"Perhaps these examples are proof that his hypothesis is correct." Katie: Which examples? I don't get it. (Sorry, its Monday.) I wasn't referring to spoken accents and pronunciation (or even spelling), I was referring to intended meaning and usage. I have a Texas accent, and when I get passed by a truck on the road, I don't say "there goes a 'Lorry'". Nobody in Texas would have a clue what a lorry is, even if I did pronounce it with a fake British accent. Both the words lorry and truck are English, and one is not better or more intellectual. Sure the Brits THINK they are superior (boy do they), so do the French, and the Japanese, etc., etc. Americans think they are superior, too. Perhaps your brochures were all identical, but having been in London and not understood what the hell the signage at the theatre said, I would have seriously appreciated some "American English". That doesn't make me stupid or them more intellectual, it just makes us different. Frankly, we did declare independence over 200 years ago. Language changes and ours has been influenced by immigrants and languages from all over the world. That's why I don't get why one has is better or more intellectual. It is like apples and pears. Lori Allen, Graduate Student, UMSL "Well behaved women rarely make history." - Anonymous -----Original Message----- From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Katherine Bolinger Sent: Monday, March 11, 2002 11:58 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Languages (formerly using contractions in labels) << Americans like to think they speak the same language as the Brits, but we don't. >> Lori, I picked up both the "English" and "American" brochures and did a careful proofreading of them -- same language or should I say spellings. I found this to be the case at several sites, in this week's Dave Barry column in the Chicago Tribune Magazine (which I can't quote directly because the recycling cycle is in phase 2 and the magazine is gone) he talked about American's thinking the English are more intellectual because they speak with English accents and the English thinking Americans aren't so intellectual because we don't have English accents. <<The Smithsonian Museums do offer brochures in many foreign languages>> Ann, I was actually thinking of other major museums in large cities -- Chicago in particular. I look forward to seeing how the Smithsonian handles this issue later this month when I finally get to visit D.C. Katie Bolinger Exhibition development and design MA student ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes). ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).