the formality of the english language

Im one of those peopple who often discovers something theyre not necessarily looking for, and this post was no exception. The grand idea for this came from a simple stumbled upon book review, soo I'm starting this with a quote from said review. It's from an American about a British book:

"There is something about the way the British write that I find fascinating. Maybe it’s the "formality" of their language? I don’t exactly know." *

 

I'm not sure I know either.
 
I don’t know about you, but, being English, I don’t really think about English customs, the way of life, and the way we speak or write. And probably it’s the same for others; people maybe don’t look deeply at their own culture because they’re surrounded by it. So to hear a view of British language from a non- Brit interested me. Thinking and actually dissecting my own culture was something I'd never done before I read the review. Until now.


Reading this got me thinking- are we really that stereotypical as everyone thinks we are? The results of a quick Google of "typical English" found a variety of "English traits", including one saying that the normal Brit is ALWAYS punctual. Now stereotypes often have roots in truth, and I think, maybe, yes......awww crap. I missed my driving lesson.

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Fine. So not all expected traits are true.

But there are foreign ideals I can relate to. The Typical English Breakfast for example.

When I was younger, I used to love going down to the caf at the end of my road (I think the cafes name plate was taken down then forgotten to be put back up because I don’t remember it ever having a name) Anyway, when there, I remember watching my Dad work his way through a Full English Breakfast; eggs, bacon, hash browns- the lot.

I had toast and orange juice.

Nearly every Saturday that was, and to this day, Saturdays are cooked breakfast days, and for many others, if my own family is anything to go by, that is a traditional British custom. As is Afternoon Tea and Sunday Roasts. So foodwise, yes, English stereotype mostly true. 

Being vegetarian though, I’m not the best person to talk about food.
 
But there is one thing that sums up England, that has Austen, Shakespeare and Stephen Fry written all over it, that defines the English and conjures up quintessential English-ness. Just 3 letters, yet you only need the first. Well, actually, I don’t need any. Because I hate it. Deteste it. Loath it. Yes,

 I AM ENGLISH AND I DO NOT LIKE TEA!

My Mother however is a slave to Twinings and Earl Grey. A self confessed tea addict, I sometimes feel I haven’t quite lived up to her English expectations; hopes of us enjoying scones and tea together were quickly quashed after I publicly declared I hated the beverage, which is as important to her as the heart is to life.

Anyway, what started me off on this blog was language, so I'll get back to it. Reading back through the cloudy depths of my own writings, it has been remarked my style is rather formal. And looking toward my bookshelf, most of the books are filled with that said style, full of adjectives, pronouns and verbs placed in such an order as to give the air of one well educated, witty and good with words.
 
I don't believe myself to be some posh totty. I live in a perfectly respectable middle class home due to my parent’s hard work and promotions leading me to where I am today. So even without the mansions and a title, the way I speak, or write, is noticeably formal sometimes and to be honest I don’t know why really. I could make exactly the same point using far less words and brain cells. For example, the paragraph highlighted purple could have been reduced to:

My blogs sound formal.

4 words. Exactly the same point. So why bother trying to find a synonym for "witty" when 5 syllables could suffice?

In these blogs, I try to be myself, and the words I choose and the order in which I decide to place them define me, but I guess I'm just trying to make myself sound clever. But I write the way I do because I love it- using words one wouldn’t normally use in social occasions, and using language to its proper extent.

Yet, sometimes things are too formal and contain sentence structures I have to break down and analyse to comprehend at all- I sometimes just want to be told what’s what, simply and plainly. So language really is a two way street.


They say a picture tells a thousand words though, so why don’t I just get a photo journal?


Jx


* This quote was taken from this review- http://gatheringbooks.wordpress.com/2011/05/29/the-black-book-of-secrets-by-f-e-higgins-a-reflection/  written by the wonderful fats :)