Re: World's worst software. What's decent?

From: Don Prescott (DMBPrescott_at_aol.com)
Date: 10/22/04 

Date: 22 Oct 2004 05:41:08 -0700

> The reason is the vast size of the US compared to England. The
language used in a small community can evolve through creative new
words, meanings and phrases, without causing confusion, much more
quickly than the language used in a large geographically expansive
country. Think of how the language changes within clicks of
teenagers. It drifts so quickly that one generation cannot readily
understand another.
>

Surely, the communication gaps between generations, and ethnic groups,
is more about the use of fashionable words and phrases than a true
change in the language....

Many of the words used by Americans that are not part of modern
"British" English, like: trash, garbage, sidewalk, attorney, fall
(Autumn in Britain)and the American English spellings like color, date
from the English at the time of the pilgrim fathers. There is so much
communication between the US and other English speaking countries by
way of tv shows, movies, the internet, that since about the early part
of the 20th century separate evolution paths for English have been
quite limited worldwide.

I would contend that the "American English" in product manuals and
help files is more to do with American style that the actual
language...

Prescott

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