Which is the 'best' English?

Trash or Rubbish? - Sorting out our English

Colour or color? Socks or sox? Organisations or Organizations? Underground or subway? Gas or petrol? Fall or Autumn? Candy or sweets? Cookie or biscuit? Centre or center, Trash or rubbish?

I've had a lot of furious emails from users about my terrible spelling. While I admit that the OEG may have had some glaring typos (fixed as soon as they were pointed out!) the emails are often concerned with spellings that are to do with regional differences in spoken and written English and not with my poor language skills. And they often come from readers who are convinced that there is only one 'good' English - theirs!

And we're living in a world where the frontiers between these 'regional differences' are becoming more and more blurred. Globalised mass communications, the Internet, an increasingly mobile workforce, and cheap international travel are all making us aware of an English language with many faces - a dynamic language, changing and moving with our times. Where the building blocks of the language - grammar, vocabulary, syntax - are plastic and dynamic and not rigid and static. Of course, if we still believe, as many of us were taught to believe at school, that there is only oneEnglish - ours! - then it may seem as if civilization as we'd like to keep knowing it is crumbling around our ears.

My family's experience is a good example of the way in which we are now exposed to a 'globalised' (should that be 'globalized'?) English and the cultural and geographic influences that contribute to our use of it: I was born in England, went to Australia when I was five, was entirely educated in Australia, spent several years in the USA and Canada, another eight in England and lived in France for over fifteen years. I married a Colombian, the common language at home is French, my wife speaks Spanish to our children, I speak English to them and they go to a French school. We live in a very small French village but have satellite TV with broadcasts from the USA and the UK, and ADSL Internet. My children's English is smattered with expressions and grammatical usage that comes from the USA and even from within fairly minority sub-sets of American English which they pick up from the music channels and YouTube, and they have kept traces of usage from our time in England. They use the Internet to chat with cousins and sisters in Australia where they use the truncated English that will surely develop one day into a recognised 'Internet English' (if it hasn't already!). Their English is a very different animal from mine and the shaping influences on it very different from those that shaped my own.

In my home, as in millions of others around the world, English is clearly a language that is moving and changing as fast as the times we live in. English speakers living in Bombay, Brighton or Boston are being exposed on an almost daily basis to the English used by their fellow English speakers around the globe. 

Although we have a rich global mapping of English which makes it possible for English speakers to almost immediately fix a fellow English speaker to a geographical area, there is more that is similar among these English variations than is dissimilar. If there wasn't, English speakers from different parts of the world would have absolutely no hope of understanding each other! In most cases it is pronunciation and idiomatic expressions, not vocabulary or grammar that makes a fellow English speaker from anotherpart of the world, or sometimes even another part of the country, difficult to understand. 

In the Online English Grammar I am open to the international and evolving character of English and, try at least, to highlight the differences between British and American English where they appear. I am always happy to receive new examples of these differences from users of the OEG!

I point out grammatical rules that may vary slightly depending on where you are as well as differences in spelling and usage. And have listed some of the main spelling variations between British and American English in an appendix.

The important thing to remember is that while spelling 'remember' as 'rember' is definitely wrong, spelling 'socks' as 'sox' is not! That saying 'She speak English really well' is definitely wrong wherever you are (the verb 'speak' must be third person 'speaks' or used in another tense such as 'spoke'), saying 'She speaks English real well' may not bewrong (it is acceptable to use 'real' rather than 'really' in informal American English.)

This may also slow the flow of emails from angry users who think it is a disgrace that I consistently spell 'center' as 'centre' - am I dyslexic?

SMILE

  It takes 72 muscles to frown - only 14 to smile! So keep smiling, After all, we only live once.

In the word SMILE:

• S stands for Sets you free
• M stands for Makes you special
• I stands for Increases your face value
• L stands for Lifts up your spirits
• E stands for Erases all your tensions

A Smile makes us look younger, while Prayers make us feel stronger.

Think about how special a smile is. It costs nothing, but has the power to enrich all, who receive it.

A smile is the light in your window that tells others that there is a caring, sharing person inside.

Even a smile or a kind word is considered charity.

Good Life starts only when you stop wanting a better One. So, Live like a Candle, which burns itself but give lights to others.

72 عضلات برای  اخم کردن به کار گرفته می شود درحالیکه  فقط 14 عضله برای لبخند! پس بر لبانتان، لبخند را حفظ کنید . چون ما فقط یک بار زندگی می کنیم.

 واژه لبخند شامل :

S یعنی خودت را آزاد و رها کن .

