Where Did The "U" Go? Americans, I Need Help!
By mentalward
@mentalward (14690)
United States
October 27, 2008 5:50am CST
Has anyone ever noticed that the American language is different than any other English-speaking country in the world?
While everyone else spells the word "favourite", American's spell it "favorite". Same goes with the word "colour"... Americanized it's "color". There are quite a few more examples.
The United States is the ONLY country that drops all those "U's". Do you have any idea why that is?
I've always said I don't speak 'English', I speak 'American' because our language is pretty much screwed up! LOL Why in the world would we drop all those "U's" when every other English-speaking country has them?
16 people like this
38 responses
@SomeCowgirl (32191)
• United States
28 Oct 08
I am not sure why we drop so many of the U's. I live in the south so the way I say Favorite may be different from the way you say it depending on where you live. I say Faverit. just like that. I know that, Favor is also one of those words favour and favor... I say Fave-r and not Favour (fave-or).
I also say Color as Ca-ler (ca as in can)
2 people like this
@mentalward (14690)
• United States
28 Oct 08
Hahaha! I met a gal from Tennessee once and my son was making fun of the way she spoke. She had a great sense of humor so he knew she'd take it well.
Anyway, she answered him with "Yeah, we're lazy speakers." Of course, she did it in her long, drawn-out, really slow way. I laughed myself silly!
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@schulzie (4061)
• United States
27 Oct 08
I have always wondered this myself. I think it is much more proper to spell words such as catalog as "catalogue". It looks better. I think the United States wanted to distance itself from England and this was a way in which to do it.
Do you notice also that when you write the number seven here in the United States that we write it as 7 but in Europe it is written as a 7 but with a line through it?
It is very interesting that we have all of these differences....
Have a great day and happy myLotting!!!
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@jwfarrimond (4473)
•
28 Oct 08
Europeans (and others) usually write the "1" with a short upwards stroke at the top so quite often, the 1 could be mistaken for a 7. So I think that they started to put the cross stroke on the seven to distinguish between them. I once had a conversation with an Italian about why they did this, and that was the explanation that I got. It produced the reply from me that "if they did not put an extra stroke on the "1" then they would not need to put an extra stroke on the 7" !
It's not usual to cross the 7 here in the UK though it's becoming more common I think, but that's just fashion - I think that people who do that think that it makes them look "sophisticated" or "cosmopolitan" or something.![](/Content/images/emotes/blink.gif)
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@aidenofthetower (1814)
• United States
28 Oct 08
It is true that American's desire to stand out. Historically they have wanted to be their own nation and wanted to stand separate of England even though much of the culture, history, and such came from England. We also get checks instead of cheques.
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@aidenofthetower (1814)
• United States
29 Oct 08
Yep...it is rather fun. It gets crazier when you compare words with Britain and Australia. Though they are closer to "English" then we are they still have a few differences. One note though...I moved from Michigan to Texas and down here they do drive their trucks (no on drives a car here) on "tyres" though it is still spelled "tires"!
@Maggiepie (7816)
• United States
29 Oct 08
Yes & we cook on STOVES, not "cookers." And our cars have TRUNKS, not "boots," HOODS, not "bonnets," & roll on TIRES, not "tyres." And if one doesn't slow down to go over the SPEED BUMPS, & runs too quickly over those same "sleeping policemen," & hit some poor old lady using a WALKER (not a "zimmer frame"), & cause a wreck, the careless driver goes to JAIL, not "gaol."
There are are scores of examples like this. LOL! Fun, isn't it?
Maggiepie
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@nanajanet (4436)
• United States
28 Oct 08
I say American English because I have noticed that, too. I guess someone wanted to save time writing! LOL
Maybe it is a protest against England! LOL
In early US history, it was there, but somewhere along the line, it changed. Interesting. I will have to investigate? Good post!
1 person likes this
@mentalward (14690)
• United States
28 Oct 08
Thanks, Janet. It's just something that has bothered me for decades now! No, I don't dwell on it; it just pops into my head from time to time and thought it's about time I tried to find answers to my questions!
