>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>Our monarchy is always an import.
>>>>>>>>Before the Germans it was the French with William the conqueror.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Oh well at least half of your vocabulary is French import.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>They seem to take some satisfaction from mispronouncing a lot of the words. For instance, saying filet as "FILL-it."
>>>>>
>>>>>I have a theory that the vowel shifts came from the British nobles trying to imitate French pronunciation, and then common folks imitating them.
>>>>
>>>>Common or poor? There seems to be a difference in the pronunciation of some words (and accent) among the "common" folk as well...
>>>>
>>>>Here, education does have an effect on language to some degree, but more often than not, it's simply a different accent which is caused by geographic location and not education.
>>>>
>>>>I just find the whole common versus royalty difference interesting (especially since we don't have it) :o)
>>>
>>>I find the denial of a class system in the US always amusing.
>>>
>>>Your child has exactly the same opportunities and connections in life as an Ivy League student from one of the older families. I'm sure . Not. :-)
>>
>>I think it's actually a different kind of class system, generally based on money and success rather than heredity. There is no doubt the offspring start with a great advantage in life. (As Ann Richards famously said of the first President Bush, "He was born on third base and thinks he hit a triple").
>
>And that baseball analogy passes me without a trace of understanding :-)

Sorry, that was thoughtless. In baseball there are four bases -- first, second, and third, plus home plate. You score a run by crossing home plate. A triple is a hit in which the batter makes it to third base on the hit. It's one of the most beautiful plays in baseball and in fact much rarer than a home run.