Will someone please tell our good friends in USA that " there is no Z in organisation :)?

Answer 1

*bows* Please accept my deepest apoligies.

Around the time the colonists of America were getting antsy about proving their idependence from Britain, several social scientists were suggesting a movement to completely overhaul the American English spelling system to distinguish American English from British English. Although no coherent action was ever taken, some words were successfully changed. Among them were "program," "center," "color," "favorite," and a great deal of words spelled with an "s" that actually produces a "z" sound when spoken, such as "organization."

And, by the way, as a phonetician I will assure you, sir, that the "s" sound in "organisation" is in fact a "z" sound, but let us step aside from that point so I may say that I am on your side. I read many Roald Dahl books in elementary school, and was deeply traumatized (or is that "traumatised?") when, in fifth grade, I lost points on my English spelling test for spelling "center" "centre."

Languages, including both their pronunciation and spelling, change over time and place naturally. Many differences between American and British spellings, however, were not natural changes but ones that were artificially enforced by a few fanatic men.

Answer 2

Firstly the answer from Kl55000............ Color as you put it IS the American spelling in England the spelling is Colour.

To the questioner, it is frustrating at times I think American differences in spelling are due to

a) the fact that they like to be different, they are still the no1 superpower and as such many feel they should own the language hence you will see the term American English used more and more. Ultimately it will probably be called just American.

b) Amercian education in some states/places is pretty poor. Bad spelling goes unchecked and theres an attitude of "oh well who cares". This is not universal, some places, especially coastal USA, have superb levels of education and great intitutions, but as with everywhere else language tends to sink to the lowest common denominator, as it does in England, innit!

What worries me even more is how many people loose track of which spelling is English and which American.

Even worse numbers are affected. I heard Steve Right talking about the word Billion on his radio show once. Between him and his two cohorts they could not come up with the right answer. One said a hundred million another said a million million. None of them said the true answer, that it used to be a million million but we scrapped that and adopted the American billion years ago which is one thousand million. I have read on this site many people who think we still use the old English Billion, my god they must have a weird view of Budget day and the countries economics.

Answer 3

As early as 1816, John Pickering published the first known collection of American-isms. ("Vocabulary, or Collection of Words and Phrases Which Have Been Supposed to Be Peculiar to the United States of America") Which means that differences in language in the States and other "English" speaking countries probably existed well before. [A more contemporary (and far funnier) book on the subject is "Made in America: an Informal History of the English Language in the United States" by Bill Bryson.]

However, it seems to me that my dictionary has a "zed" in that word, so I'll keep spelling it that way, thank you.
BTW - please tell me how you guys got "centre" - even you guys don't say it that way.

Answer 4

The problem with Americans is that they think they are always right what-ever they do. So they will try to prove to you by any means that organisation takes a Z, or color a U. They shouldn't forget that their language comes from the mother land of England. So why trying to change it.

Answer 5

In the USA we spell things the way we should. Maybe you should organise a committee. Happy Thanksgiving

Answer 6

Make you a deal... take that silly u out of behavior and color. Leave the 'e' sound out of the last syllable of aluminum and I'll be happy to change my spelling of organization. Mean time, pay us no mind, we mean well. Instead of picking on our (correct, according to Webster) spelling, maybe you should just be thanking us for being able to use your English instead of German. :)

Answer 7

Organization

Organisation
Organization

Zation-----sounds like the ending to organi----
Sation---sounds like sensation

SO whatev..if you were wondering i put thought into this

Answer 8

There is no Z in organisation you bunch of WAZZOCKS.
there you go mate by the way i love you xx

Answer 9

You guys don't even know how to pronounce "z" in the first place. Look at the other consonants. Now follow the pattern...it's ZEE, not zed.

When you guys figure that one out, get back to me.

Answer 10

All you people in the USA - Please note that there is no " Z " in the word Organisation !!!