Help me settle an argument!

[elite]

Thanks for all the input guys, sorry I haven't interjected - but I agreed with the opposing party that we would let the discussion and poll run without interference!

Unfortunatley I seem to have lost the argument according to this poll

In an attempt to save some face I'd like to make the following defence:

While England, Scotland and Wales are clearly territoriesthey do not qualify as countries for the following reasons:

• They cannot regulate their own foreign and domestic trade (the UK government does this on their behalf)
  
• The UK government is responsible for social engineering (although I believe Scotland has some devolved powers for this)
  
• The majority of transportation is controlled by the UK parliment
  
• While law enforcement and fire protection is controlled by local government, courts, national security, defence and military are controlled by UK parliment
  
• Most importantly: None of these "terrortories" is or can become a member of the United Nations

england is a country.. why should there be a 'national football team' (football is the real name for soccer, you silly americans ) if it would not be...

Yeah, I don't know why we are allowed to get away with this - but it doesn't apply to athletics etc..

what if I think neither are countries?

You're just being difficult now!


I guess it comes down to the definition of what a country actually is...

Coming up next week: American "english".

lol, can't wait!

[zehd]

I have to say that I love this forum. With the state of World affairs, my eyebrows raised several times as I saw what could have been hot button pushing. I love how the buttons were certainly pressed, yet it was always very clear it was in fun.

Wouldn't it be great if WE were running the world...?

Cheers to all!

[Fatman_do]

Ooops. Well, I certainly seemed to have stirred that pot.... hehehe.

Coming up next week: American "english".

Read up on Noah Webster and Spelling reform.

Why for example, is there a "s" in island, or a "w" in sword? No wonder English is one of the most difficult second languages to learn. Words should be spelled closer to how they are pronounced (duh).

What does the "u" in colour bring to the table? Is the "u" actually pronounced elsewhere in the world or is the English paying tribute to the French origins of the word?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_an...ifferences

[bgowland]

Words should be spelled closer to how they are pronounced (duh).

So colour should be spelt kl then?

Here's an interesting one - using your theory - how should 'scone' be spelled?

Cheers,
Brian

[betlit]

No wonder English is one of the most difficult second languages to learn.

this can only come from someone who never tried to learn french and its grammar as i was errm... forced to in school

actually for native german speakers, learning english is not _that_ difficult compared to other languages as there are some similarities between english and german

still... calling football 'soccer' and refusing to use those beautiful metric units... very silly!

[flyswatta]

this can only come from someone who never tried to learn french and its grammar as i was errm... forced to in school

actually for native german speakers, learning english is not _that_ difficult compared to other languages as there are some similarities between english and german

still... calling football 'soccer' and refusing to use those beautiful metric units... very silly!

Ha ha - I remember in 8th grade science we had to learn the metric system because it was going to be the new standard. Never used it after that, so I've forgotten most of it. I still get messed up when reading DIY projects that use metric for the measurements

[dvasco]

I remember being told the same thing in 5th grade, 1982, in California. Luckily I am able to remember rough translations. Except eighths of an inch conversions. The funniest thing is when NASA sent a spacecraft into orbit with the wrong coordinates. They were given in metric and they put the exact same numbers into the flight coordinates but as standard. Of all the companies in the world who would have thought?

[dvasco]

Italian is supposed to be one of the easiest languages to learn - with the least number of ways of spelling the same sound and with the least number of letters and words spelled as the Italian alphabet sounds.

[groover km]

Read up on Noah Webster and Spelling reform.

Why for example, is there a "s" in island, or a "w" in sword? No wonder English is one of the most difficult second languages to learn. Words should be spelled closer to how they are pronounced (duh).

What does the "u" in colour bring to the table? Is the "u" actually pronounced elsewhere in the world or is the English paying tribute to the French origins of the word?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_an...ifferences

Brilliant! I only said that for a joke, and we are off again! But as I seem to have touched a nerve, allow me to pull your leg a little more...

"Read up... on spelling reform" - which is pretty much my point with american english isn't it? In a "I can't believe it's not butter" kinda way.

"Words should be spelt closer to how they are pronounced". - Yes, maybe starting with words like Mishygun...

"...the English paying tribute to the French origins of the word?" - Debatable. After all, we dropped the 'e' from it. Then again, if the english are "paying tribute" to the french with spelling, what are you guys doing to the english with the whole language?

Having wrestled with conjugating french auxilliary verbs for the past 30 years, I agree with the comments above. To be fair, a lot of european friends tell me (in their perfect english) that the comment that 'english is one of the hardest languages to learn' is a myth... told by english-speaking people to each other in order to somehow justify not bothering to learn any other language. Just what I've been told, that's all.

Incidentally, I honestly don't intend to flame or troll or... I like that fact that this forum is so friendly and we can all talk and laugh like this: Some of us that have been around a while and those relatively more recent; it's always fun.

...and fantastic free mediacentre software to boot? Count me in!!!

[dvasco]

Thanks for all the input guys, sorry I haven't interjected - but I agreed with the opposing party that we would let the discussion and poll run without interference!

Unfortunatley I seem to have lost the argument according to this poll

In an attempt to save some face I'd like to make the following defence:

While England, Scotland and Wales are clearly territoriesthey do not qualify as countries for the following reasons:

• They cannot regulate their own foreign and domestic trade (the UK government does this on their behalf)
  
• The UK government is responsible for social engineering (although I believe Scotland has some devolved powers for this)
  
• The majority of transportation is controlled by the UK parliment
  
• While law enforcement and fire protection is controlled by local government, courts, national security, defence and military are controlled by UK parliment
  
• Most importantly: None of these "terrortories" is or can become a member of the United Nations

I didn't vote because I didn't have the info you do. You make a very strong case for your argument. What is the argument of the other party?