How do British people understand British English?

Discussion in 'Serious Discussion' started by mdlgaofei, Mar 14, 2016.

  1. MrMagic

    MrMagic MDL Guru

    Feb 13, 2012
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    We tell kids every day "Be good for your mother" when father leaves for work

    "Be a good boy / Be a good girl"
     
  2. Joe C

    Joe C MDL Guru

    Jan 12, 2012
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    And that's the bee's knees!
     
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  3. MrMagic

    MrMagic MDL Guru

    Feb 13, 2012
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    [​IMG]
     
  4. gorski

    gorski MDL Guru

    Oct 21, 2009
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    As I said: sit down and learn the ABC properly first - this is quite futile, when you are trying to mess with some "super-structure" but your basics are so poor...

    Or: "Learn to walk before you try to run".

    And KISS! :D (Keep It Simple, Stupid)

    :D
     
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  5. Muerto

    Muerto MDL Debugger

    Mar 7, 2012
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    #125 Muerto, May 26, 2016
    Last edited: Jan 12, 2021
    ...
     
  6. Joe C

    Joe C MDL Guru

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    The pop/soda thing is regional here in the U.S. I live in the northeast part of the country and we always call soft drinks "pop". Coke, Vernors or Mountain dew...it's all called pop
     
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  7. SOCRATE_MMXII

    SOCRATE_MMXII MDL Expert

    Jan 25, 2012
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    I know that.Instead of saying/writing "you be a good boy", language also created a "shortcut" with "be a good boy" I was referring to the fact that "be" by itself is not another or different word like mdlgaofei was trying to translate into mandarin...
     
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  8. MrMagic

    MrMagic MDL Guru

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    Just pointless saying "You" first, if there is only one person present

    "Be careful"

    Sound pretty daft saying "You be careful" if there is no-one else there and you're not pointing at the person

    And it also means "To exist"

    [​IMG]
     
  9. mdlgaofei

    mdlgaofei MDL Member

    Dec 2, 2015
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    I can say and write all the letters from memory alphabetically.
     
  10. gorski

    gorski MDL Guru

    Oct 21, 2009
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    ...and this is where it stops...:rolleyes::biggrin::D:p
     
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  11. mdlgaofei

    mdlgaofei MDL Member

    Dec 2, 2015
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    How difficult do the native speakers think about English?
    A video says that "Chinese people call 'black tea' "红茶".But '红' is red in English".The video says that "because the colour of 红茶's water is red and the colour of 红茶's leaves is black.And the differences between Chinese people and English people"
    Could you say other amazing things between Chinese and English?
     
  12. SOCRATE_MMXII

    SOCRATE_MMXII MDL Expert

    Jan 25, 2012
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    The difference comes from the way of writing. In Indo-European languages (English is part of that family): writing is expressing a sound on paper using a letter, while in "yellow languages" (sorry for the expression, but I don't have a better term - Mandarin, Japanese, Korean and all those alike) writing is expressing an idea on paper using an ideogram and it's called logo-graphic writing.
     
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  13. mdlgaofei

    mdlgaofei MDL Member

    Dec 2, 2015
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    We use inverted sentences to ask questions in English.But I saw some special sentences.
    Such as the sentence in the image[​IMG]
    It doesn't seem a inverted sentence.
     
  14. gorski

    gorski MDL Guru

    Oct 21, 2009
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    "It doesn't seem AN inverted sentence."

    It is, if "partially omitted stuff" kind...

    "Do you" is left out for expedience, since everyone knows this is supposed to be there...

    Also, many things people have in common, they do not say, esp. in urban environments, like "no. 10" but "bus" is not said...

    Etc. etc.
     
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  15. mdlgaofei

    mdlgaofei MDL Member

    Dec 2, 2015
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    What does "tu" in the word "YouTube" mean? What does the whole word "YouTube" mean?


    A part of Chinese people say that "stop to do sth." means that "stop doing sth then do another thing". They say that "forget to do sth." means that "forget sth who wants to do".
    "Stop to do sth." relates to another thing. But why doesn't "forget to do sth." relate to another thing?
     
  16. gorski

    gorski MDL Guru

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    Tu? You are now taking the Mickey, eh? :D :p :D
     
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  17. mdlgaofei

    mdlgaofei MDL Member

    Dec 2, 2015
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    Didn't you see the other problems?

    A part of Chinese people say that "stop to do sth." means that "stop doing sth then do another thing". They say that "forget to do sth." means that "forget sth who wants to do".
    "Stop to do sth." relates to another thing. But why doesn't "forget to do sth." relate to another thing?
     
  18. mdlgaofei

    mdlgaofei MDL Member

    Dec 2, 2015
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    Do you oppose Chinglish?
    How do you oppose Chinglish?
     
  19. gorski

    gorski MDL Guru

    Oct 21, 2009
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    By EngChin! :p :D
     
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  20. mdlgaofei

    mdlgaofei MDL Member

    Dec 2, 2015
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    Why isn't it "Engna"?
    "Chinese"&"English" &"Chinglish". Why isn't it "Engna"?