trw wrote on 02/21/12 at 17:07:27:

Yes but in that case you use the words "NA" and "SA" for North and South America. To use America and US-America is just very awkward and weird word choice (since we are on the subject of language!).

Typically, outside of USA & CAN none of the other countries have English as the official language.

Jupp53 wrote on 02/21/12 at 11:05:08:


Huh? 

Irish English is in my opinion the most congenial version of English, and if the US made it its official language (which seems to be lacking - see below) they'd probably be more liked and less prone to make war. :)

[quote]English is the most common language in the United States. Though the U.S. federal government has no official language, English is the common language used by the federal government and is considered the de facto language of the United States because of its widespread use. English has been given official status by 28 of the 50 state governments.[/quote]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_English

(Language is a cultural subject. German school books  do teach British English.)

When asking about more than verbal meanings of English phrases out of songs or literature I was used to refer to "native speakers" independent of their origin. Once asking an US-American friend how she would understand a phrase as a "native speaker" she was emotional about my perception of her as having indian roots. Telling this British people made them wonder or smile.

My latino friends taught me to differentiate between American and US-American for cultural and human rights reasons.

There's no single English language. A serious definition of a language is: "A language is a dialect supported by an army."

Note: it's not because of political correctness I questioned it, it's because: 1) it's not like nearly everyone here is American as can clearly be seen from many topics and 2) obviously Americans aren't the only ones who speak English natively(!), and I am not sure if he thinks that Irish people don't speak English natively. 

This Topic was moved here from Anti-Sicilians [move by] trw.

Bibs wrote on 02/20/12 at 02:33:50:


English-speaking world as in the Commonwealth and USA. But do not Commonwealth nations learn British spelling (i.e. labour not labor, etc.) when they learn English, either as a first or second language? And are not approximately 2 billion people living in Commonwealth nations? Having relatives living in Commonwealth nations such as Canada, Australia, Hong Kong, etc., I can attest that when they do speak English, they speak, write, and spell British English (though not with British accents).

But then again, are not most chess books written in British English? Everyman, Quality Chess, Gambit, whose books I infer most of us read and discuss on these forums--are not the books in British English?