That's a rather common substitution, especially
word-finally, by no means limited to England, let alone
London.

Why do the Brits use "us" instead of "me" in informal
speech? [...]

Ditto "f" for "th" (especially in London).

On Apr 30, 9:01 pm, "Brian M. Scott" <b.sc...@csuohio.edu> wrote:

That's a rather common substitution, especially
word-finally, by no means limited to England, let alone
London.

In London (certain parts of London?) they say "fanks" for "thanks," "I
fink" for "I think," and so on. It's very noticeable.

You talk kinda funny too.

In message
087d9820-1ef7-4629-8bfd-7e3a8b881...@w7g2000hsa.googlegroups.com>, Marc
marc.ad...@gmail.com> writes>On Apr 30, 9:01 pm, "Brian M. Scott" <b.sc...@csuohio.edu> wrote:

That's a rather common substitution, especially
word-finally, by no means limited to England, let alone
London.

In London (certain parts of London?) they say "fanks" for "thanks," "I
fink" for "I think," and so on. It's very noticeable.

You talk kinda funny too.

On Thu, 01 May 2008 18:45:17 -0500, Patrick Karl
jpk...@gmail.com> wrote in
news:fvdkme$6dk$1@registered.motzarella.org> in sci.lang:

Brian M. Scott wrote:
On Thu, 1 May 2008 16:19:40 -0700 (PDT), Marc
marc.ad...@gmail.com> wrote in
news:9793a83e-6c0a-4a2c-946c-80d1cbb4398d@y38g2000hsy.googlegroups.com
in sci.lang:
So no one knows where this pronunciation comes from, then?
I don't think that it 'comes from' anywhere. It's an easily
demonstrated fact that [f] and [T] sound very similar (e.g.,
check the Google archives for Peter's café/Cathay story),
and cross-linguistically [T] is, I believe, relatively
uncommon; substitution of [f] is therefore hardly very
surprising.
Another example seems to be the Russian name
transliterated as "Fyodor"; it comes from the Greek
Theodore.

And quite a few others of this type, now that you mention
it, among them <Feofan> (masc.) and <Feofana> ~ <Feofanija
(fem.), <Feofilakt>, <Feofil>, and <Feodosija>, all of which
have been used.

Brian

Why do the Brits use "us" instead of "me" in informal speech? ("Give
us a go" = "Let me have a turn.") Are there any historical reasons?

I'd expect to find a British dialect that uses "her" for "their,"
since this has a clear OE precedent, but "us" for "me"? It doesn't
make sense.

Ditto "f" for "th" (especially in London).

"Trond Engen" <trond...@engen.priv.no> wrote...
Marc skreiv:

[...]

Or the "us" for "me" thing either?

Isn't that a normal thing everywhere? A polite inclusive or something?

It's not that in my dialect.

In Norwegian it's been mocked as a "royal we" or a "me and my worm" --
and I think it used to be more widespread earlier. I think I use it in
simple expressions like 'la oss se' "let us (me) see", and to add
emphasis to pronouncements of some (quasi-)monumentality: 'Vi får vel
komme oss av gårde' "We (I) should be going", 'Vi fikk vel som
fortjent' "We (I) must have got what we (I) deserved".

"We" for "I" in English would be very marked, and would, like you say,
probably be a case of "royal we". "Us" for "me", however, is almost
standard in nonemphatic contexts, like your "let us see".

John.

On Apr 30, 6:58 pm, Marc <marc.ad...@gmail.com> wrote:

Why do the Brits use "us" instead of "me" in informal speech? ("Give
us a go" = "Let me have a turn.") Are there any historical reasons?

What does "we" mean in "what do we have here"?

I'd expect to find a British dialect that uses "her" for "their,"
since this has a clear OE precedent, but "us" for "me"? It doesn't
make sense.

Ditto "f" for "th" (especially in London).

In every context? I find it difficult to imagine that anyone
pronounces mythical as miffickle.

I don't think that it 'comes from' anywhere. It's an easily
demonstrated fact that [f] and [T] sound very similar (e.g.,
check the Google archives for Peter's café/Cathay story),
and cross-linguistically [T] is, I believe, relatively
uncommon; substitution of [f] is therefore hardly very
surprising.

What does "we" mean in "what do we have here"?

In every context? I find it difficult to imagine that anyone
pronounces mythical as miffickle.

On May 1, 3:58 am, Richard Herring <junk@[127.0.0.1]> wrote:

In message <087d9820-1ef7-4629-8bfd-7e3a8b881...@w7g2000hs
a.googlegroups.com>, Marc <marc.ad...@gmail.com
writes

On Apr 30, 9:01 pm, "Brian M. Scott"
b.sc...@csuohio.edu> wrote:

That's a rather common substitution, especially
word-finally, by no means limited to England, let
alone London.

In London (certain parts of London?) they say "fanks"
for "thanks," "I fink" for "I think," and so on. It's
very noticeable.

You talk kinda funny too.

So no one knows where this pronunciation comes from, then?

On Thu, 1 May 2008 16:19:40 -0700 (PDT), Marc
marc.adler@gmail.com> wrote in
news:9793a83e-6c0a-4a2c-946c-80d1cbb4398d@y38g2000hsy.googlegroups.com
in sci.lang:
So no one knows where this pronunciation comes from, then?

I don't think that it 'comes from' anywhere. It's an easily
demonstrated fact that [f] and [T] sound very similar (e.g.,
check the Google archives for Peter's café/Cathay story),
and cross-linguistically [T] is, I believe, relatively
uncommon; substitution of [f] is therefore hardly very
surprising.

"Marc" <marc.adler@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:dde4a941-ad58-486d-9e9a-762cea2ee57b@8g2000hse.googlegroups.com...
Why do the Brits use "us" instead of "me" in informal speech? ("Give
us a go" = "Let me have a turn.") Are there any historical reasons?

I'd expect to find a British dialect that uses "her" for "their,"
since this has a clear OE precedent, but "us" for "me"? It doesn't
make sense.

Ditto "f" for "th" (especially in London).

Thanks,
Marc

On May 1, 3:58 am, Richard Herring <junk@[127.0.0.1]> wrote:

In message
087d9820-1ef7-4629-8bfd-7e3a8b881...@w7g2000hsa.googlegroups.com>,
Marc <marc.ad...@gmail.com> writes

On Apr 30, 9:01 pm, "Brian M. Scott" <b.sc...@csuohio.edu> wrote:

That's a rather common substitution, especially word-finally, by
no means limited to England, let alone London.

In London (certain parts of London?) they say "fanks" for "thanks,"
"I fink" for "I think," and so on. It's very noticeable.

You talk kinda funny too.

So no one knows where this pronunciation comes from, then?

Or the "us" for "me" thing either?