http://www.suddenlysanfranciscan.org/whos-she-the-cats-mother/ The view from here Sat, 04 Sep 2010 22:52:29 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 http://www.suddenlysanfranciscan.org/whos-she-the-cats-mother/#comment-200 chris Mon, 02 Mar 2009 20:47:49 +0000 http://www.suddenlysanfranciscan.org/?p=285#comment-200 Hey, Happy New Year! I wanted to respond to your observations here for two reasons. Firstly, I don't think this is a SF thing, rather a US thing, as my partner is American and even though he lives in Britain now (perhaps especially so) we often exchange words over the use of 's/he' when talking about someone who is within earshot. The impersonal nature of such referrals grates so much to a British ear. Secondly, having spent some time in the US, I've been thinking about the American forms of speech I find myself using (even back here in Britain). I have come to the conclusion, perhaps wrongly, that it is the convenience of single syllables, for example, trash v rubbish - it's quicker to say 'trash', hood v bonnet, etc. However, perhaps this is too simplistic as I also find myself saying 'trunk' rather than 'boot' - no advantage there. Duh! However, sidewalk is one I don't think I will ever adopt - wonder why? The psycholinguistics are fascinating. chris Hey,
Happy New Year!
I wanted to respond to your observations here for two reasons. Firstly, I don’t think this is a SF thing, rather a US thing, as my partner is American and even though he lives in Britain now (perhaps especially so) we often exchange words over the use of ’s/he’ when talking about someone who is within earshot. The impersonal nature of such referrals grates so much to a British ear. Secondly, having spent some time in the US, I’ve been thinking about the American forms of speech I find myself using (even back here in Britain). I have come to the conclusion, perhaps wrongly, that it is the convenience of single syllables, for example, trash v rubbish - it’s quicker to say ‘trash’, hood v bonnet, etc. However, perhaps this is too simplistic as I also find myself saying ‘trunk’ rather than ‘boot’ - no advantage there. Duh! However, sidewalk is one I don’t think I will ever adopt - wonder why? The psycholinguistics are fascinating. chris

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