Americanized English

[Yip]

A unified language would make communication easier in theory, but of course you'll probably get "Why don't we switch to one government and one form of currency while we're at it?"

Government and currency are irrelevant since even if you limit it to English you are already talking about different countries with their our governments and currency. My point is that campaigning for a world language is exactly the same as what you seem to be doing, only on a greater scale. By examining it and seeing the problems that stand in the way of that, it should help to point out the problems you'd face trying to unify English.

Again, the important thing is making sure your target audience understands. If you are talking to computer geeks, you'd likely use a lot of terms that non-computer geeks would scratch their heads over. And it's the same with any other profession or sub-group.  Even us furs have a few words that non-furs would generally be perplexed by. But that doesn't make it "wrong". It's only truly "wrong" if it fails at it's purpose: communicating with your target audience.

Having said that, I would suspect that with global communication becoming easier and more widely used, we'll likely start to see some merging of language going on, especially with languages that are already very similar. US English and British English being a prime example.

[edited to fix typo]

[Mooshi]

Actually, I've done a bit of digging around and discovered that Australian's use both British and American terms. So in a sense, Aussie English is already that mix.  I think that American English teachers should be alot more open minded instead of abusing the red pen and proclaiming their rules are the only correct ones and that any deviation is wrong. American children should be more aware about the world around them. Especially today in this modern age. It's a pity some adults stiffle that as is the case with Spirit's teacher.

[Yip]

I think that American English teachers should be alot more open minded instead of abusing the red pen and proclaiming their rules are the only correct ones and that any deviation is wrong. American children should be more aware about the world around them. Especially today in this modern age. It's a pity some adults stiffle that as is the case with Spirit's teacher.

I agree.

[Alsek]

I could be wrong, but i'm petty sure standardized spelling came after the two countries were separate.

If that's the case,  then no one has any more say than the other.

Just think,  in a few thousand years,  we may have a different language all together like English came from German  (i think that's right?)

Well, even within a country, words have different meanings. I call a carbonated beverage a "soda". My cousins in upstate New York call it a "pop."

In some parts of Texas, it's all just,  "Coke."     

But `spelt' isn't a word, at least not in America, where irregular past tenses are apparently too much for some people to handle.

Actually,  it's a kind of wheat used for making bread.  

[TashkentFox]

In some parts of Texas, it's all just,  "Coke."

Same here, if you want a dark coloured soft drink it's Coke, even if it's Pepsi or some crappy supermarket cola, maybe it's something to be with being racially British.

[Spirit]

In some parts of Texas, it's all just,  "Coke."

Same here, if you want a dark coloured soft drink it's Coke, even if it's Pepsi or some crappy supermarket cola, maybe it's something to be with being racially British.

What about Root Beer?

[Avan]

Heh, never heard that before (everyone just calls sodas by name in california, everwhere I've been here anyways)

[Mooshi]

@Avan - It's kinda like how people call a bandage "band-aid" or a tissue "kleenex" Sometimes a brandname replaces the actual word. As per the subject of this thread..maybe we should all switch to Aussie English since they have a mixture of both! x3 How sus is that? (I love Australian slang xD How they shorten words. *How suspicious is that?*)

[Avan]

I don't really know the dialect. More familiar with British/American