# Why is American English so difficult??? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 30, 2002, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-american-english-so-difficult/134562 "2002-10-30T16:30:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RedNaxela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ad7895/32.png) [@RedNaxela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedNaxela)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2002, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-american-english-so-difficult/134562/21 "2002-10-31T14:25:41Z")
There’s a rather interesting page [here](http://www.zompist.com/spell.html), in which the author provides a set of rules which allow you to predict the pronunciation of a word from its spelling about 85% of the time; he uses this to demonstrate that English spelling really isn’t all that arbitrary as it seems at first glance. [For example, while it’s true that the final e in words such as “come” and “game” seems superfluous at first glance (as **dtilque** noted, they’re actually fossils from an earlier phase of the language), they serve the very useful function of allowing five vowels to represent ten different sounds, without requiring diacritics as most European languages do.] ---
**Author:** ![MrThompson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MrThompson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrThompson)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2002, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-american-english-so-difficult/134562/22 "2002-10-31T20:08:03Z")
I’m still far from convinced American English as a language even exists … surely calling something another language when 99% of the words are the same devalues the meaning of the word “language”? ---
**Author:** ![RiverRunner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/977dab/32.png) [@RiverRunner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RiverRunner)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2002, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-american-english-so-difficult/134562/23 "2002-10-31T20:40:17Z")
“forsheezee?” Never heard of it. Just to bring up another point re the state of the English language: it’s what you get when the native spearkers have been conquered at some point by half the known world. Vikings, Normans, Romans, etc. had a tendency to waltz (note the usage of a German-derived word) into England uninvited and settle down, little knowing the fate that awaited them in the form of gastronomical oddities such as suet pudding. I don’t think I buy into the “english is so hard to learn” whining as much as I used to, anyway. Ever tried to learn Mandarin or another similar language? The entire meaning of a word can change depending on whether you speak it with a rising or falling intonation. We had a missionary speak at our church who had spent 20 years in Indonesia. He told of how he practiced his first sermon for several days and only after he had given it did he find out he had consistenty misspoken a particular word: he had spent his entire sermon using the word “pants” instead of the word “cross.” His audience was very puzzled, but they were at least very polite about it. RR ---
**Author:** ![Luke\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f1d935/32.png) [@Luke\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Luke_2)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2015, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-american-english-so-difficult/134562/24 "2015-02-16T22:26:50Z")
I dont know who will ever see this, and i dont care if I am. This thread has made me think about letters, words and languages in a completely different light. I want to thank everyone in this thread for dropping consistent knowledge bombs, and all without even a hint of flame post, there was fact, there was theory, there was debate, EXCELLENT! Is 2002 the year online decency died? The Internet is a sleazy hangout where anonymity turns everyone (not everyone) into the sleazy prick they would be without real world repercussions. I am quite high yes, but what a fucking shame, this Internet thing could have been so much greater. I guess it still is in its infancy though. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2015, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-american-english-so-difficult/134562/25 "2015-02-16T22:55:15Z")
> [@Luke\_2](#): > > I dont know who will ever see this, and i dont care if I am. > This thread has made me think about letters, words and languages in a completely different light. > > I want to thank everyone in this thread for dropping consistent knowledge bombs, and all without even a hint of flame post, there was fact, there was theory, there was debate, EXCELLENT! > Is 2002 the year online decency died? > The Internet is a sleazy hangout where anonymity turns everyone (not everyone) into the sleazy prick they would be without real world repercussions. > > I am quite high yes, but what a fucking shame, this Internet thing could have been so much greater. > I guess it still is in its infancy though. That’s just how we do it around here. > [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > **Scarlett67** ’s post reminds me of a joke where the English language is modified by proposed simplification into something that sounds like English with a pronounced (heh) German accent. Does anyone know where I can find this? After 13 years of wandering the Internet wilderness, Johnny LA returns to the thread to find that which eluded him, a mere 2 posts earlier… > [@Scarlett67](#): > > [Spelling Reform: A Plan for the Improvement of English Spelling](http://www.mantex.co.uk/samples/spell.htm) ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2015, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-american-english-so-difficult/134562/26 "2015-02-16T23:44:26Z")
zombie or no people brought their languages and dialects with them. it is not a melting pot, it is a mis-spoken pot. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2015, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-american-english-so-difficult/134562/27 "2015-02-17T02:27:22Z")
The point of slang is that it is not understood outside of the group. It’s a marker of in-ness. That was true 13 years ago as today, and probably 1300 years ago as it will be 1300 years from now. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2015, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-american-english-so-difficult/134562/28 "2015-02-17T03:20:50Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > “Fizziotherapi” = treatment using soda? I don’t think so. “Fizziotherapee”. Treatment using carbonated piss. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2015, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-american-english-so-difficult/134562/29 "2015-02-17T04:17:09Z")
The OP reminds me of [ghoti](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghoti). ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2015, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-american-english-so-difficult/134562/30 "2015-02-17T05:04:40Z")
I begin to wonder, is the English language the paragon of of creoles? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2015, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-american-english-so-difficult/134562/31 "2015-02-17T05:08:23Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > The OP reminds me of [ghoti](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghoti). I should have checked the date before I posted. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2015, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-american-english-so-difficult/134562/32 "2015-02-17T05:37:19Z")
It’s not. Even I can speak it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-american-english-so-difficult/134562.md?page=1)