why is there a difference in some spelling between americans and britons e.g color/colour?

Answer 1

It's important to keep in mind that standardization of spelling took place over a period of time. So even at the end of the 18th century there was NOT one recognized "standard spelling" for English (just read the letters of people of that time and you'll see this!) even though there were widespread customs/traditions (affected by printed and by widely read books, like the Bible). Thus it is not always a matter of spelling "changes", but of someone making a decision about which possible spelling (perhaps already in use) should be adopted. And WHO makes those decisions can be critical. In the case of Britain and the young U.S., the decisions were made be different groups of people.

In early 19th century America, Noah Webster, an educator working to establish a workable system for teaching children, beginning with teaching them to read, began to publish readers and spellers.. and eventually a dictionary (though the real "standard" ended up not being Webster's own work, but that of the Merriams who built on his efforts).

"His goal was to provide a uniquely American approach to training children. His most important improvement, he claimed, was to rescue of "our native tongue" from "the clamor of pedantry" that surrounded English grammar and pronunciation. He complained that the English language had been corrupted by the British aristocracy, which set its own standard for proper spelling and pronunciation. Webster rejected the notion that the study of Greek and Latin must precede the study of English grammar.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noah_Webster

http://www.m-w.com/about/noah.htm

Anyway, Webster suggested numerous changes to simplify the spelling of English. Most were not widely adopted, but a handful of significant ones were, such as the dropping of the "u" in "colour", etc. Do note that the only reason the English word used this letter in such words was that they had borrowed the Latin word (which did NOT have the u) through French (which did). Other spelling differences have a similar cause -- e.g., the -ize ending instead of -ise (both spellings were around, and the Oxford English Dictionary and the old Encyclopedia Britannica preferred -ize!) which corresponds better to the Greek ending it comes from, and the spelling "skeptic" (for British "sceptic".. from the French) which again goes back to the Greek.

The fact is that there were BRITISH advocates of similar spellings. But they did not have the same sort of influence in British society. The conservative traditions of the aristocracy won out there. In America, where there was no such elite, such proposals fared better. At any rate, it was NOT the result of ignorance, but of thoughtful consideration. Nor was it based on a petty siwh to "be different"... but for practical reasons. (Ironically, it appears that the BRITISH choice of final -ise over -ize MAY have been, at least in part, a reaction to the American custom.)
http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq/aboutspelling/ize?view=uk

Answer 2

For Nic: The use of the metric system has been used all over the world for a long time. Only English-speaking countries don't use it. They actually do it more and more, and tend to use both systems. Australians, for instance, understand both. And young people in Britain are taught both systems. I don't know about America, but I think it's the same, now. So don't make it sound that the world is following the American lead. It's rather the other way round. You're still using "miles", aren't you?

As for your question, it's just because the Americans wanted to show their independence from England. So they decided to use their own spelling system (see above for a more thorough explanation). There's nothing wrong with that. As long as you're coherent in your spelling, that's fine.

And there's not much difference, anyway.

Answer 3

Until Dr Johnson produced his dictionary, spelling tended to be all over the place. I think that the American spelling dates back to a time when Latin was far more prevalent and English spelling has veered towards French. Words like theatre (theater), centre (center), colour (color), litre (liter), favour (favor) are spelt the French way in English and the Latin way in American. Perhaps that's why the Canadians with their bilingual culture favour (as opposed to favor) the English spelling with its French bias.

Answer 4

The Americans seem to always weed out the unnecessary. The u in colour does not change the pronunciation so it is really redundant. The ER and RE in centre is really out of place as it is a hang over from the french. CENTER is more logical. In spite of what I say I still prefer the real English spellings as when I see them spelt wrongly, mainly on the ANSWERS questions it annoys me.

Answer 5

I'm English travelling around Australia & they also spell differently, I think the USA & Australia just do it to be different and to have something of thier own, besides, both speak English not American or Australian.

Answer 6

Because the Americans found adding a "u" to everything too hard!
Other words we spell with an "s" instead of a "z" like realise, organise, etc.
I think maybe it's because we pronoune the "s" like a "z" in those words... but I'm Australian not English so they may have another (better) reason

Answer 7

Britons at the instant are not selfcenterd and don't attempt to cajole everybody that they are in a position to save the international. they make their very own lifes and would not intervene or attempt to be the main suitable in competing like the human beings, they cant even play rugby devoid of the pads! what approximately cricket nor soccer!

Answer 8

I suppose there is a good reason why. One thing that does intrigue me. When we in England eat a meal we use a knife and fork but Americans tend to cut food up and then use a fork.Why is this I wonder? They even seem to hold a spoon differently.

Answer 9

americans spell phonetically which means they spell it how it sounds, the english language is a lot more complex with silent letters and things like that, making it much harder when it comes to spelling and grammer.

Answer 10

I have to say that the American way is better it seems to make more sense. We tend to go round the houses
I come from the UK