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Re: Word usage in English dialects // was Slang, curses and vulgarities

From:Andreas Johansson <andjo@...>
Date:Thursday, February 3, 2005, 9:33
Quoting "Adrian Morgan (aka Flesh-eating Dragon)" <dragon@...>:

> (I've never thought about it before, but it's worth asking whether the > same is true of other English dialects internationally: i.e. that > "shall" is common in questions but only in questions, so that hardly > anybody would say "I shall go" but most people might say "Shall I > go?".)
Back in my first years of English tuition (at age 10-12), they told us that 'shall' belongs in "questions and Biblical quotes". They were, of course, trying to prevent us from using it as a blanket translation of Swedish _ska_/_skall_*. Those of you obsessing about people's stylistics will have noticed I do not stick strictly to that rule these days. :) * This is, depending on register and emphasis, [skal:], [skA:], [ska], or [sa] in my lect. Andreas