On Saturday 29 January 2011 06:38, Zaphod Feeblejocks wrote:
> To whoever is resposible for uploading 3.3 to the mirrors....
>
> I can see a version that uses US regional spellings (English (US)).
>
> Nothing in standard English though.
>
> Will this be fixed?
>
> In case you think I am being pedantic, it's worth remembering that the idea
> of 'English' versus 'English (UK)' often seen, suggests an American-centred
> view of the world.
>
> There's English, as spoken in most Anglophone countries in a reasonably
> uniform way (UK, Ireland, Australia, NZ, India, Kenya, Nigeria, Cameroon,
> etc), and there's the regional variations made popular by Mr Noah Webster &
> co in USA. I do accept that Webster's ideas do make sense and are easier
> for people learning English - but nonetheless, they are regional variations
> most commonly used in USA.
>
> Even my Canadian friends insist their language is 'English-UK' rather than
> 'English-US'.
That would make it sound like you were a member of a majority, wouldn't it?
Except that the USA has a larger population than the rest of us English as a
first language countries combined. So if it wasn't for the fact that not all
US citizens speak english as a first language (or even at all) and that the
second largest English speaking country in the world is China (when you count
those who do not have English as a first language), we would actually be able
to work out whether more people wrote English(GB) or English(US) (which is in
computer parlance historically called English, because, in general, the
majority of programmers are/were there). Rather muddled, isn't it? I fear
until more accurate figures are obtained nobody can claim the high ground,
either on having a clear majority, or on being first with the language. As to
the last point, read Chaucer. You could argue based on who wrote the first
dictionary, but that is just elitist, dry and crusty and gets away from the
real point of your email. So realy your "standard English" may not exist as
you percieve it[1].
The English(US) version of OpenOffice.org may not even be the first one
released as IIUC the majority of programmers are in Germany.
To download the English(GB) version of OpenOffice.org you generally have to
wait a week or so for the maintainers of that version to pack it with the
appropriate help files and dictionaries etc. Then if you are like me, you
have to add the dictionaries for your local English version anyway. I have to
add the New Zealand English and Maori dictionaries. BTW i don't speak Maori,
but many Maori words are assimilated into New Zealand English (Tui {a bird},
Waikato {a river and region} and Kaikoura {a town} are examples).
HTH
[1] http://grammar.about.com/od/grammarfaq/a/standardenglish.htm
--
Michael
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