American spelling: Isn't it annoying?

Question

If the Americans want to 'borrow' our language, the least they could do is learn to use it correctly!
For any Americans reading this, here are some examples of your mistakes:
1. colour (NOT color)
2. authorisation (NOT authorization)
2. centre (NOT center)

Answer 1

American English is a legitimate form of English, even though you may not like it. When the Thirteen Colonies broke away from Great Britain, it was also proposed to try to get a uniform way of spelling the English language. The three examples you chose to illustrate your point

1. colour (NOT color)
2. authorisation (NOT authorization)
2. centre (NOT center)

are good examples of the process. You can thank Daniel Webster for getting rid of the unnecessary bits in English, such as the 'u' in 'colour', reversing 're' in 'center', and changing 'isation' to 'ization'.

There are other changes, too: removing the final 'me' in words ending in 'gramme', like 'programme', 'telegramme'; spelling 'gaol' as 'jail'.

But why be offended by this? The rules for the spelling of Standard American English go back to the beginning of the country because in Colonial times (under British rule), there was no standardization at all, and people spelled the way they heard (or thought they heard) the words pronounced. Americans, in short, inherited an imperfect and fluid spelling system from the British, and decided to do something about it. What's wrong with that?

I, an American, live in Bangkok and read the "Bangkok Post" newspaper every morning in British English and am never offended by the British way of spelling words. I am delighted to read English spelled and punctuated correctly in either the American or the British system.

What does offend me, however, is people who write without giving any care to the proper spelling, punctuation and grammar of their own form of English--be it British English or American English.

But what offends me most of all is the rudeness from both sides that so many people have shown in answering your question. There is never any excuse for rudeness.

I am a great fan of Lynne Truss and her book, "Eats, Shoots and Leaves", as I am also a great fan of Strunk and White for their, The Elements of Style". Both systems work.

By the way, when you write, "If the Americans want to 'borrow' our language. . ." you must realize from the history of the development of the English language, that what we have today is simply layer-upon-layer of other languages all jumbled together. I would recommend to anybody, "The Story of English," by Robert McCrum, Robert MacNeil, and William Cran.

Answer 2

American English is a different language. Some of their spellings make sense, in particular their use of the 'z' instead of 's'. But in general we have to remember that the USA is a land of immigrants for whom English is a second language, badly learned. In general I take a partisan approach and I say that British English is correct and American English is no better than Pidgen English, used by peoples who cannot speak English at all. It is intensely irritating to read American English but it is their attempt to write phonetically. They really do say 'Color' with the emphasis on the rotund 'or', just like the west country yokels who were the original settlers in America. Much of our spelling, of centre for instance is probably because of the French origin of many of our words. I have no difficulty with either spelling, but wish Americans would not force their way on the rest of the world - it is a form of colonialism, something they insist they are against, despite their colonial past, in the Phillipines for instance.

Answer 3

I disagree with the tone of this question as I consider American English to be a different language from British English. However, I do find problems with reading a passage as I get so irritated with the different spellings that I lose the sense of what has been written. I also agree that it is infuriating when Microsoft automatically changes British spellings for American ones.

Answer 4

Uh, no? America is recognised and contributes uniquely as a culture. Why shouldn't it have developed some Americanisms along the way? Don't be so arrogant and conceited. America has offered a lot to popular and modern culture and I love them for that. By the way, I'm Australian. Oh yeah, they fought a war of Independance. Therefore they have since gone off on a different tangent of American English language. It is common sense really, as it is phonetic for them. After all, the reason that English is so confusing is because it is a bastardisation of so many combined languages.

Answer 5

Since when did a language come with a title of ownership? If the British Crown hadn't been so bloddy insensitive to its subjects in the American Colonies a Revolution would not have occured. And you would not be irritated by such trivial things.

Answer 6

It's not irritating, just slightly different. For your info the Americans have not 'borrowed' our language - the English spoken in America comes directly from the original English settlers, so they haven't borrowed anything. I shouldn't think that they would want to adopt any of our culture, particularly our envy and spite.

Answer 7

yes and grey is gray? if they speak english which they do, then why do they spell things differently! also from watching american programmes on the telly im sure they make words up as they go along too, like hospitalisation? i always thought is was hospitalised!

Answer 8

Are you kidding me? We can't even spell simple words. That's why god created spell check. If misspellings were against the law, every American would be under arrest.

Answer 9

YOU ARE 100% TRUE. American spelling simplifies everything to a point where you think the people who speak it, are so dumb that they need it to be simple. It's like they can't get along with words spelt in a hard-sophisticated way.

Answer 10

Perhaps we should all accept that some things are different. The English language is very flexible, it can cope with different cultures spelling in different way. So can we go with different rather than wrong, though it does get up my nose when they try and tell us that we've got it wrong