rodserd

You have to remember that Shakespeare was impacting all levels of society, and was a very prolific author.  It is possible for this to happen in today's e-society, and all that it would take is someone popular enough wanting to do it.  Imagine all the possible adjectives you could create, or all the new works (like e-society).

Shakespeare is the king of these.  I remember a poster that showed every idiom that he had created, and it was a huge poster.

I studied accents while doing theater in high school, so I have a different mindset about words i don't know or understand.  I typically try to figure it out in context, mentally flagging it as a word I don't know.

I don't think I would recommend Tolkien as an example.  There are a lot of invented words and language in it, and while I love the works, it doesn't seem like a good source.

I think reading in general would be good.  Start with simpler books/children's books and work your way up.  The more you read the better your English will become, and the easier it is to distinguish between correct and incorrect usage in the texts.

I'm sure I've come up with a ton of these in my life but I cannot imagine one now.  Maybe I will come back when my creative juices are flowing better.

I only truncate in email and text conversations with my wife.  Otherwise I use whole words unless it is a common contraction.

If it is relevant to the conversation then it is appropriate.  If not, it is just a tactic, and pointless to the subject at hand. 

The story I have always heard goes back to the Roman Invasion of England.  Roman soldiers would use their words for many things, but when talking about food or other things native to the English, they would use their words (either lacking a word in Latin or just for ease of communication).  Given that the language of Court was French for a long period in the Middle Ages, French words aren't surprising to be in the English language. 

If its to my wife who I text a lot I will use shorthand/abbreviations frequently.  Things like truncating though to tho.  If it is to anyone else I usually spell everything out (swype is very handy for this).

My spelling has gone down the tubes considerably since I've stopped writing and type just about everything now.  With Word auto-correcting me or at least pointing out I've spelled something wrong it is far too easy to get sloppy.

Of the words I use regularly and should remember, committed is the one I misspell the most.  I always do one m.

I would think appearing as wealthy is less detrimental than appearing as poor.  In the States it would be more of an "other" problem.  In this way we identify as "Americans" and "Others" so if you don't speak in a recognized American accent, you are an "Other."  Now that class can be subdivided into several strata as well, such as desirable immigrants (Europeans primarily) and "undesirable" ones (Hispanic primarily). 

NOTE: these are not my views, but views I have observed through interactions with others.

Abbreviations are fine in most conversations, but it drives me insane when people use them academically (which they should not).  One thing that bothers me a lot is when people use chat acronyms in speech.  Like saying "I lolled."  Double the annoyance when they are not actually laughing out loud.

"Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others" -Winston Churchill

I don't think I have a strong preference.  I do think it is a shame that words get so misused.  Many words in the English language have quite precise meanings, and are only rarely used in proper context.  So many people just open a thesaurus these days and pick a few random words instead of repeating themselves a bit (the horror!).

My favorite English (British) idiom is "Across the Pond" in reference to the United States. 

Consider the dictionary meaning of the word: Something intended to deceive or defraud.  That seems like a perfect word to use under certain circumstances.  It does tend to have a negative connotation, except when used militarily, when it has connotations based on whether your friends or enemies are using it.

Does Douglas Adams count?  Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is an amazing and funny work (if you are in to that kind of humor).  Another favorite of mine is Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card (movie for this just came out/is coming out).

If you are in to alternative history, Harry Turtledove is one of my all-time favorites.  He is (from my perspective) amazing when it comes to making characters and stories come alive.  Just reading his work it is really clear how much of a mastery he has over characters, how much research he does beforehand, and how carefully he lays out his stories.  His "Darkness" series is really great, if a bit science fiction-y compared to his other stuff.  Another great series from him is the "War that Came Early" which details World War 2 if it had started earlier (I don't recall the conceit as to why it started early, but it is a great read).

I've had an on and off again relationship with my understanding of poetry.

When I was young I thought that "classic" poetry was so awesome because it required real skill to fit everything into the forms and formats that you had to use, and make it sound good.  Consequently I thought modern poetry was trash because it broke these rules.

When I grew up, I realized that most classic poetry was written i that format so people could be lazy instead of creating something beautiful, they just had to follow a recipe.  Modern forms became more important and interesting to me.

Now I just don't bother with the whole lot of it with poetry.

Now, when it comes to music, I thoroughly enjoy analyzing lyrics, especially word choice when it comes to melody.  I like playing a game where i will try to find a better fit for a particular word in a song, and see the potential that was there before the decision was made.

Pretty much what happened is as follows:

several tens of thousands of years ago, some people settled on the islands known now as Great Britain.  These people divided into several distinct groups, each with their own languages and cultures.  Over time, these groups intermingled and things were shared among their languages....

Then some Romans came and mucked the whole thing up, adding their words to the language (and taking some native words for their own).

Time passes, and the same thing happens with the Vikings, French, and half dozen other languages get mixed in too.  Add in worldwide colonization, and now you have a really confounded language that it is a wonder  we can't agree on how to spell color and armor.

Probably not as funny as the video, I apologize.

If we're talking native speakers, then it has to be the American Southern Twang.  It sounds very...uneducated to me, which is why I don't really like it.  If we're talking just British accents, then I don't think I have a least favorite one.  I kinda wish I had a British accent.

Hello, my name is Rodserd, I am a native English (American) speaker, and I hold two English degrees.  I'm trying pretty badly to learn Japanese, because I think it is an interesting language.  I don't really have a lot to say here, but wanted to post a short hello, and offer my assistance as an English speaker to anyone who needs it.