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Halifax · 08-13-2007, 05:14 PM

Three things:

1) The American pronunciation of aluminum, ("ah-LOO-min-um") is perfectly correct because we spell it differently. If we used the British spelling, "aluminium," we would indeed be silly for not pronouncing the second 'i,' but our version has only one. To-may-to/to-mah-to.

(http://www.worldwidewords.org/articles/aluminium.htm)

2) Personally, I used to believe the British accent was more refined, but with all the time I have spent in Britain, I've heard about as many low, slang-filled, bastardized versions of it as of American English. There may be more "proper" speakers in Britain, (i.e. people who think punctuation and grammar are things which apply on a daily basis), but well-spoken British English is not inherently superior to well-spoken American English.

3) I feel blessed to be a Texan, born and raised, who somehow avoided picking up the accent. I think I speak just "normal," as far as American accents go, though I can turn on the "twang" when I need to.

08-13-2007, 05:14 PM	#15 (permalink)
Halifax Upright Location: Republic of Tejas	Three things: 1) The American pronunciation of aluminum, ("ah-LOO-min-um") is perfectly correct because we spell it differently. If we used the British spelling, "aluminium," we would indeed be silly for not pronouncing the second 'i,' but our version has only one. To-may-to/to-mah-to. (http://www.worldwidewords.org/articles/aluminium.htm) 2) Personally, I used to believe the British accent was more refined, but with all the time I have spent in Britain, I've heard about as many low, slang-filled, bastardized versions of it as of American English. There may be more "proper" speakers in Britain, (i.e. people who think punctuation and grammar are things which apply on a daily basis), but well-spoken British English is not inherently superior to well-spoken American English. 3) I feel blessed to be a Texan, born and raised, who somehow avoided picking up the accent. I think I speak just "normal," as far as American accents go, though I can turn on the "twang" when I need to. __________________ Philosopher-in-Training “The present writer…writes because for him it is a luxury which becomes the more agreeable and more evident, the fewer there are who buy and read what he writes.” —Søren Kierkegaard