Official Language of the State of Illinois
June 19, 1923: The State of Illinois passed an act declaring "American" (as opposed to "English") to be the state's official language.
The act was proposed by Senator Frank J. Ryan of Chicago who was "fed up" with American being called English. Ryan, in turn, got the idea from Montana Congressman Washington McCormick, who had tried, but failed, to get American designated as the national language.
In 1969 the Illinois legislature revised the statute to make English, not American, the official state language.
More info: languagepolicy.net
The act was proposed by Senator Frank J. Ryan of Chicago who was "fed up" with American being called English. Ryan, in turn, got the idea from Montana Congressman Washington McCormick, who had tried, but failed, to get American designated as the national language.
In 1969 the Illinois legislature revised the statute to make English, not American, the official state language.
More info: languagepolicy.net
The Bend Bulletin (Bend, Oregon) - Jan 31, 1923
Comments
There is good bit of difference between American English and British English.
Couple of examples:
rubber- BE/eraser AE/condom
(granted, one prevents mistakes, one corrects them)
Lorrie(Lori)- BE/truck. AE/female name
(although in some cases she might be big as a truck)
Couple of examples:
rubber- BE/eraser AE/condom
(granted, one prevents mistakes, one corrects them)
Lorrie(Lori)- BE/truck. AE/female name
(although in some cases she might be big as a truck)
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 03/14/16 at 09:26 AM
Goodness, I thought a rubber was a waterproof overshoe!
Posted by John Ayer on 03/14/16 at 09:52 AM
That too! And one is much more likely to find a 12 inches in that kind.
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 03/14/16 at 10:29 AM
And, you'll not want to be comin' 'round to knock up some Iowa farmer's daughter. 'Cause he'll be getting a whole lot more pissed than someone whose daughter was knocked up by a pissed bloke with a fag in his mouth. (You can supply the imagery on that one yourself.)
Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 03/14/16 at 11:02 AM
Brilliant!
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 03/14/16 at 11:35 AM
I never could drive English cars, because I couldn't figure out they could wear boots and bonnets at the same time.
Posted by Virtual on 03/14/16 at 12:30 PM
I'm just glad we don't have to put a 'u' in a lot of words where it doesn't belong (colour, humour, etc.).
Posted by Phideaux on 03/14/16 at 03:00 PM
I remember a story about a state legislature that tried to declare the value of pi to be limited to one or two decimal places. That made me wonder about how precise their public works projects would have turned out if successful.
Posted by KDP on 03/14/16 at 04:55 PM
KDP is referring to the Indiana Pi Bill.
From the article they would have passed it but a Purdue prof happened to be there and saved the legislature from their own ignorance
A fine day to bring up Pi!
From the article they would have passed it but a Purdue prof happened to be there and saved the legislature from their own ignorance
A fine day to bring up Pi!
Posted by crc on 03/14/16 at 06:04 PM
I speak 'murican ! damnit. Semper Pi
Posted by BrokeDad in Midwest US on 03/14/16 at 06:45 PM
Given what was going on in Ireland in 1923, it's not too surprising that a guy named Ryan had no use for anything English.
Posted by ges on 03/14/16 at 08:54 PM
Semper Pi is that like blueberry or apple?
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 03/14/16 at 10:00 PM
In British English, the word "fanny" refers, rather coarsely, to the lower portions of the female anatomy. Which caused quite an ado when my American then-fiancée (now wife of nearly 36 years) announced to some unsuspecting Brits (myself included) that she had fanny fatigue. What she meant was that she had been sitting too long, and that her backside was complaining. What the Brits thought was that she had been overindulging in sex.
Posted by TheCannyScot in Atlanta, GA on 03/15/16 at 01:23 AM
@CRC: You misused the word "ignorance" - learned people should KNOW the importance of Pi (π) and their attempt to cripple it was "stupidity".
Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 03/15/16 at 01:44 AM
England and America are two countries separated by a common language. George Bernard Shaw
Posted by BMN on 03/15/16 at 01:54 AM
BMN: my favourite quote from My Fair Lady:
There even are places where English completely disappears.
In America, they haven't used it for years!
There even are places where English completely disappears.
In America, they haven't used it for years!
Posted by Richard Bos on 03/16/16 at 04:25 AM
My favorite post describes the difference between GREY and GRAY.
In America, we spell it GRAY. In England, they spell it GREY. A - America; E- England.
"If that's the case, then how do the Canadians spell it?"
Easy - GREHY.
In America, we spell it GRAY. In England, they spell it GREY. A - America; E- England.
"If that's the case, then how do the Canadians spell it?"
Easy - GREHY.
Posted by Greg on 03/16/16 at 06:07 AM
One of my favorite differences between England English and American English is that the Brits say: "I respect your opinion, but . . ." while Americans say: "Are you a complete idiot?"
Posted by Phideaux on 03/16/16 at 11:01 AM
Right Fido. That reminds me of a sign in NY City that says "Littering is filthy and selfish, so don't do it !" versus one in London, saying "Please keep London Tidy."
Posted by Virtual on 03/17/16 at 12:00 AM
Bye the way, has anyone else noticed that the spelling checker on this reply posting uses British English.
Aluminium. Not aluminum!
Aluminium. Not aluminum!
Posted by BMN on 03/18/16 at 09:16 PM
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Category: Languages | 1920s