quote:
Time: Yes you're right; "parenthesis" is perfectly legitimate English. That is to say, it's in the dictionary and can be used in this sense perfectly correctly. However, native speakers of British English colloquially use the word "brackets". As for your comment on my having the wrong viewpoint, well I must tell you that you have entirely misunderstood my point! You somehow inferred that I'm seeing English as inferior! Nothing could be further from the truth. As a proud Englishman, I see English English as the original. The Americans started out by using our language, but now they have changed it so much that it's no longer our language: they have their own version of it. In their country then that is to be respected - their spellings are perfectly correct. But in the UK, we do not wish to be FORCED to use this new version of our language.
Software shouldn't use colloquialisms. Otherwise you'd need a version for every dialect, in every country; do you want to make MsgPlus in Brummy or Liverpudlian too?
American English isn't being forced upon us at all, Microsoft Word and the Windows envirnoment have a UK English option. It is always a choice. Remember not all of the UK speak English as an official language anyway, since devolution Wales has proclaimed Welsh as its official native language. I am sure the Scottish Parliament would love to declare Gaelic as their official language again and even Cornwall, a mere county, has its own language too. I, too, am English and love my language but there is only so far you can thrust that passion upon corporations and the wide world.
M.