M یعنی خودت را خاص ساز  .

I یعنی ارزش چهره ات را افزون کن .

L یعنی روح  خودت را بالا ببر.  

E یعنی تنش هایت را پاک ساز .

لبخند ماراجوانتر می کند ، همانطور  که نمازو دعا و نیایش  ما را قوی تر می کند .

 فکر کن در مورد اینکه چگونه میشود یک لبخند خاص باشد . برای لبخندت بهایی نمی پردازی اما قدرت دستیابی به همه چیز را به دست می آوری .

 لبخند مانند نوریست که از پنجره وجودت متصاعد میشود و به دیگران می گوید که اینجا فردیست که غم خوار و مراقب و شریک شماست .

 حتی یک لبخند و یا یک کلمه محبت آمیز را می توان کار خیر دانست .

 زندگی خوب تنها زمانی شروع می شود که شمادست یافتن بهترینها را پایان دهید . زندگی مثل شمعیست ، که خود را می سوزاند اما به  دیگران روشنایی می بخشد. 

?Who is the sniper

A sniper is a highly trained marksman who operates alone, in a pair, or with a sniper team to maintain close visual contact with the enemy and engage targets from concealed positions

snipers are trained in camouflage, infiltration, special reconnaissance and   target acquisition

تیرانداز فردیست ماهر  با آموزش سطح بالا ، که هم به صورت تک نفره ،  دونفره و یا با یک تیم تیراندازی کار می کند آنهاارتباط بصری نزدیک با دشمن را حفظ می کنند و  هدفها را از موقعیتهایی مخفی نشانه گیری می کنند  .

تک‌تیر اندازها در استتار٫ نفوذ به پشت خطوط دشمن و شناسایی تجهیزات دشمن آموزش می بینند .

The Praying Hands

Back in the fifteenth century, in a tiny village near Nuremberg, lived a family with eighteen children. Eighteen! In order merely to keep food on the table for this mob, the father and head of the household, a goldsmith by profession, worked almost eighteen hours a day at his trade and any other paying chore he could find in the neighborhood.

Despite their seemingly hopeless condition, two of Albrecht Durer the Elder’s children had a dream. They both wanted to pursue their talent for art, but they knew full well that their father would never be financially able to send either of them to Nuremberg to study at the Academy.

After many long discussions at night in their crowded bed, the two boys finally worked out a pact. They would toss a coin. The loser would go down into the nearby mines and, with his earnings, support his brother while he attended the academy. Then, when that brother who won the toss completed his studies, in four years, he would support the other brother at the academy, either with sales of his artwork or, if necessary, also by laboring in the mines.

They tossed a coin on a Sunday morning after church. Albrecht Durer won the toss and went off to Nuremberg. Albert went down into the dangerous mines and, for the next four years, financed his brother, whose work at the academy was almost an immediate sensation. Albrecht’s etchings, his woodcuts, and his oils were far better than those of most of his professors, and by the time he graduated, he was beginning to earn considerable fees for his commissioned works.

When the young artist returned to his village, the Durer family held a festive dinner on their lawn to celebrate Albrecht’s triumphant homecoming. After a long and memorable meal, punctuated with music and laughter, Albrecht rose from his honored position at the head of the table to drink a toast to his beloved brother for the years of sacrifice that had enabled Albrecht to fulfill his ambition. His closing words were, “And now, Albert, blessed brother of mine, now it is your turn. Now you can go to Nuremberg to pursue your dream, and I will take care of you.”

All heads turned in eager expectation to the far end of the table where Albert sat, tears streaming down his pale face, shaking his lowered head from side to side while he sobbed and repeated, over and over, “No …no …no …no.”

Finally, Albert rose and wiped the tears from his cheeks. He glanced down the long table at the faces he loved, and then, holding his hands close to his right cheek, he said softly, “No, brother. I cannot go to Nuremberg. It is too late for me. Look … look what four years in the mines have done to my hands! The bones in every finger have been smashed at least once, and lately I have been suffering from arthritis so badly in my right hand that I cannot even hold a glass to return your toast, much less make delicate lines on parchment or canvas with a pen or a brush. No, brother … for me it is too late.”

More than 450 years have passed. By now, Albrecht Durer’s hundreds of masterful portraits, pen and silver-point sketches, watercolors, charcoals, woodcuts, and copper engravings hang in every great museum in the world.

One day, to pay homage to Albert for all that he had sacrificed, Albrecht Durer painstakingly drew his brother’s abused hands with palms together and thin fingers stretched skyward. He called his powerful drawing simply “Hands,” but the entire world almost immediately opened their hearts to his great masterpiece and renamed his tribute of love “The Praying Hands.”

