Harleyman Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 Oh, and BTW - Which 'English-speaking cousins' are you talking about? I moved back to the US in Jan 2007. On the first Sunday we were there, we went to church. When we came out I said to my wife (who is an American) "Last week I went to a church where the priest spoke German with a heavy Swiss accent. I could understand him. This week we went to a church where the priest (supposedly) spoke English. I didn't understand a bloody word he said! A few days later, I went into a local Radio Shack store and asked the salesman to tell me about the available cell phone calling plans. He spoke to me for nearly 15 minutes. I understood two words - the last two words he said: "Thuh beeyull'. Not only are the English and the Americans 'two people separated by a common language' but (depending on where you live) there si no such thing as a 'common language'. In southern (and indeed to a lesser extent in central) Florida, if you go into a shop the people who work there will address you in Spanish. If you can't understand (and they may well try 2 or 3 dialects) they will talk to you in English. Or ignore you. I think you're on a hiding to nothing, Jay. Even in that part of the US where the people have 'no accent' (:hihi:) - (The Mid-Wast) you'd face an uphill battle. "You Brits tock funny!" I paid a return visit to Sheffield a few years back. I asked a woman where the post office was. I couldnt understand a word she said. Sometimes if I'm watching a British movie and they're speaking a dialect I have to rewind to re-hear what they said. That what comes of living away so long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retep Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 You think? :hihi: I've been married to an American for more than 30 years. We now understand each other. - it wasn't always that way. I've lived in 5 states and visited (for extended periods) a number of others. America is - as it says on the can - a Federation. 50 Sovereign States in a Federal Union. They don't always see eye to eye. My MIL was a 'Daughter of the Alamo' and her husband was a direct descendant of Ethan Allen - he was a 'dyed in the wool' Yankee. He didn't object to us getting married and I suspect that was because he felt I was less of a foreigner than were his wife and daughter. Puerto Rico has been nibbling around the edges of Statehood for many years. Don't hold your breath. The chances of the UK forming any sort of political union with the US are about zero. The UK already has a good trading (and other) relationship with the US. What makes you think that - should the UK leave the EU - the US would be prepared to offer any advance on that? Do you mean he was an Englishman? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moabdul Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 We should forget about the complicated multilingual mess that is the EU and bond together instead with our English speaking cousins across the atlantic. The 51st state? I would vote yes for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeadingNorth Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 The 51st state? I would vote yes for that. More likely, the 51st 52nd 53rd and 54th. The UK is far too big to become just a single state. (I don't think there is a snowball's chance in hell of it ever happening, but for the sake of argument let's pretend it might.) The new states would be Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales - and they might even cut England in half. California, the most populous state of all, is more than ten million people down on England's population. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harleyman Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 More likely, the 51st 52nd 53rd and 54th. The UK is far too big to become just a single state. (I don't think there is a snowball's chance in hell of it ever happening, but for the sake of argument let's pretend it might.) The new states would be Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales - and they might even cut England in half. California, the most populous state of all, is more than ten million people down on England's population. Noo one has mentioned what would happen to the Royals? You just cant shove a big family into a closet, slam the door and pretend they dont exist anymore Would a bloody coup d'etat happen first? Tanks outside the palace?, the PM arrested in Downing street, the House of Lords disbanded Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeadingNorth Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 Noo one has mentioned what would happen to the Royals? You just cant shove a big family into a closet, slam the door and pretend they dont exist anymore Would a bloody coup d'etat happen first? Tanks outside the palace?, the PM arrested in Downing street, the House of Lords disbanded For the sake of the argument I'm ignoring that problem. If you wanted to address it, you could legislate for the Royals retaining their titles, but losing what fragmentary powers they do still have, such as calling the election, choosing the next Parliamentary leader and so on. The State governors would run the states, the Senators and Congressmen would go to Washington, but we could still have our own pomp and pageantry. We'd be exposing ourselves to the same risk as Americans do of having a government install itself permanently, but that hasn't happened in 236 years so the risk is clearly quite small. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bypassblade Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 I thought we were the 51st state; the way we cow tow to the yanks, they kicked us out years ago, remember the War Of Independence they hated us then, and probably still do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retep Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 Noo one has mentioned what would happen to the Royals? You just cant shove a big family into a closet, slam the door and pretend they dont exist anymore Would a bloody coup d'etat happen first? Tanks outside the palace?, the PM arrested in Downing street, the House of Lords disbanded The true King of England sat in the closet. http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/aussie-mike-the-true-king-of-england/2005/09/10/1125772732666.html R.I.P King Mike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harleyman Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 I thought we were the 51st state; the way we cow tow to the yanks, they kicked us out years ago, remember the War Of Independence they hated us then, and probably still do. Never further from the truth. I never yet met one who had a bad word to say about Britain and they like our accents even if they do sometimes make wild guesses where we're from. Until about a decade and a half ago you would quite often bump into a senior who had been in the UK during WW2 and they would always want to tell you about their experiences. Not many left now and not so many Americans travel to Europe because of the lousy economy and the uncertainty of keeping a job but they are still curious nevertheless, much of it about the Royals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
callippo Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 I paid a return visit to Sheffield a few years back. I asked a woman where the post office was. I couldnt understand a word she said. Sometimes if I'm watching a British movie and they're speaking a dialect I have to rewind to re-hear what they said. That what comes of living away so long. maybe this is not true as I didn't see for myself, but only heard, that the movie Kes, set in South Yorkshire - probably the best film ever, set in South Yorkshire as it is a better film than the Fulll Monty - was shown in the US, they showed it with subtitles. They thought that hardly anybody would be able to follow the dialogue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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