>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>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.
>
>Why is it better than a home run.
>
>I never understand baseball.
>
>Why don't they just whack the ball out of the ground every time.
>
>If someone threw a ball at me and my job was to hit it and I spent all my waking time practising hitting it I think I'd manage to do that.

A triple is not better than a home run, just rarer and more exciting to watch.

I bet you wouldn't hit many balls thrown by major league pitchers. Even the best batters get a base hit only a little more often than three times in 10.