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More about the chicken

From:Adrian Morgan (aka Flesh-eating Dragon) <dragon@...>
Date:Monday, February 7, 2005, 11:58
I've done a bit of research, and found that:

A number of Australians agree that "shall" is formal; typical comments
included: "Shall is perfectly normal, if a little formal", and
"'Shall' would mark you out as Having Read Way Too Much, but that said
I use it too". Still, Tristan's claim that he has never heard the word
used by someone who wasn't deliberately trying to sound British still
strikes me as a trifle extreme.

However, I cannot find *anyone* - not even in Melbourne - who agrees
with Tristan that "a chicken" sounds odd. Everyone else is unanimous
that an article before "chicken" is perfectly grammatical in
Australian English.

Dinner versus tea varies by family and by region.

Adrian.

Reply

Tristan McLeay <conlang@...>