I say I speak 'American', too, but I leave off the 'English' part of it. It probably was done to simplify the language but, why stop with those U's? Useless letters are still in words like 'pneumonia' and 'pneumatic', etc. Why are words like 'pharmacy' not spelled 'farmacy'? We have a 'soft' C and a 'hard' C. Why? We have 'K', so why do we need a hard C?
Why in the world isn't 'phonic' spelled phonetically??? Aaaaaargh!!!!!
2 people like this
@nanajanet (4436)
• United States
28 Oct 08
English is a mix of so many languages and the still rules like soft C and hard C, soft G and hard G make no sense. Why have J and K, as you say. Also the i before e except after C. If you want believe to be said as an E sound, make it beleeve! NO SENSE AT ALL and that is why foreigners have a hard time with it. I found Italian and French easier because there are less rules, other than the male and female thing, which is another silly rule, lol.
@crazydaisy (3896)
• Canada
28 Oct 08
Well don't quote me but, it probably has a lot to do with good old Thomas Jefferson and the Continental Congress way back in July of 1776.
However did you know, that contrary to popular belief, this most wonderful document WAS NOT signed on July the 4th? As it was, Congress had voted for a declaration on July the 2nd, and the actual document was not created until AFTER July the 19th. It wasn't until August 2nd, that most of the Congressional delegates finally signed the document.
July the 4th was the day, that the STATEMENT of independence was ADOPTED by Continental Congress, announcing that the 13 American colonies (then at war with Great Britain) be no longer part of the British Empire.
Chances are, that the "U's" were written OUT of the English language, THEN, as a gesture to prove to the Empire just how determined the colonies were to secede.
That's my guess, anyway?
cdrxo
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@mentalward (14690)
• United States
28 Oct 08
Wow! You look completely different than you did, commander! What in the world is going on there?
Anyway, getting back to your point, I knew, more or less, what you have said here. I'm just horrible at dates so I couldn't remember them all when I learned them and I'll most likely forget them right after I've left this discussion. LOL
I believe you're correct about it being all part of our independence from Great Britian. It just makes things so darned confusing when you stop to think about these things!
There were quite a few changes made to the English language when America was young but, what confuses me is that the most blatant examples of useless letters and still in our language, i.e., 'pneumonia', etc. And why not spell 'phonic' phonetically?
Those are just a few of my questions concerning our language. Maybe Webster had something against all those U's while having no problem at all with those excess P's.
1 person likes this
@commanderxo (1494)
• Canada
28 Oct 08
Oh, so you saw through my Halloween disguise? Dang it!
As far as the "P's" issue...I think that had somthing to do with incorporating some of our historical Greek friends' language into the mix...either that, it was on Noah Webster's mind at the time of his writings, and he just couldn't hold it long enough?
;-)
@crazydaisy (3896)
• Canada
28 Oct 08
Don't ask me why...but the Commanderxo's answers are coming through ME??????
Sure we use the same PC, but our E-mail addresses ARE totally different.
He says, when he figures this out, he will then return to myLotting.
Sorry for the mix-up mentalward.
cd
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@LadyMarissa (12148)
• United States
27 Oct 08
My GUESS is that when we split from England, we rebelled against everything they did including their way of spelling. You know how stubborn we are!!!
This latest generation is changing the spelling of the accepted preferred spelling of over half our words so it' only going to get worse!!!
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@mentalward (14690)
• United States
27 Oct 08
U R rite! I heart the way things usta B dun. LOL
If it weren't for my kids, there would be such a HUGE generation gap between me and the latest generation! At least, through them, I can keep up on at least SOME of these new-fangled ideas! (I feel like such an OLD codger!
)
Maybe I can find something written on the evolution of the American language somewhere. Hmmm, worth a peek, I think!
