Thread: British
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Old August 31, 2012, 10:29 AM
BenCondor BenCondor is offline
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Join Date: Jun 2012
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Native Language: English-US
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American English, in the standard form heard on national broadcasts, has more relaxed vowels than British English and I've heard several students of English claim that it is easier to pronounce. As for having a "larger" vocabulary, I personally doubt it, since it is almost the same. That is, as an American English speaker I can pick up a British English newspaper, scholarly article, novel or basically anything and understand it perfectly. There are differences such as the famous bonnet=hood; boot=trunk difference [speaking of a car]. AE speakers don't usually use "daft" to mean crazy, (though it would be understood). But it's not as if, as an American English speaker, I'm using a dictionary half the size of a British English dictionary!

There are plenty of differences in slang, of course, but I doubt there is much more British slang such as to significantly enlarge the vocabulary.
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