> Americans also said mad for angry, another English usage that died out in the old country. > The expression I guess, meaning that one supposes or agrees, is

> Americans also said mad for angry, another English usage that died out in the old country. > The expression I guess, meaning that one supposes or agrees, is often used to stereotype Americans in British books and movies, but it was current in England during the seventeenth century My parents were refugees and survived in the country I grew up in by keeping close with the tightknit community of their fellow countrymen. They kept the language and the culture of their homeland alive, and taught it to their kids, so that they would never forget their roots. The problem: the language of the homeland changed in those years, and what my siblings and I actually learned is outdated, funny-sounding, and almost unintelligible since bits of english are thrown in there too. A conversation with a native is hard. I guess its funny how language changes, and how it is preserved most by those who are no longer part of it's development.