases are being discussed.

In article , Roland
Perry writes
But which version of English? Americans claim to speak Englsih, but insist
on deviating from the original.
Oddly enough, it's British English which has deviated from the
original, while American English has stagnated.

Neither statement is true; both have deviated from Middle English in
various ways, and of course ME is in turn a deviation from Old English.
There are some characteristics - notably pronunciation - where American
has deviated less.

Ask the Dutch: 10th century English (though called Frisian) is an
official language in the Netherlands.

--
Clive D.W. Feather | Home:
Tel: +44 20 8495 6138 (work) | Web: http://www.davros.org
Fax: +44 870 051 9937 | Work:
Please reply to the Reply-To address, which is:

In message , Clive D. W. Feather
writes
In article , Roland
Perry writes
But which version of English? Americans claim to speak Englsih, but insist
on deviating from the original.
Oddly enough, it's British English which has deviated from the
original, while American English has stagnated.

Neither statement is true; both have deviated from Middle English in
various ways, and of course ME is in turn a deviation from Old English.
There are some characteristics - notably pronunciation - where American
has deviated less.

Ask the Dutch: 10th century English (though called Frisian) is an
official language in the Netherlands.
I'm told (although I've never been up there) that the German spoken in
the "Angeln", just South and West of the Danish frontier, is more or
less intelligible to English people with no knowledge of German.

Frisian, which I have heard, I can just about understand, though that's
more due to my knowledge of German and to a lesser extent Dutch, I
think.
--
Ian Jelf, MITG
Birmingham, UK

Registered Blue Badge Tourist Guide for London and the Heart of England
http://www.bluebadge.demon.co.uk

In message , at 13:27:12 on Wed, 9
Feb 2005, Clive D. W. Feather remarked:
There are some characteristics - notably pronunciation - where American
has deviated less.

And spelling.
--
Roland Perry

In article , Brimstone wrote:

"Niklas Karlsson" wrote in message
...
In article , k wrote:
I don't. I speak English. Although our company has offices
throughout the world the "official" language is English. (As its an
American company it would be, after all "everyone speaks English
(American) don't they? :-))

Well, Ericsson, a Swedish-based and -owned multinational, also uses
English as its official language. So I think in practice, in the
business world, everyone really *does* speak English.

Similarly, I've just accepted a job with a small Stockholm-based company
95% staffed by Swedes and 100% owned by them (if I recall); its official
language is also English.

But which version of English? Americans claim to speak Englsih, but insist
on deviating from the original.

I'm unsure which, if any, variant of English is the official one in
either of the companies I mentioned. I suspect that in practice,
Ericssonites use whatever they're most accustomed to: American Ericsson
staff use US-style English, Commonwealth staff use British English, etc.

What Swedes use seems to depend on whether they paid more attention in
school (English is mandatory from 4th grade up, and almost exclusively
taught in the British variant) or to Hollywood movies. :-)

Or didn't pay attention at all, which has resulted in things like the
guy who arrived at the airport and said to the gentlemen who'd come
there to pick him up, "I am the Swedish VD you are waiting for." (VD =
verkställande direktör = managing director, or CEO)

Niklas
--
I mean, who could fail to enjoy doing Bristol - London along a
congested M4 in a 60mph steamroller?
-- Michael Hudson

Niklas Karlsson wrote:
In article , Brimstone wrote:

"Niklas Karlsson" wrote in message
...
In article , k wrote:
I don't. I speak English. Although our company has offices
throughout the world the "official" language is English. (As its
an American company it would be, after all "everyone speaks English
(American) don't they? :-))

Well, Ericsson, a Swedish-based and -owned multinational, also uses
English as its official language. So I think in practice, in the
business world, everyone really *does* speak English.

Similarly, I've just accepted a job with a small Stockholm-based
company 95% staffed by Swedes and 100% owned by them (if I recall);
its official language is also English.

But which version of English? Americans claim to speak Englsih, but
insist on deviating from the original.

I'm unsure which, if any, variant of English is the official one in
either of the companies I mentioned. I suspect that in practice,
Ericssonites use whatever they're most accustomed to: American
Ericsson staff use US-style English, Commonwealth staff use British
English, etc.

What Swedes use seems to depend on whether they paid more attention in
school (English is mandatory from 4th grade up, and almost exclusively
taught in the British variant) or to Hollywood movies. :-)

Or didn't pay attention at all, which has resulted in things like the
guy who arrived at the airport and said to the gentlemen who'd come
there to pick him up, "I am the Swedish VD you are waiting for." (VD =
verkställande direktör = managing director, or CEO)


ROFL - I bet that raised the driver's eyebrows!!

"Brimstone" wrote in message
...

... Americans claim to speak

Englsih,

(typographical error left intact)

Is that something like the dialect of Welsh spoken on Anglesey (Island)? ;-)

--
MatSav