wrote:

> In article ,
> Makoto Taniguchi  wrote:
> >I was wondering, why does the North American accent (mainstream, not
> >ebonics) differ so much from the British? when you look at other
> >countries like New Zealand or Australia, you can clearly see a British
> >element to their accent. So why does the North American accent differ
> >so much from the other Anglo-occupied countries?
> 
> The explanation is obviously that the British consume lots of marmite,
> and the Australians have a counterpart, vegemite.  As Canadians and
> Americans aren't into either, their accent has diverged.  Thus the
> correlation is perfect, indicating that we need look no further for
> an explanation.  The argument is just as strong as many of those advocated
> on this newsgroup as explaining evolution of various traits.

American accents preserve a degree of middle and north country English
accents of the 17th and 18th centuries, as well as having a strong Irish
influence.

And this is on-topic only to the extent that it explains why G.C.
Williams is in such agreement with Maynard Smith and the Haldane school
of evolutionary theory.

And Vegemite is *waay* better than Marmite, although I will admit
Marmite can also be used as axle grease if necessary.
-- 
John Wilkins
DARK IN HERE, ISN'T IT?
wilkins.id.au
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