25 Things Americans Simply Can’t Give Up

By Harry Thomas / July 21, 2014

After reading 20 Things British People Just Can€™t Do, it was apparent that an American version of the list was needed. But when the issue was examined, it was determined that it wasn't so much what Americans couldn't do; it was more what we wouldn't give up. Every nation has something that they think makes them stand out from the rest of the world. Americans have this notion in spades. Some of it is justified, for both good and bad reasons. Some are benign, some are strange, and some make the rest of the world shake their heads in amazement. Some are uniquely American; some have migrated to the rest of the world. They have their basis in material possessions, consumption, media, religion and geopolitics. And though the list is much longer than what is presented here, there is something about the items presented that every American can lay claim to, even if we are loath to admit it. We're a loud, boisterous people. We tend to wreak havoc when we go abroad, usually dragging a reluctant Great Britain into the fray (blame it on the "special relationship"). We expect that everyone wants to be like us; if not, why are there so many people trying to come here?

25. Our Version Of English

Oh, why can't the English learn to set a good example to people whose English is painful to your ears? The Scotch and the Irish leave you close to tears. There even are places where English completely disappears. In America, they haven't used it for years! - Rex Harrison as Prof. Henry Higgins, in My Fair Lady

Since the (unofficial, but some politicians keep trying to make it official) national language of America is English, one would think that our language skills would be transferable from the U.K. to America. But Americans have gone their own way on rules of English, particularly when it comes to spelling. For example, words that end in "re" in British English, such as metre, fibre, theatre, etc., are translated as meter, fiber, theater. We also say elevator instead of lift, schedule instead of timetable, sweater instead of jumper, chips instead of crisps and frankly we don't care if Bill Shakespeare is spinning in his grave or not. When the first Harry Potter novel was released, the American versions were slightly rewritten to reflect American over British idioms, even to the point where the name was changed from "Philosopher's Stone" to "Sorcerer's Stone," unwittingly suggesting that the US don't have philosophers. When the film was created, dual scenes were shot with the actors using both terms for release to America and the rest of the world. The differences in writing is confusing enough, but throw in the changes in accent and dialect and the division really becomes apparent. Wikipedia lists nine different dialects of American English, with each one having its own subsets, and as Professor Higgins noted, there are a number of variations in spoken English in the British Isles as well. Fortunately for all of us, DVDs usually come with a subtitle option, and people with thick accents like Cheryl Cole are sacked immediately when they attempt to work on US TV.