On Thu, 05 Jul 2007 19:50:17 -0000, Jim Logajan
mangled uncounted electrons thus:

Martin D. Pay wrote:
On Thu, 5 Jul 2007 00:17:36 +0300, "Snowbird"
mangled uncounted electrons thus:
Anyway, Englishmen who speak perfect German are even rarer.

grin You all overlook the fact that English speaking perfect
English are also extremely rare...

Martin D. Pay
Yes, I'm English - and I frequently wonder at the atrocities
perpetrated on our mother-tongue by my fellow citizens...

So what is the "Perfect English" way to pronounce "tomato"?

The English way - long 'a' in the middle. (Heaven knows where the
Americans found their pronunciation!)

Is "ain't" considered a word in "Perfect English"?

It used to be. It still is, in America.

For that matter, which accent is "Perfect English"?

It used to be called 'BBC English', 'the King's/Queen's English'
or (more correctly now) 'Received Pronunciation'...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Received_Pronunciation


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regiona...glish_speakers
http://www.otago.ac.nz/anthropology/...ds/Sounds.html
http://www.collectbritain.co.uk/collections/dialects/

We have a wonderful variety of dialects. It's almost true that a
Geordie (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) has trouble understanding a Cockney
(London, of course) - and vice versa! And as for anyone from
southern England understanding someone from central Glasgow...
^_-

And just who defines "Perfect English" and what is their e-mail address?

The BBC, once upon a time. Back in days of Lord Reith, when radio
presenters had to wear dinner jackets...

(Big wink on all the above.)

Absolutely! ^_^ ^_^ ^_^

Martin D. Pay
Talking about language is almost as much fun as using it!