Dressed in my flame proof gear and running for cover...

Being a recent immigrant to Canada from the UK, various parts of the langua=
ge differences have provided some amusement, including the math thing :)

I had always assumed that maths was plural and derived from mathematics, al=
so plural. Therefore, the English are able to handle more than one sum at a=
 time where as the north americans with their math have to do one sum at a =
time :)

The other one that always tickles me is the north american 'erb', as in her=
b. In English, the term erb is short for erbert or herbert, being a term to=
 mean a youth up to no good, as in "he's a right erb". I'm not sure of the =
origin.

.... running

On 2011-03-24, at 1:46 PM, Oli Glaser wrote:

> On 24/03/2011 17:28, Olin Lathrop wrote:
>> RussellMc wrote:
>>> We antipodeans also use 'maths' and not 'math'. The latter has never
>>> been used here afaik, and would instantly identify you as a furriner.
>> So you would actually say "I have to do my maths homework now."?  That w=
ould
>> definitely be wrong here.
>>=20
>=20
> Yes, in every circumstance you would say "math" we would say "maths",=20
> e.g. "I'm pretty good at maths", "Who is your maths teacher?" and so on.=
=20
> As Michael says, it's one of the few Americanisms that has not caught on=
=20
> much over here.
> As an aside, I was wondering about how e.g. Windows being set up for US=20
> spelling affects literacy over here - I may be wrong in general, but in=20
> my experience most PCs I have seen have it that way as standard even=20
> though they are sold in the UK. I know it's no big deal to set it to UK,=
=20
> just that probably few people actually bother to do this. In fact, that=20
> brings me on to wondering about how the internet will affect language=20
> (local dialects etc) globally over time - maybe we will head gradually=20
> towards some sort of "universal" language (though you could argue we=20
> already have one - English)
> Enough random conjecture, back to doing something I actually know=20
> something about... :-)
>=20
> --=20
> http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive
> View/change your membership options at
> http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist


--=20
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