[quote RashofBees]@SalsaLove - I can’t speak for the people you’ve met, but I’m a total language nerd. I love the infinite variety of language in general and the English language in particular. I do not dislike US English and I did not dislike the US. I could listen to someone speaking in certain flavours of southern American English in particular all day long. As mentioned above, I also lived in the US and have my own personal Americanisms that I won’t be giving up as they’re part of my history. (Renaissance! First heard as opposed to seen written in connection with that very American thing, the Renaissance fair.)
I’m passionate about this subject, and it makes me sad that we’re losing difference, whether that is in regional dialects or at a national or global level. I remember being told on the first day of a TEFL teaching course that there is a theory that the world was moving towards just one language and being utterly dismayed.
You might think that I personally am dog whistling (though I’m not sure why on the basis of my posts), but I can’t see why you think it’s impossible that someone could feel this way? Can you not imagine that some people may feel a sense of loss at a world where linguistic differences are flattened? Is it not sad when minority languages are lost? Did you believe me when I said I thought it a shame that Portuguese spelling changed? Would you believe me if I said I thought it was concerning that Cantonese is thought to be under threat?
Btw, one of the great pleasures of that long-ago TEFL course was discovering among the trainees, who came from all over, the different English words we had for the same concepts. This included Americans finding out that other Americans might use some unheard-of term for an everyday object. Who doesn’t love this stuff?[/quote]
I agree that its sad to lose language, and I'm also very fond of dialects (because they are often more grammatically correct!). That said, although we have lost uncounted languages across the world, certain peoples would all originally have spoken the same language in a broad area, and then developed more languages. Which is why modern German isn't the same language as modern English, etc..
My other pet hate is having my correct, native English "corrected" by non-native English speakers who have learned a certain usage in a book or off social media. I have for example been told by non-native English speakers that "wot", "gonna" "wanna" and "coulda" are correct words and that I should learn them. Or that compounds such as "pig-meat" are correct. And then theres "dear". In some parts of the UK, you can call any age of woman "dear" and not be rude and insinuating that she is elderly. Not here. Its very rude. Yet those grafters on social media sending you random pms from wherever they are in the world invariably call you "dear". 