The year before I went to the local comprehensive, my school was a grammar and still had the "old school" teachers, so it was The Great War The Second World War and WWI and WWII (I'm guessing Latin pretentions still even for us oiks?)
I always think, rightly or wrongly, Of 'WWII' as a primarily American usage, or maybe more suited to dramatic film posters. Been thinking about this a bit more. Royalty (who used to start all these wars) were always Name and Number. So our Queen is refered to as "Queen Elizabeth the second" and that is abridged to Elizabeth II. George the sixth was George IV and so on. So I would go with Smudger Jnr that the Roman numerals are more European than American... That they look better in posters is more to do with designers creativity ??? Having just searched unsucessfully for the AVP III game poster (where the "3" is done as 3 slashes in the paper as if there has been an Alien striking the poster) I found that all the film and game posters for a "3" film use the number 3 and not the III
Is it correct that the film 'The Madness Of King George' wasn't called 'The Madness of King George III' as people would wonder where the other 2 films were?
Been thinking about this a bit more. Royalty (who used to start all these wars) were always Name and Number. So our Queen is refered to as "Queen Elizabeth the second" and that is abridged to Elizabeth II. George the sixth was George IV and so on. so poor George got demoted from George 6 to George 4 ( or was it promoted) for the record WWII
WW2, WWII , the Second World War, what does it matter as long as you know what you are talking about and by the looks of things you need to use all if you are googling!! regards Robert
When talking about the Second World War I probably use both 'World War Two' and 'Second World War' interchangeably without thinking about it. On the internet I invariably use WW2 (although this sometimes appears as WW" due to my dubious typing abilities) rather than WWII. On First World War I use that term or WW1, never used 'The Great War' or WWI. Is this an English thing? What do other nations use? Mike
Another thought on the subject....................... Whenever I've recommended this site I simply say "Key in doubleyew doubleyew two talk dot com, all one word". I very much doubt that my listener would even think of GOOGLING for "wwII.com Ron
A bit different from the thread title, but which Japanese city did the Americans drop an Atom bomb on, other than Nagasaki? Is it Hir-o-shima, or Hiro-sheema? How do you pronounce it?
Aye Za, but that gives two different pronunciations. I think it's each to their own. Heard lots of people say it differently. I say Hiro-sheema.
I wouldn't say you're too far wrong Having gone through a lot of Japanese cinema throughout life , pronounciation can sound rather different from the written form, this one would sound like Hirôôô - shmah , a long "o" and a very clipped "shima" with the "i" almost mute. English is the only language I know where an "i" can be pronounced "eye" so "Hairoshaima" never!!
A bit different from the thread title, but which Japanese city did the Americans drop an Atom bomb on, other than Nagasaki? Is it Hir-o-shima, or Hiro-sheema? How do you pronounce it? We call it "the first one we dropped the bomb on". In Slipdigit's part of the country, they would call it "Heero-sheemer".