why is it american and english spelling are different?

Question

example :
colour /color
habour - habor
unutlised/unutilized

which is actually more accurate?

great but hell i always get penalised for these spelling mistakes during my schoolings days way way back.. coz i always thought they are the same

yeah i was under the british education system but u know sometimes its just the slip of the mind and i start using the american style .. hehe

Answer 1

they are both correct and accepted in all english speaking countries

Answer 2

I think it's because Americans are lazy and just a little bit rebellious against English traditions. As for accuracy, that depends. Phonetically speaking, American English would fit that description, i.e. it's written as it sounds.

Personally, being Australian, I favour the English way of spelling, and to me it is more accurate. I probably feel that way because it's a bit tricky and therefore is an indicator of a good education. Of course in this day and age, everyone seems to think writing should all be done in SMS format, and the point is almost moot - which is frankly quite frightening to someone like myself.

If you think about it, the English language - and the spelling that goes with it - is made up of so many other languages which have been modified for English usage (and have constantly evolved since the inception of the language) that you could say that there is no such thing as accurate English. If you look at something written in the days of Shakespeare, you'll see that the letter 'y' is often used where we now use the letter 'i' and suchlike. Only the invent of the dictionary has made English a relatively static language, and even so it has been adapted for the individuals/nations using it.

Answer 3

Why, as an outsider, I can see it as English spelling being more under the historical influence of a French-speaking gentry. American settlers had little care for fancy wording and got closer to how words were actually pronounced. Both work equally well. I use Queen's English with Brits and Accepted English with the rest of the world. It's not that tricky, rather fun in fact.

Answer 4

why do we drive on the right, and not use the metric system. Early Americans wanted so desperately to be different than England, they changed a few things. Maybe some english was also changed

Answer 5

There was a really good show on discovery channel addressing this.
It traced the answer to Webster (the dictionary guy), and that he made American English accessible and more phonetic for the masses.

Answer 6

The British way, the Americans have butchered the English language.

Answer 7

The first ones aren't for American-English. I think they are for either British-English, or Canadian-English, or both. In America we changed the spelling from "colour" because it's easier to learn and pronounce if it's spelled "color".

Answer 8

actually they're both the same. there were some english settlements here in the original 13 colonies. so i really don't know.

Answer 9

I guess it would depend where you were at the time..lol no, they are both correct.