Commonwealth English

From Homestar Runner Wiki

Commonwealth English is English as it is spoken and spelled in the Commonwealth countries, a collection of former British territories. This spelling is different from that which exists in the United States, and the two have been compared for many years. Throughout the Homestar Runner body of work, this form of English has been mocked or parodied in at least some form.

Examples

• Fan Stuff asks if a new character is the viewer's "flavourite", a portmanteau of the Commonwealth spellings of "flavor" and "favorite".
• The Lost Email mentions that the sender, Mark, should "have an unnecessary vowel at the end" (with Strong Bad changing the name to "Marke"). This reflects spelling differences between American and British spellings of such words as "annex/annexe" and "ax/axe". Also mentioned is the substance "treacle", which is an archaic and Old English sounding name for "molasses".
  • The email features Strong Bad responding to his controversial email by saying "screw all y'all". In response to the gasps of the audience, a voice with a Liverpool accent remarks "I can't believe he said that.", reflecting a Beatles controversy and especially mocking their accent (especially that of drummer Ringo Starr).
• The 1936 era mocks Commonwealth English to some extent by using old fashioned words and phrases. Such vocabulary often includes Commonwealth spellings and is typically viewed by Americans as "archaic".
• Thy Dungeonman and its sequels use a mock form of Elizabethan English in an attempt to sound medieval, also relying upon the American view of such English vocabulary as "archaic".
• In the interview, Strong Bad provides a description of the Kerreck using an Old English font, commonly associated with Medieval and Gothic England, where Peasant's Quest (where Trogdor, mentioned in the description, is a main character) is supposed to take place.
• The King of Town describes himself in his character video that he "lives in yon castle".
• In radio, Strong Bad tells Frasier not to bow and "giveth [him] instead $7.50". The -eth suffix was used in English during Elizabethan times as a form of the second person.
• In love poems, Strong Bad uses Elizabethan English as an example of how to write a love poem. He also references how such English is highly regarded as poetic.
  • The example of Elizabethan English mocks the -th suffix used in English for the second person at the time.