[and36]

Just wondering if anyone else has noticed the spelling of centre is now becoming center in everyday life, I even got a ROYAL mail card telling me to pick up a parcel at the town center post office (printed, not written). More and more companies are spelling it as center in their name.

How long before Theatre becomes Theater and colour becomes color and honour becomes honor etc.

It's just not cricket

Sorry, it's late, I'm tired and just letting off steam

[Steve.EX]

Well you'll no doubt be looking to 'kick back' with some 'qualitee downtime, yes sir' then.

[Helicon]

Shouldn't that be "Americanization"?

[Uridium]

I hope you pointed out the spelling MISTAKE to the postie at the sorting office when you collected the parcel

[Steve.EX]

Clearly he was not 'in the zone'

[and36]

Originally Posted by uridium

I hope you pointed out the spelling MISTAKE to the postie at the sorting office when you collected the parcel

You've just reminded me that I mentioned this to my brother at the time as he is an ex postie and he was insisting that it was the correct spelling of centre.

I know in the big scheme of things it doesn't matter, heck it even makes more sense.

Maybe it's all the lines I had to do at School :

I must spell centre correctly
I must spell centre correctly
I must spell centre correctly

[mjn]

My boss is Amercian, so whenever i create documents, and he reviews them, they come back with all this "American crap" all over them. Inserts American sayings, re-words the sentences to sound more American....it does my head in.

[EricHitchmo]

'Period'

It also really REALLY ****s me off when they refer to bands as 'it'. ie. Nirvanas second album is better than it's first. Also have you noticed that many Americans don't know the difference between to and too

[EricHitchmo]

if you really want to be ****** off with americanisms go to the american msn homepage.

[EricHitchmo]

'get in the hole' 'be the club' (***) etc

[filmfreak71]

Originally Posted by EricHitchmo

'Period'
Also have you noticed that many Americans don't know the difference between to and too

Actually I went to an America school and we were taught the difference between to and too, just just shows you that most of them don't listen to the grammar they are taught at school

[EricHitchmo]

Originally Posted by filmfreak71

Actually I went to an America school and we were taught the difference between to and too, just just shows you that most of them don't listen to the grammar they are taught at school

Do Americans learn anything at school except that guns are cool and the flag is consisted of red white and blue? Or am I being sarcastic?

[filmfreak71]

Each morning they had the swear your allegance to the flag thing!!

No guns, but I do remember the vice principles son was arrested for smoking dope, which was very serious as the school was in Saudi Arabia, I guess that's also why we did have the gun stuff!!!

[kraiklyn]

What I find really annoying in daily life (especially here in London) is people who have watched far too much American TV ordering something in a coffee shop for example, and saying;

'Can I get a large coffee' (or whatever).

No please or thank you!

If I was a assistant and someone asked in this manner I'd be tempted to tell them to **** off. I know that's also considered rude, but they would have had it coming.

[EricHitchmo]

Starbucks coffee etc

Americans are so vulgar.

[Garrett]

Notice how many programs for the computer cater for a host of different languages but the simplest one to alter is English from American all the need to do is alter a few spellings, but most cannot be bothered.

I have also read a few novels by UK authors and have found they use the word Color.

Also how many games do they not want you to import from the US, but when the European version comes out they use the American spellings.

[Steven]

Agree completely.

Peeves me off when I choose English (British) as the default language upon the installation of Windows. So what is the language for Word set to? You then have a multitude of ways to change it back to English, but only one of those methods actually work.

Also when I download the "British" version of Firefox 2.0 as opposed to the "American" version, I don't expect the dictionary to try to remove the 'u' every time I type 'colour'.

/rant mode off

[Beobloke]

Originally Posted by kraiklyn

What I find really annoying in daily life (especially here in London) is people who have watched far too much American TV ordering something in a coffee shop for example, and saying;

'Can I get a large coffee' (or whatever).

The correct answer to which is of course "Yes you can get one. Would you like one then?"

[Pezerinno]

What I also find annoying is when you have such a conversation and then an american is quick to say how silly the english are to add letters into words etc as though it isn't out language to start with.

[Garrett]

Have to mention it as I always do on this subject but I like the line in the film Falling Down where Michael Douglas says to a foreign national “Why don’t you speak English?”

[Steve.J.Davies]

A lot of the spellings that we abhor in 'American English' are, in fact, consistent with how we used to spell them a long time ago. In many cases it is us that have have changed and the Americans have remained 'true'.

Bill Bryson's 'Made in America' a good read about this - and many other things.
(hope I remembered the title of the book accurately).

Having said that 'Amercanisation' a bigger issue than spelling. Because of the 'common' language we forget that it is a foreign country with a (very) different history, different values and a different culture.

Lest we forget, the British Empire also did this kind of thing.....

[Praxidike]

Americans should be banned from talking. That'd solve so many problems!

Actually, maybe Americans should just be banned. :D

Really though, the way they've "improved" our language is just horrible and naughty. Especially when they moan at us for saying things wrong, when it's actually them that are saying it all wrong, sounding like idiots. But they won't listen - there's more of them, and obviously they're bigger than us. So they're right, of course.

"I don't gotta do that".
"I could care less".

Grrrrrrrr! Do they not even think about what they're saying, and how little sense it makes?!

Although that said, there are plenty of British that don't put words in the right order...

[Confucius]

Originally Posted by Praxidike

Although that said, there are plenty of British that don't put words in the right order...

Indeed, "I ain't done nothing wrong", for example. Guilty as charged then.

[Philly112]

I actually like Americans and consider them, as a rule, to be a pretty friendly and polite bunch!
Just go to Orlando or Vegas and have a look at the wonderful Brits behaving (and speaking) over there.

I work for a US company, so if my boss is reading this, that'll be 10% in January

Phil

[Praxidike]

Originally Posted by Confucius

Indeed, "I ain't done nothing wrong", for example. Guilty as charged then.

Yeah, exactly. But try to explain to that person that they've actually confessed to the crime, you just get a blank look, like you're some kind of idiot that can't speak English.

[RMCF]

UK users of this website are guilty of 'Americanisation' themselves.

Hands up how many of you call films 'movies'.

[and36]

Originally Posted by RMCF

UK users of this website are guilty of 'Americanisation' themselves.

Hands up how many of you call films 'movies'.

Nope , not me , no siree bob

My point to this thread was how many British people, companies etc. are spelling words in American English.

I say loft as well as attic, pants as well as trousers, lift as well as elevator, I would just like British people and companies to write in English and not American English.

Right now that's off my chest I'm off to Mcdonalds

[richjthorpe]

The one thing that really gets me is when reading books by British authors spelling words like 'Organization'.

Why why why why why ? You're British, be proud of it !

[IronGiant]

oops, I just repeated post #3

[treacle]

In most coding of sofrware, using the "colour" will be rejected, "color" being the accepted format.