why so many people think that british and english are synonymus?
916274
This is likely because out of all the British lands, England is the most well known place and people also know that Britain is joined together in most things.
1033731
I'm English and we're great. Not sure about the British.
1111130
A lot of people think that English is the only acceptable language of the US.  So when people translate it, they get angry.  Some people are just really ignorant.
319314
The English language, as it is today, is an almagamation of several different sources, the main influences being Latin, thanks to the Roman Occupation of England for a few centuries!!\n\nCeltic, Saxon, Norman, Slavic and Germanic have also had their influence on Britain, and the usual description of English is ANGLO-SAXON.\n\nHope this helps without going too much into history and all that crap.
1149934
Because there is no such thing as proper english. English as a language evolves, from shakespearean era english.. to victorian era english... to present day english. The closest reason as to why singlish is not accepted as "proper english" is because its usually full of grammatical errors and the fact that its a hybrid of english, mandarin, hokkien, malay, tamil and i dont know what else. Its pretty much like Frankenstein, if you think about it. And Frankenstein could never be human.
760385
It's just part of the ever-evolving life of language. Language is always growing and changing, and American English is a conglomerate of many different languages. Indeed there are many dialects of American English where the lexicon changes depending on where you are in the country. There's a really good book called The Story of English if you're truly interested in investigating the etymology of the words.
1140786
The short answer is that spelling conventions like -our (colour, flavour) and -re (centre, theatre) came from French, which was introduced into England in the Norman Conquest of 1066. After that, French became, in effect, the "official language" of England, and dramatically influenced (and enriched) the English language.\n\nHowever, spelling conventions in Britain and America were not codified until the 18th and 19th centuries. The British chose to keep the French influence, while the Americans, newly independent, chose to drop the "u", as a way of differentiating themselves from the former "mother country." Noah Webster, the dictionary author, had a lot to do with this, though he didn't invent it -- it was already taking place. He just chose to call it "correct."\n\nAs for why non-native English speakers in Europe and elsewhere use British spellings, it's because most countries consider British English the "correct" or "authentic" form of English. In fact, many foreign countries still teach students to speak English with an English accent, which often produces an odd effect.
102184
Well all business letters either brit or Americans look the same it is type of english that is in them that is distinct. Remember we americans killed english..lol
799222
Hiya again!\n\nEngland is part of an Island (Great Britain) has always been invaded  the English language is a huge mixture and while all languages are fluid and evolve, ours seems to do so more quickly than most. It has Germanic roots but is also mixed with the languages of everyone else who has invaded GB. And evolves differently where ever it goes!!! It is also the second most widely spoken language in the world (Chinese is the First)  spoken in The Uk, Gibraltar, The Chanel Islands, The Scilly Isles, Ireland, (not always as a first langauge), the Isle of Man North America, The Carribean, The Antipodes, Certain parts of Africa and The Falkland islands (sorry if I left anyone out!!).  It is a very unique langage most others have a male and female gender for objects and English has more irregular verbs than any other language and absorbs other words and ideas very quickly. We will see a lot of Polish and Slavic words appearing in the next few years!!\n\nThis conclude's todays lesson!! LOL!!!
344730
because the english language likes to screw with our minds.
711752
yes i agree i like the english, and am scottish myself some people are just like that, one day they may get along, but i seriously doubt it lol\nso when ya gonna add me to your msn lol xx
466484
Um , because English borrows from almost all languages. If you recall, the Brits 'managed' India for many years and those words likely drifted into English, because of course those concepts did not exist in English, likely because of the fact that Christianity does not encourage concepts like 'avatar' and 'guru'.
500365
Americans wants to use something fancy, that's why they say "cool" and \nBritishers wants to speak perfect English,that's why they say "nice".
356313
english is an extremely complicated language.  we have words that don't sound the way they look and homophones.
304472
As in people from England?\nThey speak... ENGLISH...
302077
YOU BET IT IS...I AM OF ENGLISH HERITAGE,AND PROUD OF IT,BUT IT SEEMS EVERYONE HAS A SLUR FOR SOMEONE,AND IT'S FUNNY TO THEM--UNLESS YOU PICK ON "THEIR" HERITAGE!...BY THE WAY,LET ME STATE HERE I AM SO PROUD TO BE YOUR FRIEND!!! SHOUT OUT TO ALL YALL PANAMANIANS!!!..snoopy
391175
Yes, it is. In British English.