A dialect of English whose pronunciation is frozen along with that of Canadian English. While British English had some drastic sound shifts, American and Canadian English pronunciation had only undergone a few minor vowel changes, as well as the changing of some Ts and Ds to alveolar flaps (butter sounds somewhat like "budder").
Most of the different spellings of American English (which, for all of you elitest Britons out there, are listed in the OED) developed in the U.S.'s early years, some of them created by dictionary maker Noah Webster. The differences are comparable to the ones between Brazilian Portuguese and Portuguese Portuguese.
Another interesting fact about American and Canadian English is that both dialects still use the -ize spelling for words (organize, organization, etc.), while countries outside North America have almost completely dumped it for the newer -ise spelling. However, the OED and Fowler's Modern English Usage (both of which are decent books of British origin) prefer the -ize spelling. Folks from North America also use the older aluminum spelling instead of the newer aluminium spelling. (Though neither spelling is the original; the original is alumium.)
Americans also refer to the letter Z using the 17th century name "zee" instead of the name "zed" used elsewhere (including in Canada). Rest assured, the name "izzard" is pretty much obsolete.
Sources: Wikipedia and the Concise Oxford English Dictionary.
Most of the different spellings of American English (which, for all of you elitest Britons out there, are listed in the OED) developed in the U.S.'s early years, some of them created by dictionary maker Noah Webster. The differences are comparable to the ones between Brazilian Portuguese and Portuguese Portuguese.
Another interesting fact about American and Canadian English is that both dialects still use the -ize spelling for words (organize, organization, etc.), while countries outside North America have almost completely dumped it for the newer -ise spelling. However, the OED and Fowler's Modern English Usage (both of which are decent books of British origin) prefer the -ize spelling. Folks from North America also use the older aluminum spelling instead of the newer aluminium spelling. (Though neither spelling is the original; the original is alumium.)
Americans also refer to the letter Z using the 17th century name "zee" instead of the name "zed" used elsewhere (including in Canada). Rest assured, the name "izzard" is pretty much obsolete.
Sources: Wikipedia and the Concise Oxford English Dictionary.
Give American English a break. There's nothing wrong with having a little bit of diversity in the Anglosphere. You don't see us complaining about your dialect every second, do you?
by Intelligence: The Anti-N00b April 7, 2005
American English is a version of English that actually predates British English; when the colonists were sent over to America, the language essentially "froze" because of broken contact with the British island. The linguistical isolation that ensued caused the English language to split into two main dialects: American and British English.
Contrary to popular belief, American English is not ebonic slang and it is very hard to definitively pin down American and British English, due to the fact that language constantly evolves. Slang does occasionally make its way into the long term lexicon, but only when spoken by a large percentage of the people. Therefore, it is very unlikely that gangsta speech or ebonics will ever be anything more than bastardized slang.
Contrary to popular belief, American English is not ebonic slang and it is very hard to definitively pin down American and British English, due to the fact that language constantly evolves. Slang does occasionally make its way into the long term lexicon, but only when spoken by a large percentage of the people. Therefore, it is very unlikely that gangsta speech or ebonics will ever be anything more than bastardized slang.
Words like 'fall' and 'autumn' mean the same thing, but one word is actually older than the other, and is in more common usage due to the isolation caused by the
by KiwiKittyBoy March 6, 2005
by Angry Loner December 7, 2003
The pronunciation and spelling of British-english twisted up and made to fit the way americans live. made up of many different accents and sub-languages.
by Crackhojoe June 24, 2004
The English language, but twisted & abused into a barely recognisable form, with half the vowels dropped. The letter 's' is also commonly replaced with 'z' or 'zee'. Also known as 'Wannabee English'.
English: Colour
American English: Color
English: Neighbour
American English: Neighbor
English: realise
American English: realize
American English: Color
English: Neighbour
American English: Neighbor
English: realise
American English: realize
by EnglishPatriarchy August 16, 2011
by MetallilbangeR April 24, 2005
the difference between "then" and "than". they almost always confuse them. I'm not American but I perfectly know when to use each one!
by Pan March 8, 2004