How do you pronounce "simultaneous"? Do you pronounce the "sim" as in "simple", or as in "Simon"?

I was under the impression that both ways are correct.

Nope.  That's a little known fact about the USA. The original colonists from England came her and fought for independence trying to preserve their beloved language.  All the people who spoke it correctly came her and what the UK was left with was a bunch of weirdos with strange accents who refused to pronounce the English words correctly. Then was those who spoke it fairly well but insisted on incorrectly spelling words like color and check.  They got sent north to start Canada.

That's why we call aluminum by it's original name and don't try and don't say math as a maths.

"That's why we call aluminum by it's original name and don't try and don't say math as a maths"

But you do insert rogue apostrophes where they don't belong? I never knew that was an American thing, it's been bugging me for years now. Why didn't anyone come forward and tell me before?

I've also often wondered why Americans tend to be arrogant about it and insistent that their spellings are the only correct ones. We British tend to be more tolerant, we may not prefer to use American spellings but was still accept them as correct alternative spellings. I always imagined the Americans would be more broad-minded than the British, but since I started going on sites like this I've formed the impression that it's the other way around. Why do you think that is, Glis?

Yeah I screw up the "its" in hast.   Yet that's a stupid rule anyways.   'S is how possessives are supposed to be created.   Why is "it" an exception? It was not always the case, it was changed sometime in the 40's I think it was because some linguists decided that it is confusing as to whether the 's convention being used with the word "it" can cause confusion over whether it's being used as a contraction or a possessive and since it has no plural decided to make its the possessive.   However anyone with half a brain can read into the context and easily decipher which one it is.  Just as context is how one would know if "Andy B's" is being used as a possessive or a contraction of "Andy B is".  I do it because I write in hast and don't pay attention.  That's my problem.   However this silly exception just makes the English language more convoluted and harder to grasp for non-native speakers.  

Yeah some Americans might be arrogant jerks about it.  I on the other hand just like to bust balls over it. Why is it that way?  Hmmmm.   I guess because Americans kinda have a sense that we broke away from England to form a more perfect Union and some arrogance grew out of that.'Merica >bleep< yeah! horsechit. This post was edited by Benedict Arnold at November 1, 2016 9:27 AM MDT

"It's" never was and never will be a possessive pronoun. I knew the difference when I was about 8. I don't think it was different before because the junior school teachers never told us it was. If you do it in haste (don't forget the "e") then why would you waste your own time by adding an extra character that shouldn't be there? That's making things slightly more convoluted for yourself as far as I can see.

I don't see how Americans would become arrogant for that reason, Glis. I thought the American insistence on freedom of speech would make them more broad-minded, more "live-and-let-live" and generally more tolerant and easygoing than the more uptight, conservative, tradition-obsessed British. Lol:)

Not if you weren't in school after the acceptance.  Anyways I have been told this is the case by more than one person who studied the English language on a college level.  As for the in haste part.   I know what you mean. I often wonder why I do it too.  My guess is that I'm not fully concentrating on my typing and my hands and brain just kinda type the version I most often type and my brain just links 's as possessive when not paying full attention.  I also only really do it while typing.  When handwriting I don't make the mistake.  It is kinda strange. How it plays out. I'm with you on that.  My brain is crappy at typing I guess. 

You know America doesn't really live up to a lot of its stated ideals.  We were colonized  by strict Calvinists, Lutherans, and other Protestant groups mostly looking for nothing more than religious freedom. Not libertines looking for freedom of expression.   Sure some of our famous founding fathers might have been, but the major population wasn't.   Early on many Americans still considered themselves English, just liberated English that broke from the British crown.  As such much of the culture was very similar and similarly uptight as the British culture.

I guess I'd have to spend some time in America to fully understand what you mean, Glis. The impression I've formed of it was based mainly on what I've seen of it in the movies. I suppose the movie makers like to glamourise it, so that it doesn't necessarily reflect the real-life America. I've always been more of the libertine type looking for freedom of expression myself, and most of the American movies I've seen tend to depict young Americans as being very much like that. In fact, that particular type of American culture has been a major influence on British culture since the halycon days of 1950s rock 'n' roll music and rebel youth cult movies. Yes, the typically British uptight attitude still remains, but we are less like that nowadays than we were 60 years ago, and I've always attributed that to the influence of American culture.

There has always been rebels.  Especially in youth cultures.  British and American culture have always influenced each other. Those rebel youth movies you mention?   Those, comics, pulp fiction books, rock&roll music and other hallmarks of rebel youth were very controversial and had large political and parent group backlashes. It's kinda funny.  American youth culture influenced y'all to loosen up and rebel, yet 60 years later America has kinda become more uptight while you Brits have kinda gone farther with it.
On a side note: Victorian England had a fairly large cultural influence on us at the time.

have

there have always been rebels.

(you ASKED for it)

Nooo.  I really don't think so.
http://www.differencebetween.net/language/difference-between-has-and-have/

I really know so.

Rebels is plural.  Have is plural

There have been rebels   and rebels have been 

not there has been rebels.  Certainly not rebels has been

There is nothing in your site to support your position.










This post was edited by WM BARR . =ABSOLUTE TRASH at November 1, 2016 1:58 PM MDT

You might be right. 

I know all about the political and parent group backlashes, Glis. The Rolling Stones faced all that in the 1960s, and I was a child then. But even now, in my 50s, I still have more of the rebel youth attitude than the more conservative stance of political and parent groups.

I don't really know much about Victorian England's cultural influence on America. That would be the time of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln and everything else from that period in history. What influence did Victorian England have on any of that? This post was edited by Bez at November 1, 2016 1:07 PM MDT

I meant backlash over here.  Anyways.   A lot of Victorian era attitudes and propriety was mutual.  It also had a big impact on art, fashion, and architecture.   America tried to copy a lot of that at the time.  To the point that we even refer to the time period and culture her as being Victorian.

Do you still have a lot of Victorian architecture in America? I don't see that very often in movies, most of the American movies I've seen tend to have modern buildings. I've always preferred Victorian architecture myself, probably because I grew up in a typical Victorian-style house as a child. But I form the impression that houses like that are extremely rare in the States. Am I right?

What's the definition of a "hard i"? I didn't know vowels could be "hard" or "soft". I thought that applied only to certain consonants, e.g. "soft" C in "ice" and "hard" C in "cream". I've never heard of a "hard i" before.

Glad I could help.  I learned long and short vowel sounds as a kid.  My kids were taught hard and soft.  I guess this is the new and improved, in USA anyway.  :)

http://learn-english.wonderhowto.com/how-to/pronounce-soft-and-hard-e-english-234167/ This post was edited by Thriftymaid at November 1, 2016 9:11 PM MDT

I've certainly heard of long and short vowels, but never hard and soft vowels. It sounds weird to call them that. Lol:)

It did me too when my children came home with the new words that mean the same as the old ones.  The question remains:  Why change when it improves nothing?  Just to make someone feel relevant.

I've been asking that question since I was about 12, Thriftymaid. I don't see how it would make anyone feel relevant, or if it does it won't make them feel relevant in a good way.