Non Americans: Does seeing American English bother you?

MuroKhan

New member
Mar 29, 2010
8
0
0
I think we all can agree to this. From Canada to America to all the countries in South America, from the European countries to Russia and the Asias, yes, we can agree to this:

"Leet Speak" (or internet language) is the most infuriating to understand and ugliest form of textual communication to ever plague the written word.
 

Nickolai77

New member
Apr 3, 2009
2,843
0
0
It only annoys me when my American-made web-browser or MS word tells me i'm spelling "colour" and "generalise" wrong. Of course, like there are different ways of pronouncing English, there are different ways of spelling it too. It's just that, as society became more literate, there was a need for standardised spelling, and English speakers on different sides of the Atlantic standardised English differently. (Dr Johnson's dictionary for instance came out in the 18th century, by which time there were British colonies well established in North America whom would soon gain independence.)

Today, the English can get get quite irked by Americanism's. I think it's because "We're English, and English is our language" that there is a bit of aloofness that the English we speak is the "right" form of English. Like a true-blooded Englishman, i'll blame the French, our near neighbours whom must have infected us with their stuck-up attitudes towards language.
 

Reaganomics

Russian Roulette Runner-up
Jun 14, 2010
44
0
0
Blue Hero said:
I use a combination of American English and British English. I use the ou for words like favourite, honour, all that jazz, and I use Z in words like recognize (instead of recognise) because Z is a cool letter and doesn't get enough attention.
So you use Canadian English. That said most people here in Canada don't know which form to use most of the time and spell stuff differently every time.

The only one that really bothers me is tyre/tire. I prefer tire, tyre just looks strange to me, fortunately that doesn't appear much on this site.
 

Blue2

New member
Mar 19, 2010
205
0
0
Not really, I do mix them up but however I can't get why the way to say the letter Z seems so hard. In America, they say Z like "Zee" while British say like "Zed".
 

Smooth Operator

New member
Oct 5, 2010
8,162
0
0
Well I never learned proper english so I usually can't tell, but it get's extremely confusing when every dictionary is written by personal preference.
 

Raolan

New member
Jun 22, 2011
5
0
0
There is no room for excuses. Those who write American-English are currently the lowest forms of life and should be exterminated through any means necessary. /sarcasm.

It's not the spelling I dislike, it's the bloody awful pronunciations of words. Color still sounds like colour. Mom sounds absolutely stupid. Every time I hear someone say it that way I think they're saying mop, but change their minds to mum when they reach the end. Maybe it's because many of the self-centered pricks in game chats are so used to the words 'mum' and 'mop' going together because they're incapable of doing anything themselves. Ultimately though I don't mind how people spell English words, so long as they're still the word. In the case of three letters like 'mum' and 'mom' they should not be allowed to spell it how they want.

And I swear if I ever hear another American say 'Oh are you Aw-strahlian? Say "G'day mate!"' I will take him down.
 

Throwitawaynow

New member
Aug 29, 2010
759
0
0
Stealthygamer said:
what really pisses me off is in Arkansas, according to state law, it is illegal to speak English. The officially recognized language is "American".
Avatar Roku said:
Tell me that's a joke.
Kind of a joke. Like saying Spanish is illegal in Canada, seeing as how the official languages are English and French. Also, the official language in Arkansas is English. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arkansas

The United States as a nation doesn't have a national official language.
 

Koios

New member
Jul 28, 2010
65
0
0
banksy122 said:
English is the newest language American - English is just the newest version of it
Just so I can validate the waste of a class I took last semester in college: American English is not the newest version. There have been a plethora of new forms that have developed since then, including African American English, a hybrid/creole in Hawaii, and so on and so forth.
 

Porygon-2000

I have a green hat! Why?!
Jul 14, 2010
1,206
0
0
Stealthygamer said:
what really pisses me off is in Arkansas, according to state law, it is illegal to speak English. The officially recognized language is "American".
Aren't you guys supposed to be big on free speech or something?

Yeah, while I have no tangible reason to hate American English, the accents (of which I am aware there are more than one) just sort of grate on my primitive aussie ear. It all comes down to what you're used to. I'd like it if there was more English English around, but that's just me.
 

Koios

New member
Jul 28, 2010
65
0
0
scott91575 said:
To flip it a little, the only British thing that annoys me is Lieutenant pronounced leftenent (which is of course pronunciation, not spelling).
When I was younger, I was similarly annoyed at colonel.
 

Voration

New member
Jan 13, 2010
151
0
0
I don't mind how other people spell words but I try to stop it from influencing me when I'm typing/writing. The number of times I've caught myself writing favorite...

What also annoys me is when my laptop says that my spelling is incorrect because it things like Micosoft word are American...
 

b3nn3tt

New member
May 11, 2010
673
0
0
Nope, doesn't bother me. I don't really see the point of debating it though, very few people will be annoyed by it, and no-one is going to change the way they spell things on either side. People are going to spell words how they've been taught to spell them, an internet forum is going to do nothing to change that.
 

bakan

New member
Jun 17, 2011
472
0
0
I learned that as long as you are consistent in your text you can write in american or british english and I don't see any problem with the different spelling.
 

GraveeKing

New member
Nov 15, 2009
621
0
0
HOW CAN YOU FORGET THE U?!
It's such a simple thing! RAAAWR FELLING MY BRITISHNESS.

No I do kid, that said I find it totally ridiculous that it's often classed as two completely different languages! I mean studying a course in English should be just that - English! Not two separate courses and papers for 'American English and British English'. I say we correct the silly American spelling mistakes made and make it one language rather than have everything so damn confusing.
 

Agayek

Ravenous Gormandizer
Oct 23, 2008
5,178
0
0
Booze Zombie said:
I only get annoyed when people tell me I'm spelling a word wrong. No, armour is right. Colour is right.

Spell however you like, just don't tell me I'm wrong when I'm not. I will rage.
Learn to English IMO. Looks like you need it.

...

<3
 

The Gnome King

New member
Mar 27, 2011
685
0
0
Jacco said:
I see quite a bit of the "proper" spellings of words on this site (oweing, I'm sure, to the large non-American presence) and it makes me wonder, when you see us Amies spell words like "color" and "favorite" as such instead of the "proper" "colour" and "favourite" does it bother you at all or is it just another way of spelling?

For me, when I see "colour", it catches my attention only slightly more than "color" but I've been told been told it really bothers people to see it spelled one way or the other.
English itself is a bastardized language and language is constantly evolving and changing. All linguists will tell you this.

Best quote ever on the topic:

"The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary." - James. D. Nicoll
 

Tallim

New member
Mar 16, 2010
2,054
0
0
I wasn't aware that Escapist had a built in spellcheck. Firefox one must overrule it.
American spelling tends to be more phonetic. It's no less readable and it makes no difference. In some cases it's far more readable, "plough" I'm looking at you.
 

SL33TBL1ND

Elite Member
Nov 9, 2008
6,467
0
41
I really hate American spellings. I get that they spell them differently because they pronounce things differently, but it's damn annoying.