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[Stephen Forrest]

On 9/19/05, Jack & Naree <jack.macdaddy at gmail.com> wrote:
> The thing aboot (!) Canada is that there's a steady stream of recent (and
> educated) British immigrants as with Australia, maintaining the standards.
> I would not be surprised to find Americanisms more a feature of urban
> working-class Canadians near the US border.

Dude, truly you know naught of what you speak.  No matter what level
of British immigration Canada might get, it is more than met by the
_vast tides_ of cross-border influence from the south.

As for this odd theory that American influence is a pernicious disease
seeping northwards through the lower orders: southern Ontario has its
own working-class accent, which is distinct from an upstate New York
accent (as I am reminded every time I flip by the Buffalo news station
on TV).  And "Canadians near the US border"?  The latter part of that
statement is redundant for approximately 85% of us.

As a Canadian I am typically in the position of having to defend my
Briticisms (colour, labour, licence) from clueless Americans.  But I
will equally well defend my Americanisms (curb, tire, jail, program)
from clueless Brits.

>  You might see it as an invention, I see it as a spelling error - as would
> an American no doubt.

Well, there we are: linguistic imperialism from two directions. :)

Steve