Why do Americans think "Color" is the correct spelling of "Colour"?

Question

Surely as "Colour" came first (from the mother country!) this is the correct spelling?

Answer 1

Why are Brits the grumpiest people on the Internet?


You complain about taxes, you complain about children, you complain about prices, you complain about the news, you complain about the weather, you complain about how others spell, you complain about each other.

If the spelling change when USA gained independence, what's the big deal?

Oh I remember, it is another reason to complain.

Answer 2

"Colour" may have come from the mother country, but England isn't the reason that English is the international language of commerce.
Whilst it is fine to use on a domestic basis in a nation which approves the use of the King's English, on an international basis, the American spellings are preferred, due to the fact that America is the most economically advanced country in the world at this current time.
Though I am unaware whether anyone truly knows the orgin of American spellings as opposed to English spellings of words, I feel it is safe to hypothesize that the American spellings were used as a form of rebellion against England during the Revolutionary War. Either that, or someone special just liked the letter "z", whilst holding an unending grudge against the letter "u".
Overall, the impact is the same. English is a very adaptable language, and the native English spellings are becoming so antiquated as to lead to another total evolutionary stage of the spelling and linguistics.
You could compare it to the use of the English language between Olde English and Middle English. Since French was the language of commerce at the time, English absorbed a lot of it, and this new French formed Middle English. Sure, there were a lot of people complaining about losing their original tongue, but the fact that the language did change, even that long ago in history, leads me to think that the English language might entirely discard its Brittanic spellings.

Answer 3

I do find it annoying that the americans claim to speak English, not American, and then change it for no apparent reason. If they decided to call the language American or even American English This would settle the issue for me, But one writer here just suggested that it is actually the prefered or correct english which i find arrogant

The most annoying one for me is buoy (rhymes with boy not booee). as in buoyant

Surely that was not a decision more a mistake.

I suspect that many of the others were too, can someone show me a document where someone made the decisions to change the language in this way, or was it just, as i suspect mistakes which were then perpetuated.

Anyway they wouldn't do it with anything else why do it with language.

I mean they wouldn't do it with a sport, would they.
They would not play a sport and then arrogantly, change the rules .to make it just a bit different.

Oh wait a minute yes they have.

I know i know, ups from the brits downs from the americans
but show me proof before you thumb down, please and answer the point not just give the thumbs down

I think the most intelligent answer on here is the one that said it was their quest for independance, they need to feel that they are different I think that maybe true, if they were not just mistakes

Added : Nice, JJ but i'd love to see the sources for that

Answer 4

English is an evolving language. Colour comes from the French spelling root. England and France have co-existed for a thousand years. Some of the Plantagenet Kings spoke no English, just French. These same kings founded the first Universities and schools in England, together with the Latin speaking Church.

So it is that we spell words such as centre and theatre à la française, and the Americans don't.

Answer 5

Once upon a time, dictionaries were rare. People who learned the alphabet wrote words in various forms.

Colour, color. Theatre, theatre. Shop, shopp, shoppe.

There are many, many examples of words that are spelled in a variety of ways. After the invention of the printing press, and the slow increase in literacy and book ownership, dictionaries flourished, containing not only definitions of words, but a standard spelling for them.

Not every English-speaking culture and nation chose the same forms. In fact, more often than not, they chose different forms. Add to that a couple hundred more years of language development and you find yourself with many dialects of English. Yes, dialects. They don't exist only in foreign countries, folks.

Answer 6

I believe that some time between 1880 and 1910 there was a conference of US Academics who decided to 'rationalize' US spelling of English.
One of their decisions was to drop the unnecessary (in their opinion) 'u' from such words as colour, honour etc.
They changed a lot of spellings at that time.
They acted rather like the French Academy that tries to preserve the French language from 'Angloisms', such as 'le weekend' etc.
The answer is not that Americans cannot spell, it is because their spelling is different.
On the other hand, I still can't quite get to grips when they pronounce 'Herbs' as 'erbs'.
But as the French say, 'vive la difference'.

Answer 7

Because we do things a little differently in the U.S. and we spell it "color"... same with "behavior" and many other words. Language is something that is dynamic and will evolve and change over time depending on where you live. But trust me... our dictionaries will confirm that "color" is correct for the United States version of the English language.

Answer 8

Why don't you know that American English and British English are two different languages?
In the 1890's it was agreed between the two nations that although we spoke a similar tongue we would spell words differently and have different meanings for other words like.....
Autumn - Fall
Bonnet - Hood
Boot - Trunk
Colour - Color
Though - Tho
Route - Rout
Fa ggot = A bundle of sticks - A homosexual
So now you know.

Answer 9

The Americans won a Revolution. This then gave them the right to spell how they chose and not use the King's English if they no longer felt like it.

Blame Mister Webster, who was probably crap at spelling in school, so re-wrote the dictionary to suit a modern audience of Americans who wanted to speak English their way.

English is a democratic language. It starts on the street and works it's way up into the dictionary and after about ten years of common use, a slang word get shovelled into the OED along with the other 600,000 words us English speakers have stolen over the centuries.

Colour by the way is the Frog spelling of color. Or, should that be collar?

Answer 10

If by mother country you mean Italy and Spain then you are somewhat correct since the word color is of Latin origin. In the early 1800s when Noah Webster wrote the AMERICAN spelling dictionary his choice of spelling were both practical and philosophical. He wanted to further distance AMERICA from England and it Anglo-Franco spelling styles and facilitate the learning of reading in AMERICA where literacy was becoming a must. Remember in Europe countries were ruled by kings and a literate proletariat was counter productive to their desire to remain in power. If a subject of the crown could not read he would remain uneducated and the uneducated are easier to control. Thus the many spelling differences in AMERICA.
If you are wondering. Yes, I am a Yankee Doodle Dandy!!! I believe in freedom, the right to bear arms and that all kings queen and their inbred offspring still should be beheaded. God Bless America and the crown be damned to the eternal flames of hell.

Answer 11

The're Too Lazy To Spell Correctly, So Incorrect Spellings Become More Used Then Correct Spellings.

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