niemeerhier Posted November 28, 2008 Report Share Posted November 28, 2008 (edited) I was reading a job advert the other day and smugly I showed my wife just how bad the spelling in their adverts is. She then told me, "no, the Aussies spell it that way!" and she showed me in MS Word after loading the Australian dictionary. I always thought that if you use the UK dictionary you would be fine. So I quickly loaded my CV and got quite a few "spelling errors". I just downloaded the Australian English dictionary for Firefox as well. Fortunately I did not make the mistake of commenting to an Aussie about their bad spelling Quite funny: I see the caption below the Oz dictionary plugin reads: I'm sick of all my favoUrite coloUrful language being marked incorrect. Edited November 28, 2008 by Trekker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllisonW Posted November 28, 2008 Report Share Posted November 28, 2008 Trekker can you give us some example? I am really shocked as i thought that they would use the UK dictionary - having been colonised and all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niemeerhier Posted November 28, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2008 Trekker can you give us some example? I am really shocked as i thought that they would use the UK dictionary - having been colonised and all!I can not quite remember what the word was but it was a word that ended in a ll. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Posted November 28, 2008 Report Share Posted November 28, 2008 UK English is acceptable as correct spelling in Australia.There are a few differences in spelling and pronunciation, with the word "program" being widely used in Australia, for instance, as opposed to the English spelling of "programme".I spell it "program", the same as I spell "diagram".The English spelling is inconsistent here.One thing I am constantly surprised at is the wrong spelling of South African English.You lot spell "mom" when you don't even speak it that way.It is pronounced with a short "U" sound, throughout the English speaking world . . . America, England, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, etc.Americans, at least spell it how the say it . . . . "mom"It shows to me how Americanised the South Africans are becoming when they take to spelling words that aren't pronounced that way.(Leaves me scratching my head a bit) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SANZOZ Posted November 28, 2008 Report Share Posted November 28, 2008 Im confused Bob... I say "mom" and I spell it "mom".... I dont know any South Africans that say "mum" unless they have lived in the UK, Oz or NZ. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Posted November 29, 2008 Report Share Posted November 29, 2008 Im confused Bob... I say "mom" and I spell it "mom".... I dont know any South Africans that say "mum" unless they have lived in the UK, Oz or NZ.O.K. . . . . that's interesting.I've only ever heard English speaking folk around the world pronouncing mum as in "rum" or "bum", despite how they spell it.Pronouncing mom as in "tom" is a new one for me, when referring to your mother.I didn't know South Africans said it that way.You learn something every day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avida Posted November 29, 2008 Report Share Posted November 29, 2008 O.K. . . . . that's interesting.I've only ever heard English speaking folk around the world pronouncing mum as in "rum" or "bum", despite how they spell it.Pronouncing mom as in "tom" is a new one for me, when referring to your mother.I didn't know South Africans said it that way.You learn something every day!I'll have to admit, Bob - I've never given it that much thought!I had to think for a while, as I was convinced that I pronounce "mom" as "mom". But you are quite right! My "mom" sounds like "rum", and most definitely not like "tom", or "bomb" ......A Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodag Posted November 30, 2008 Report Share Posted November 30, 2008 ... (Leaves me scratching my head a bit) What leaves me scratching my head is the Aussies that pronounce 'saw' the same as 'soar', and 'law' the same as 'lore'. It is more obvious when you hear them say 'drawring' for 'drawing'.I've heard that this is called 'an intrusive r'. but hey, what do I know? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mythryl Posted December 16, 2008 Report Share Posted December 16, 2008 What leaves me scratching my head is the Aussies that pronounce 'saw' the same as 'soar', and 'law' the same as 'lore'. It is more obvious when you hear them say 'drawring' for 'drawing'.I've heard that this is called 'an intrusive r'. but hey, what do I know?Actually Woodag that's the kiwi way of spelling it. They also say "fouwa" instead of four. That was the first thing I noticed about the Aussie accent that was different. Just don't get me started on my pet peeve...Kiwi's and their pronunciation of "Cervical" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Posted December 16, 2008 Report Share Posted December 16, 2008 Some folks are just down right ignorant though.The word "Trough" springs to mind. . . . . as in a laundry trough or animal feed trough.I lived in Tasmania back in the 1980s / 1990s for 13 years and many times heard it pronounced by the locals as a "trow" . . . as in a "plough" pulled by a tractor or horse.It's actually pronounced "Troff" with the "gh" coming from Anglo-Saxon English from over a thousand years ago. It's the closest sound that English of today has with the Dutch "g'" or German "ch" as in nagt (Dutch) or nacht (German)The English word "enough" centuries ago would have been instantly recognisable by the Dutch with their "genoeg" or Germans with "genug"Nowadays, the "gh" is pronounced as "ff" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calibrated Posted December 16, 2008 Report Share Posted December 16, 2008 You lot spell "mom" when you don't even speak it that way.uh, i say mom. pretty much every south african i know says mom. dont know how you think otherwise?aussies always have a go at me for saying mom........ in general though, australian spelling, grammar and pronounciation is appalling. probably a combination of slack education and laziness.the amount of errors i have seen in university books, exams, slides, makes you wonder..... and errors in newspapers and magazines! things that are supposed to be proofed before going into print... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polly Posted December 16, 2008 Report Share Posted December 16, 2008 We treat 'mom' and 'mum' differently. My gran was 'mum' to her kids. We used 'mom' to refer to english-speaking friends' mothers. I always thought 'mum' was the 'british'/old english way of saying 'mom'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndreaL Posted December 16, 2008 Report Share Posted December 16, 2008 As a child in Scotland I would say " Mammy" which as I grew older became Mum, my sister, born in RSA says " Mommy" or "Mom".My husband a Geordie says " Mam"- of course in the U.K regional dialects make a difference.Pet hates here in Australia are "draws" for drawers and please Bob explain how I have not met one Australian that can say "Maroon"? It is always said "Marron" is this because of the footy team by that name?Our local newspaper has had great debate about the correct pronunciation of the town "Mackay", perhaps originally pronounced "Mac-kay" and not as now " Mack-eye"Has Australian pronunciation purposely distanced itself from British influence?Very curious to know.AndreaL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calibrated Posted December 16, 2008 Report Share Posted December 16, 2008 sounds more like maroan. perhaps they are trying to say moron? it completely baffles me how they cant pronounce maroon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 "Mom" is the American spelling, but their "o" sound is like the Australian / New Zealand / English / Canadian sound of "u", hence we sound it the same with the Americans spelling it differently, as they hear it and speak it.I just took it that South Africans were picking the American culture up far more than Australians or New Zealanders with their spelling of "Mom" reflecting this change in culture. Perhaps I'm wrong on this.The double "oo" sound in maroon in England is sounded liked "room" while Australians sound it like "Rome" . . . . dunno why. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodag Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 sounds more like maroan. perhaps they are trying to say moron? it completely baffles me how they cant pronounce maroon.... and then there are the "mares". No, not lady horses, those blokes with the gold medals around their necks that head up local councils. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calibrated Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 ... and then there are the "mares". No, not lady horses, those blokes with the gold medals around their necks that head up local councils.HAHAHHAH ja i dont know how the hell they manage to pronounce mayor as mare. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niemeerhier Posted December 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 Then there is the pronunciation of Cockburn. I see they say coburn (Afrikaans pron. koubihin). Where did the ck go? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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