Zed?

"By all means make your own traditions ..." not "may".

Why call us "snooty"?

Well, we don't tell Brits and Aussies that they speak English wrong or spell it wrong. Language is a living thing, not some dead fossil.

Aren't you generalising?

Yeah but you do call us Brits...

<<Well, we don't tell Brits and Aussies that they speak English wrong or spell it wrong. Language is a living thing, not some dead fossil.>>

Yeah but don't you subtitle them in your programs? Actions speak louder than words, my friends.

It's true - It's time we recognizsed ZEE for the great linguistic improvement over ZED that it is.

Juan,

Unless the person's accent is completely unintelligible, their accent won't be subtitled. I've never seen a British program subtitled....

Now back to Zee and Zed.

"I think the one thing that most Americans have always had in common is that we've never liked snooty Commonwealth countries telling us how to do things. "

No. Instead, you try to tell the rest of the world what to do.

Wasn't "Mad Max" dubbed in an American accent? They don't need to do that to Mel Gibbson any more though.

No, Mel Gibson was later dubbed with an Australian accent.

Is that really Simon? I though Simon more cluey than that. Anyway I was right after all.

"The American version of the film is re dubbed from an Australian to an American accent to make it more understandable for the American audience."

MAD MAX REVIEW
By Henry Hartono
http://wwwmcc.murdoch.edu.au/ReadingRoom/film/dbase/2004/max.htm

"The previous Image DVD release ... omitted the original soundtrack in favor of the American-dubbed version that graced theatrical release prints here in the States. But this new special edition has it all with ... the original Australian soundtrack ... (as well as the American dub ...)"

Mad Max
Review by Michael Pflug
http://www.dvdreview.com/fullreviews/mad_max.shtml

"Despite the fact that Gibson's then-strong Australian accent was dubbed by an American for U.S. release, the film has remained a cult favorite."

Mel Gibson
by Steve Hanson
http://articles.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_g1epc/is_bio/ai_2419200454

On the other hand, Americans DO tell the English that they spell things wrong!!!!!

Look here, I'm a British girl living in California and in April, I took this meaningless exam they've got here called the California Standards Tests. Well, there was this one question that asked you to pick out the word that was spelt wrong from four choices and the answer was "counsellor". Just because you snooty Americans write it with only one "l" doesn't mean that you can tell us that our spelling with two "l"s is incorrect.

I wanted to, er, do something to (shouldn't get myself on the paranoid goverment's terrorist list, eh?) the California Department of Education when I saw that question. Well, cool down, I told myself, for I couldn't get anywhere with my complaint. So, I've been bottling up this fury within me for a month and I've let the incident pass out of my brain...that is, until you came along and said that Americans are tolerant people who accept British spellings, because, simply put, THEY DON'T!

Perhaps not on a standardized test...If I were taking a standardized test in the U.K., I'd spell "color" as "colour" etc. However, I remember learning of the Commonwealth spellings at a rather early age and never had any trouble with them. I don't think they're a big deal. The vast majority of words are spelled exactly the same.

I was trying to be funny. Think I'll go back to being insightful and full of useful advice and knowledge on learning/mastering the English language.

I don't think that most Americans would ever call a British spelling a "misspelling." We realize that's where our language came from. It was probably an accident on the part of the State of California, not realizing their "misspelling" was actually the British correct spelling.

Most professors at universities will accept compositions with Commonwealth spellings as long as they are consistent throughout (ie, you can't interchangeably use American and British spellings). Americans may have a certain arrogance, which I consider different from "snootiness," but we are not as fussy with language as some countries in the world seem to be...