Comments on: Among/Amongst: Is there a Difference?

By: koru

koru — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 09:15:39 +0000

Stylas –

got – gotten… excellent point!

By: Stylas

Stylas — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 09:48:33 +0000

Firstly, I have to say Mark Stewart’s comments, not the words he’s criticised, are idiotic. Method and methodology as well as function and functionality have different meanings and are used in different contexts, the same as term and terminology, which he used in his post. English spoken in Britain is not a dialect, I wouldn’t even go as far as to say American English is a dialect!

Secondly, I agree with Diddims and thank Diana for pointing out there is a subtle difference between among and amongst.

Again, like Diana, I know when it sounds right but find it defficult to explain. I think it might relate to the physical situation of the object/ person in question.

E.g. “Cuba is among one of the most wonderful countries I have ever visited.” Where the other countries referred to may be on the other side of the world. Compare that to – “He was in amongst hundreds of other similar people.” This implies that there was situated in a crowd of people.

American posters, on this blog and others at dailywritingtips, are often very quick to condemn English words. Such words are often in common use this side of the Atlantic as well as in Australia and NZ. (JJ – I’m not referring to all Americans.) If adding additional letters to words is unnecessary, why do so many Americans insist on using ‘gotten’ instead of ‘got’!?!

By: Autumn or Fall?

Autumn or Fall? — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 10:17:06 +0000

[...] Autumn or Fall? Why can’t Americans admit they have rewritten the English language. Fall for Autumn, color for colour. –Diane, comment on Among/Amongst [...]

By: Maeve

Maeve — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 20:50:19 +0000

Telanis,
You WERE being amusing with the word “over-exaggerate” weren’t you?

Diana and JJ,
I’ve always felt that “colour” was more, well, colorful than plain “color.” From what I’ve read, the u-less spelling is creeping into use in the Old Country.

I can’t agree with the assessment that “we Americans have done a bit of shoddy work on the mother tongue.” Some American spelling and usage has taken a different direction from that used in England, but the same is true of other English-speaking countries. Some American usage preserves earlier forms than what is current in England.

What should exercise us more than regional differences like among and amongst, fall and autumn, is the egregious wrenching of grammatical forms so common in the speech of celebrities and bloggers on both sides of the pond.

For example,

“Me and my friends love the movies.”
and
“They sent the invitation to Harry and I.”

By: JJ

JJ — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 19:33:05 +0000

I am neither British nor a fuddy-duddy. Yet in some some instances, I prefer to use amongst and whilst. I am not being pretentious or pompous. It helps the flow of the sentence at times.

I do agree with Diana, we americans have done a bit of shoddy work on the mother tongue. I would prefer autumn and colour along with all the other words us americans have hatcheted.

Incidentally- I say Neither as NIEther not NEEther and Envelope as ONvelope not INvelope. My grandmother would have knocked us silly had we not had proper elocution.