Kiya:
the language I prefer was connected to my childhood <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" /> - therefore my subjective preference. In fact, I use the word "kiddies" very often in my everyday rants - I like it more than "Kinder".
Hi Kiya,
Regarding your interest in the English language, have you ever read a book called "Mother Tongue - The English Language"? It's by Bill Bryson, better known for humorous travel books. It was written in about 1990 and is a wonderful study of how English has changed and developed over the years, and how it has taken elements from so many other countries and languages.
Of course there's influences from Old English, Norse languages, Latin, German, French and all over Europe, but also many words and phrases came back to England from America many years ago, and are not recognised now as coming from there.
It's a fascinating, serious and deeply researched book, but spiced with plenty of funny examples of the weird quirks of the language. It's one that I read more or less permanently - it goes back to the bottom of the old favourites pile and then steadily works its way back up again! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />
ISBN 0 - 14 - 014305 - x
Worth dipping into if you have access to it through your library system.
Cheers, Chris.
