What is the language "British"?

[Timothy Murphy]

Erik P. Olsen wrote:


> Hm, tried the English (Denmark) version and there is absolutely no Danish
> in that and it merely looks like another American English variant.

I looked at English (Irish) some time ago,
and couldn't find any difference from English (UK).

The two differences that are sometimes quoted are
"rere" (for the back of a building)
and "seperate" for "separate".
I've always assumed that the latter stems from some Dan Quayle-like teacher
refusing to admit he (or more likely she) was wrong.

But English (Irish) did not actually have either of these.

A lot of these English variants strike me as rather mythical.
I guess if you can't think of a topic for a thesis
and live on the moon it is quite handy.

(Reminds me - I was taught 60 years ago
never to write "lot", "got" or "nice",
but that is a hard diet to follow.)


-- 
Timothy Murphy  
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