I speak American

While sitting on the patio with my husband, we were debating the whole "speak English or else" ultimatum being bandied about. And "Jack", my husband, said,"I was talking about this with Brian the other day. He said that he didn't speak English, he spoke American."

I said, that was pretty much true, and a debate ensued. (Jack being pissed that I was dissing his native tongue. Seeing as my husband is from England.)

Really, we don't speak the same language. Similar, like Italian and Spanish are to each other. But not the same.

Here are some examples.

In London for example, you might hear this: Oy, let's pop 'round the rub a dub and grab a few Britneys mate. This would be Cockney "English".

Translate this sentence into American, and you have this: Hey, let's go to the bar and grab a few beers dude.

English: Jumper ----- American: Sweater
English: Aluminium Foil-----American: Aluminum Foil
English: Braces -------American: Suspenders

Heck the list goes on ad infinitum. Many things have different meanings, many are spelled differently. Humor, humour. Labor, labour. We say math, they say maths, even without the "s" on it.

Hmmmm.... Maybe we should change the official language to American. So no one gets confused.