What is it with the 'American English' language? Why do they feel the need to add 'Z's for no good reason?

Question

It's OUR language, we invented it... and it's 'organise' not 'organize'..... pricks

Answer 1

Don't be nasty to the afflicted you rascal.

Answer 2

Meh, they can spell it like they want, that doesn't bother me.

The fact they use the word 'to burglarize' instead of 'to burgle' bothers me, as it just sounds so stupid.

To he who said US English was an improvement, I beg to differ. An improvement is when something changes for the better, and I see no evidence to suggest that the changes America has made to our language improve it at all.

He also said "English is not an original language,it was evolved from Latin,Greek and Roman." and that most modern languages are derived from Hebrew. He is a perfect example of two things, firstly, an ignoramus, and it's synonym, an American.
Firstly, the Roman language WAS Latin you moron.
Secondly English is derived from the Germanic languages, not Latin and Greek, in fact, it IS a Germanic language, brought over from Germany, Holland and Denmark when the Anglo-Saxons invaded. It is made up of the several similar and mutually intelligible languages that came across from the various Germanic tribes when they invaded; mostly Frisian, Angle and Saxon. Most of our words and most of our grammar are derived from those languages, there was a French influence, which in turn was derived from Latin, but for the most part if has stayed the same. There are quite a few French words in our language, but they are mostly posh words who people rarely use in everyday speech, in this answer 95% of the words will have been of Germanic descent. Our grammar does, these days, differ quite a lot from todays Germanic languages, but that is because of evolution on both sides.

Yes, languages do evolve, UK English has too, but if you (speakers of US English) are going to use it at least respect where it came from, the general opinion I've seen on this site seems to be that you invented it, which is bollocks.

Answer 3

The spoken word gave birth to the written word.
Not the other way around.
And the fact that language is dynamic accounts for the fact that notation has failed to keep pace with it and is in no way an indication of the "bastardisation" of the Queens English.
The Queen's English is simply a standard ... like HTML or what ever... it was convenient and apt for the times when Great Britain was THE empire..... and it makes things allot more convenient to have a standard when teaching language skills in schools etc....

The fact that America as a nation is historically the spawn of Great Britain accounts for the fact that English is the basis for their language (predominately).
But you seem to think that you some how own the rights to their verbal evolution simply because you have a shared history and their language is different to the English spoken at the time of this split...
(And simply because you call your stream of evolution English does not somehow render their version of it an aberation.)
Guess what.... So is the English spoken in England......
Its evolving..... get over it.

Answer 4

There are a lot better reasons to be angry than over this. One of the things that always confuses me is how people (like the French) insist on codifying and "legalizing" language. Like all human inventions or faculties (and it may well be the single most important one of all) it is meant to be adaptive and flexible. The point of language is not "who invented what" or who is "correct", grammatically, in terms of spelling, or otherwise. The point of language is to convey meaning. English itself borrows heavily from other languages, including German, and like all languages, it has a tendency to "dialecticize" itself and change to better fill the purposes it serves - to convey meaning and facilitate complex social interactions. If we had an inflexible system of language that didn't or couldn't change or adapt, we would be severely handicapped by it. Considering that many, many nations of the world are intimately familiar with and fluent in English, even when it is not their native language, I should think you'd be pleased that "your" language has done so well. I think there's at least some small measure of gratitude that should be given to us Yanks for helping to keep English relevant and vibrant. Hate us for some other stereotypical, overly generalized and ignorant or uninformed reason - by god, everyone else does.

Answer 5

Actually, both forms are accepted (that goes for many other words). Check the "OXFORD" dictionary if you don't believe me!
And (I assume you're English) you cannot invent a language! It evolves according to social, economical or geographical realities! The English language is of German origin and the Anglo-Saxons only arrived in England in the middle ages. The Norman conquest brought a lot of French influence to English, just as missionaries brought a Latin influence to early English.
American English is more phonetic than British English and more dynamic because it has had different influences and is the product of a more dynamic society!
The same language spoken in different places on the Globe is bound to evolve differently, duh!

Answer 6

Right!

There is no right or wrong. I spell using old-fashioned English spellings, because I am British, but there's nothing wrong with the fact it has diversified. We have to accept that English is English, and American English is American English. English is older, obviously, but then before that there was a different way of spelling things again. And in fact there was a time when 'proper spelling' did not exist, people just wrote what they wanted, however they wanted, even changing their mind along the way. Read some Shakespeare for examples! And he didn't even spell his name the same way twice!

And as for modern culture, it seems that everywhere in the world seems to sing with a default 'American'-ish accent. Apart from the odd few who crop up singing in their local dialect and accents, and all repect to them.

Let's all be happy for a bit of diversity!

Answer 7

English is not an original language,it was evolved from Latin,Greek and Roman.Alpha,Beta etc became A,B etc.English is still growing language.If you say about spelling American spelling is more reasonable.As language evolve continuously ,you have to accept American english is an improvement of UK English.Whether you it accept or not is different.Donot you accept that English is improvement over Latin.Roman or Greek?Most of the modern languages evolved from Hebrue

Answer 8

Actually many of the so called Americanism with a Z aren't really Americanisms, many of our ise words can quite legitimately be spelt ize see the Oxford English Dictionary for further details. I personally used to get really wound up about its use in the UK Whilst I think the proliferation of the ize format is thanks to the likes of Microsoft and dislike the decline of the use of ise it is not actually wrong.

Answer 9

In the U.S. we have freedom of speech and if we decide that the English language needs some repairs we will. That's why we chased England out!

Answer 10

YOU are the ones screwing it up. I'll prove it. Sing a Pop or Rock song.
Gee where's your gay little accent now? Music proves that American english is the most accurate.
I can't stand Euros saying a word like "hear". Does your dictionary tell you to ignore the H and the R??????? So it sounds like "Eah"?
If it does, then shoot the folk writting your dictionaries and tell them to sing a song.

Answer 11

My ---- did we get up on the wrong side of the bed this morning or what? Let's see -- because we went to school -- were taught how to spell by teachers (OMG - JUST LIKE YOU - WOW) --- we are "pricks?" Why do you all add a "U" to everything --- it's labor - not labour --- but I'm not going to stoop by calling you a name as I know it's not your fault.