Non Americans: Does seeing American English bother you?

[Xealeon]

Being an Australian living in America I do see that a lot but it never really annoyed me beyond my usual level of irritation at other people. The one time it did really annoy me was when I was doing my final presentation for high-school English class and on the power point I used "honour" and my class mates refused to accept that it was an alternate spelling.

 

[Snowblindblitz]

Nope. But I am American so, yeah. I did once get mad at a Spanish teacher from Spain who laughed at me pronouncing things in a more Mexican way. I'm assuming this is similar.

 

[JanatUrlich]

Yes it really annoys me!

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

I don't normally mind, except yesterday playing Minecraft in the Escapecraft's creative world I spent twenty minutes trying to spawn grey wool. ARRGH!

 

[TheMagicLemur]

Actually the 'u' words don't bother me.


It's when I see "gray" that I get upset D:<

It's kind of weird. I'm an American, yet I've always spelled it "grey." "Gray" just doesn't look, or feel, right to me.

So it isn't usually spelled "grey" in America? Weird... I've always spelled it like that.

I once argued with my English teacher for ten minutes about whether or not I could spell "grey" with an e (standard american spelling is "gray", which I hate because my mental pronunciation gives the "a" in it a Kentucky drawl).

Then again, I have a fondness for British english.

 

[TheMagicLemur]

I can get kind of annoyed because I get that stereotypical southern dialect in my head when I read American spelling.

Ditto, and I am an American.

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

It annoys me when websites have a languages list and next to English there is an American flag... :|

When Americans drop the u and such it doesn't bother me really. It's more when someone tries to correct you or a spell check wants to put a z in stabilise

I guess I don't mind other people using Americanisms but they shouldn't try to force me to use it.

 

[ThePerfectionist]

Yeah, sometimes, though it's more grammar than spelling. Though my opinion is pretty much summed up here:

http://www.youtube.com/user/davidmitchellsoapbox#p/u/33/om7O0MFkmpw

(I don't know how to embed, so you'll have to suffer the link)

But as has been said before, it doesn't bother me so much when I see color instead of colour, but it DOES bother me when someone says I'm wrong when I spell it colour. No, I'm not wrong, I'm just different, but apparently that's the same *censored* thing to all my American associates.

 

[Nazulu]

I have always wondered why exactly do they spell it differently, but it has never bothered me. Well, the spell check has annoyed me now and again but nothing worth making a thread over.

 

[JoesshittyOs]

I do find it a little annoying, but not as much as I find the way Americans pronounce some words. I'm an Australian, and I'm sick and tired of hearing yanks pronounce the 'u'. It's a-stralia, not aw-stralia.!

Phhht.... Next thing you are gonna tell me is that you don't ride Kangaroos to school.

 

[Dr Snakeman]

This might just be me being a little stupid, but how else do you spell Autumn? Is it spelt as "Atmn" in America?

Nope, it's spelled "Fall".

 

[Cazza]

It does bother me that the US spells colour - color. It always looks wrong to me and probably always will.

I but i do prefer jail instead of gaol

jail writtern as gaol is more for historic reasons.

 

[health-bar]

I like to point it out whenever they spell it with a 'u'
its funny how offended and serious people get.

favourite is the only one that truly annoys me. It just doesn't even feel like a word anymore.

yeah, this is supposed to be for non Americans but ill throw in my lot anyway.

 

[wangdalfthegay]

I have a feeling that Americans only replaced many 's' letters in words, like "recognise" with a 'z' so they would have an unfair advantage against British players in a game of scrabble.

And "light" should definitely not be spelt "lite"

 

[Alphavillain]

On an instinctive basis it irritates me, but people across the world want to emulate the dominant culture to a certain extent; and this means spelling words the American way.

Off topic: how long will it be before the English language is known as American?

 

[Azure-Supernova]

Like many in this thread I've no qualms when it comes to seeing colour, favour and armour spelt as color, favor and armor. And again, like many in this thread I only rise up in arms when I'm told that there's no 'u' in colour/favour/armour.

However I will say one thing, that English European releases of videogames should use 'proper' English. My friend's mum teaches English Literature and Language at the local University and she and other examiners will mark down assignments that use any American English spellings.

Though with the prevelance of American English it's not hard to understand that children in Britain are growing up reading American books, playing American (or American translated) games and are watching a lot of American television. My youngest sister particularly has a very American vocabulary whilst I'm rather proper in my speech. Well, as proper as you can be coming from the Black Country.

EDIT

Also on that American accents tend to throw me off about how they spell words. For all the times I've heard 'Graham Cracker' I've always believed it to be 'Gram Cracker'.

 

[sunsetspawn]

instead of the "proper" "colour" and "favourite"

Wait wait wait. I've lived in New York for my whole life and I know of no other way to spell "proper." Are you telling me that there's some sort of American way to spell that word that I'm not privy to?

 

[OtherSideofSky]

Actually the 'u' words don't bother me.


It's when I see "gray" that I get upset D:<

It's kind of weird. I'm an American, yet I've always spelled it "grey." "Gray" just doesn't look, or feel, right to me.

I feel that way as well...

Me too, it's the only one that ever bothers me.

 

[Crash 9000]

It doesn't bother me, for the same reason seeing someone with a different haircut than mine doesn't bother me. Although when I was younger I did like to use the American spelling of words so my English teacher would start crying about how it's "incorrect" even though it was acceptable to use in tests.