در قرن پانزدهم،در روستایی کوچک نزدیک نورمبرگ،خانواده ای با هجده فرزند زندگی می کرد.هجده فرزند!برای تهیه غذای این خانواده پرجمعیت، پدر بعنوان سرپرست خانواده که زرگری خبره بود، تقریبا هجده ساعت در روز به این کار و هر کارسخت دیگری که می توانست پیدا کند، مشغول بود.علیرغم شرایط ناامید کننده زندگی شان، دو پسر بزرگتر آلبرشت دورر، رویایی در سر می پروراندند. این دو می خواستند استعدادشان را در رشته هنر ادامه دهند ولی خوب می دانستند که پدرشان هرگز از نظرمالی قادر نیست هر دوی آنها را برای ادامه تحصیل به آکادمی هنر در نورمبرگ بفرستد.

یک شب بعد از بحثی طولانی در رختخواب پر جمعیتشان،دو برادر قراری گذاشتند.آنها سکه ای انداختند. بازنده باید به معادن اطراف می رفت و با درآمد حاصل از آن برادر دیگر را در دانشگاه از نظر مالی کمک می کرد و پس از آن برادر برنده که تحصیلش تمام شد باید در چهار سال بعد برادرش را از طریق فروختن نقاشی هایش و اگر لازم بود با در معادن برادر دیگرش را در دانشگاه تامین می کرد.


آنها یکشنبه بعد از مراسم کلیسا سکه ای انداختند. آلبرشت دورر سکه را برد و به نورمبرگ رفت. آلبرت به معادن خطرناک رفت بعد از چهار سال، برادرش را که کارش در دانشگاه جزء بهترین ها بود، از نظر مالی تامین کرد.نقاشی آلبرشت، کارهای چوبی و رنگ و روغنش حتی بهتر از اکثر استادانش بود. در زمان فارغ التحصیلی او درآمد زیادی از نقاشی های حرفه ای خودش به دست آورده بود.


وقتی هنرمند جوان به دهکده اش برگشت، خانواده دورر برای موفقیت های آلبرشت و برگشت او به کانون خانواده پس از 4 سال یک ضیافت شامی در مزرعه شان برپا کردند. بعد از صرف غذای مفصل و خاطره انگیز، آلبرشت غرورانه ایستاد و یک نوشیدنی به برادر دوست داشتنی اش برای قدردانی از سال هایی که او را حمایت مالی کرده بود تا آرزویش برآورده شود، تعارف کرد و چنین گفت: آلبرت، برادر بزرگوارم حالا نوبت توست، تو حالا می توانی به نورنبرگ بروی و آرزویت را تحقق بخشی و من از تو حمایت میکنم.


تمام سرها به انتهای میز که آلبرت نشسته بود برگشت. اشک از چشمان او سرازیر شد. سرش را پایین انداخت و به آرامی گفت: نه! از جا برخاست و در حالی که اشک هایش را پاک می کرد به انتهای میز و به چهره هایی که دوستشان داشت، خیره شد و سپس دستانش را نزدیک گونه راستش کرد و به آرامی گفت: نه برادر، من نمی توانم به نورنبرگ بروم، دیگر خیلی دیر شده، ببین چهار سال کار در معدن چه بر سر دستانم آورده، استخوان انگشتانم حداقل یک بارشکسته و در دست راستم درد شدیدی را حس می کنم، به طوری که حتی نمی توانم لیوانی را بلند کند و چیزی بنوشم. نمی توانم با خودکار یا قلم مو خطوط ظریف روی کاغذ پوستی با بوم بکشم. نه برادر، برای من دیگر خیلی دیر شده…


بیش از 450 سال از آن قضیه می گذرد. هم اکنون صدها نقاشی ماهرانه آلبرشت دورر قلمکاری ها و آبرنگ ها و کنده کاری های چوبی او در هر موزه بزرگی در سراسر جهان نگهداری میشود. 
یک روز آلبرشت دورر برای قدردانی از همه سختی هایی که برادرش به خاطر او متحمل شده بود، دستان پینه بسته برادرش را که به هم چسبیده و انگشتان لاغرش به سمت آسمان بود، به تصویر کشید. او نقاشی استادانه اش را صرفاً “دست ها” نام گذاری کرد اما جهانیان احساساتشان را متوجه این شاهکار کردند و کار بزرگ هنرمندانه او را “دستان دعا کننده” نامیدند