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I remember a flame war between US-English and UK-English speakers, where one of the former said “if it weren't for us, you'd be speaking German now” and one of
by tzot 6y ago
I remember a flame war between US-English and UK-English speakers, where one of the former said “if it weren't for us, you'd be speaking German now” and one of the latter ones said “if it weren't for the French, you'd still speak English now”.
- throwaway894345 6y agoI don’t understand the rebuttal. Is American English supposed to be more French-influenced than UK English?
- joshuaissac 6y agoIt is a reference to the assistance provided by France to help the American colonies (and later the United States) rebel against the British Empire. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France_in_the_American_Revolutionary_War https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France_in_the_American_Revolut...
- throwaway894345 6y agoAh. That's not a very sharp barb considering the significant power differential between England and the Revolutionists at the time.
- random3821 6y agoI think the key part of the joke is that Americans don't speak proper English.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- tzot 6y agoLike random3821 commented, it's about American English not being “proper” English (while supposedly if the US of A were a British colony, it would be “proper”.)