Fantastic to watch, as it shows Model T-period traffic:
http://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/198876/rare-color-film-shows-what-london-looked- like-in-1927/
Shouldn't that be London in 1927 in colour?
We Americans can enjoy driving a Bentley without having the steering wheel on the wrong side and, being superior to the Brits, we can do without the extra letter in color, labor, and harbor.
With all due respect Bernard. London was called Londonium 2,000 years ago by the Romans.
Do you know your home town (and mine before 1997), was called 2,000 years ago? Shisholop ("In the mud") in the Chumash Indian language.
PS, thanks for posting your comment in 'English', I can't read 'Chumash'.
Hey Dennis,
Bernard posted in American, not English, the reason the u was dropped, table etiquette changed and Christmas was shunned was to make our culture different from English after the Revolutionary War.
What ever you say Gustaf. The national language of this country is still called 'English', not 'American'. The point being, I don't have to break out a translation book to understand what a Brit is saying, as opposed to the Dutch, Germans, French, Poles, Russians, etc. (To use a typically American phrase), 'you catch my drift'? ;)
Hey Dennis,
Language can be interesting, and does not always conform to labels. Many years ago, I was having dinner in a cafe in Ostend, sitting next to a couple speaking Flemish, and even though I do not speak Flemish, I could understand quite a bit of the conversation, the next day, I was in a cafe in Dover, where the people were speaking English (presumably) and in a half hour, I think I may have understood one word spoken by the clientele. The waitress spoke to us and was understood, and she understood us, she also spoke to the others in the cafe.
American English is similar to American Portuguese, they are both separate languages from their mother language, similar, but not the same.
Gus, I disagree with your calling our language "American" a couple of posts ago, but agree with your use of "American English." (In the world of translation, they are often abbreviated as AmE and BrE.)
By the way, Flemish is not a language, it is the dialect of the Dutch language spoken in Flanders. Belgium has three official languages: Dutch, French and German. The Dutch in Belgium and the Dutch in the Netherlands are governed by a joint commission under the authority of an agreement between the two countries.
Hey Dick,
If you speak with a Flemish Belgian, they will inform you that Flemish is a seperate language, but then if you speak with a Texan, they will tell you much the same You are all right that American is not a language, as America has many different languages (English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, and all the Aboriginal languages).
If I am not mistaken, the Flemish and the Wallons in Belgium are not goverened by any one at this time (although my information may be a bit dated) due to an impasse in their governing body.
Very cool movie no matter how you say it. Love the cars and trucks.
Linguistics is a fascinating subject. I used to get a kick out of how speech patterns could be so different just a few miles apart even in our modern society. I grew up in San Jose on the Southern tip of the San Francisco Bay. Almost EVERYONE referred to the highways by their official highway numbers. It was always hwy 17, 101, or even Interstate 80. One of my longest time best friends had lived in Oakland or Hayward on the Eastern side of the San Francisco Bay Area, and only 30 miles from where I grew up. I spent a lot of time in the East Bay then. Almost EVERYONE in the East Bay referred to those same highways by "given names". It was always the Nimitz, the Bayshore, the Mac Arthur.
Ed was "bi-lingual", he could converse either way. But several times, I wound up in conversations where one person was giving directions to another from a different part of the Bay Area, and I had to translate for them! 30 miles apart, in a major metropolitan area, and people did not understand that the highways had both a number and a name, let alone what the one was that they themselves were not used to.
I am not kidding.
Now. Back onto topic.
That film is just incredible! I know it has been computer enhanced, but the clarity and motion is fantastic. One thing, though, is they left the title cards too short. You must read fast.
Drive carefully, and enjoy, W2
"Hey Dennis, Language can be interesting, and does not always conform to labels".
I agree. I lived in Calif (off and on), from 1948 to 1997 but I was born in Brooklyn NY. It's taken me a little time to learn how to speak 'Floridian'.
I guess t you could say I've become tri-lingual. "Fugget about it and Adios, YaAll"
Gus, there are ten provinces in Belgium - five Dutch-speaking and five French-speaking (plus the officially bilingual Brussels Region).
The five Dutch speaking provinces are the ones across the top of the country - West Flanders, East Flanders, Antwerp, Flemish Brabant and Limburg. If you use the term "Flemish Belgian" to refer to a Dutch-speaking Belgian, you're leaving out the Dutch-speaking Belgians in the latter three provinces. Belgians can be sensitive and you must be careful not to hurt their feelings...
By the way, to drag this back to the subject of the thread, I thought the film was great and posted a link to Facebook for my non-Model T friends to see.
A fascinating movie. I am thankful whoever posted it at that site didn't dub in some horrid sound track. The silence spoke to me across 90 years of time louder than any bit of music could.
Very cool post, Bernard.
Danial -- You must have had the sound turned off on your computer. There was lovely music throughout.
Nifty flick! I gather that color film was a new thing at the time. Thanks for posting it, Bernard.
I was surprised to see several men without hats. I guess they weren't as civilized as we were then.
I'm better for it, Mike. The silence was better than any music could be for that flick.
Danial,
I agree. I had the sound off too. Great silent film. Just wait til you are older and deaf (like me). It's fantastic; gets me out of all the "honey do's"! :-)