9/11 or 11/9?

we dont spell it shite at all. shite is an entirely different pronunciation - sh - eye -t. i know it when i smell it, thats for sure.

Also, the derivation is utter rubbish, since the word is Anglo-Saxon and can be found in texts dating back to Chaucer, who was around long before commercial shipping. The version with the e is a different word, different pronounciation and slightly different usage. It is more for emphasis and is oddly posher and stronger at the same time. There's something similar with the Irish "Feck" which is not as offensive as we Brits might believe. I would love to know why the Americans dropped the second o from colour. As regards dates, I don't much care for the American system (though it makes better sense on computers) but as "9/11" happened in their country, it makes sense to use their name for it.

Also, though this is coincidence, 911 is the emergency number for the police and ambulance everywhere in the US.

'I would love to know why the Americans dropped the second o from colour.' Dyslexia? Colur.

I thought the American was 'color' and it was the 'u' that was dropped. As for why Americans spell things differently well I always assumed it was down to the level of education given to the immigrants that settled there, a basic grasp of reading and writing but no depth, hence, like a child would guess the spelling of a word from the sound it makes when spoken, 'through' becomes 'thru'; 'colour' becomes 'color'; pavement becomes sidewalk, aluminIum becomes allooominum; house of the dancing monkey becomes the whitehouse etc etc. I'm sorry, I love Americana to be honest and it's just the stuck up resentful former empire owner in me that enjoys winding them up. spot of tiffin' anyone?

nope it wasnt to do with education... it was to do with noah webster who compiled the first american dictionary... he was actually a bit of a knob.. said he was a lawyer who could speak twelve languages but in fact he was fraud, a charlatan and a liar (but thats just an aside). Webster wanted american english to be very different to british english, and thats why he did it. thats all... (am sure i have posted this on the forums before)

goddamn hell and tarnation woman of the threads! don't be a cussin' and a hollerin' all over the place ye hear? now go put me on some grits and a pot of java and mind your own nevermind! sorry fellas, wimmin folk gettin' upperty agin, talkin' all high falutin' an all! now where was we mister Webster sir? oh yeah, Edyucayshun!

shurrup.

Well, it annoys me that the dates on this site are American style...always have to think twice.

mmm the Americans think that the net is an extension of the US, most software developers too. Our local highbrow newspaper uses US spelling because it's the only thing recognised by its publishing software and it makes it easier to use bureau newsfeeds. It must be pretty awful for non-English as fisrt language speakers, apart from the French in whose discomfort I quietly delight.

In my ESOL (English to Speakers of Other etc....) classes I insist on day, ordinal number, month, and full year. So today would be: Sunday 12th September 2004. But it's to help them practise their spelling and pronunciation, not to mention ordinal numbers. For example, we would write the above format but actually say: Sunday the 12th of September 2000 and 4. If I don't teach them anything else over the ten week course I try to make sure they know how to say the date properly! I guess if I worked in an American school I would have to use their format.

well I've got egg on my face here because, although I always go on about how the english language is best written and spoken by the English.. well actually I think the Welsh speak the best English but that's an accent thing... I have to agree that while seeing the dates written on here the wrong way round (ie 09/12/04 whick looks like the ninth of december to me) I also have to admit that I say it in that order as I just proved. I would say "the ninth of December", or, "the twelfth of September" and NOT "December the ninth" or "September the twelfth" more often than not so it's a bit hypocritical so insist that the date is WRITTEN in the wrong order just because I'm used to seeing it that way.

HANG ON!!!!! this is what you get for writing first, thinking later! NO! I DO say it the way we would write it and therefore the American system shown here is wrong!!! bloody alcohol! there's never enough about when you need to think straight is there?

Most development software will incorporate either date standard. It's not a question of who's in charge of the format. I don’t think the US claims anything here, other than that’s the way we do it. Since we’re bigger and more powerful than most countries, we can make everyone bend to our will under threat of nuclear holocaust. What is distressing is when some group becomes the self appointed "central scrutinizer" of the language and anything that doesn't fit an expectation is somehow less than proper. Language evolves over time, even the English language. I also believe that while there is a proper written language and convention, the base truth of the language is in the usage and how it is spoken. Usage is always outside of the rules, no matter what country you live in. I was talking to somebody about the origin of the word shit, and they said (and I’ve found supporting information to this effect) that it was a nautical term. Ship High In Transit, meaning keep it above the water when you ship it (relating to the shipping of manure as fertilizer). S.H.I.T was stamped on the cargo containers. Now, how did England end up with spelling it SHITE? Where’s the truth and common usage there? Makes me doubt the origin of the word, but I’m not inclined to investigate it any further. Still, we all understand what it means in today’s term, even though we use the word slightly differently and the British spell it wrong…., and it’s not technically a word anyway by proper standards….?

who gives a shite