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1 person likes this
@hiddenwing (3719)
• China
27 Oct 08
You know, more and more people prefer American English! It is much easier as well sounds good! Weather u guys dropping something is not that important. Have a great day!
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@Ohara_1983 (4117)
• Kuwait
28 Oct 08
I thnk people now is so lazy to write or type those long words, that will be the reason Y they keep short sentance or short word.
1 person likes this
@Maggiepie (7816)
• United States
29 Oct 08
With your...um...INVENTIVE spelling & grammar, dear, I'd refrain from calling =anyone= LAZY..../o)
Maggiepie
@mentalward (14690)
• United States
28 Oct 08
See, now? Learning English as a second language must be the hardest thing in the world to do! English itself is a very complicated language that doesn't make sense in a lot of instances, but to learn that there are different spellings of the same exact words... that would drive me to the nut house!
Kudos to you, my friend, for conquering the English language! It HAS to take an intelligent person to learn AND understand it! I was born here and I STILL don't understand it all! LOL
1 person likes this
@writersedge (22563)
• United States
28 Oct 08
Our spelling is based on Webster or whoever wrote the first American dictionary. We spell according to complied dictionaries. IF u had been left in, we would still be doing it. Just as well not to do it, we probably save on lots of ink every year and we don't hit the vowel there very hard when we speak anyway.
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@writersedge (22563)
• United States
29 Oct 08
p is often actually pronounced in other languages and we borrow many words from other languages. Like psychology. When I learned French in Canada, they worked hard at getting us to say the p in that word. Say, "Pepsi, pep-si, now pe-psi, keep going until you get it" was a lesson one day. Same with ph being f in another language. Like Chicago is pronounced sh like in French for the ch. But church it's the ch sound. Depends on where we got it from. We only mildly Americanize a word.
There is a joke, how do you spell fish? phych Only in America where phonics isn't phonetic and neither is most of American English. Yes it can drive you batty.
Long a can be spelled ay as in nay or hay, or ey as in hey, ei as in neighbor, a-e as in ape or cape, a as in baby, ai as in wait or ei again as in weight, boggles the mind and people tell me, "If my kids would just learn the phonics rules, he could learn to spell, I did." Well, that you did was a miracle!
@mentalward (14690)
• United States
28 Oct 08
Not to mention that the U on our keyboards won't wear off as fast!
But, why do we still spell words like 'pneumonia' with the p?
Also, why is 'phonic' NOT spelled phonetically?
It can drive a person batty!
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@thebeaddoodler (4262)
• Lubbock, Texas
28 Oct 08
I wasn't aware that every other English speaking country used the u's but I knew Great Britain did. I'm American and I have to go back and respell things like catalogue and colour, etc. when I'm using spell checker. I don't know why I learned to spell this way, maybe dropping the u's is just a recent thing (I'm pretty old). The other day I wrote favourite and couldn't figure out why it was marked misspelled. I also have to think very hard about jewelry. I've always spelled it jewelery. I think it should have two l's if you add the third e, but I'm not sure.
1 person likes this
@mentalward (14690)
• United States
28 Oct 08
You are a prime example of why I question these things! We have 'English'. In my opinion, it should be one language. They say we speak English in the U.S. but that's not true. We speak 'American', but it's still English!
Thinking about this can give anyone a headache! Geez, that's another word that could use some changing. Couldn't we spell that 'headake'? Then there's the '-ough' ending of words, pronounced in several different ways. Cough and though are two examples. This could go on forever!
I always had a hard time with the word jewelry, too. I bet every other country in the world understands their language better than Americans do. I before E except after C only there are a few exceptions to that rule. Why?
You see, I really do have a problem; I question things too much!
I should just leave well enough alone.
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@fluffysue (1482)
• United States
27 Oct 08
This is very interesting, I always wondered about that as well. I've always been a decent speller, but I find myself making "mistakes" lately, because I see so many people spelling things the "other" way. lol I don't even think twice anymore when I see British spelling. (I call it that even though, as you said, it seems to be used everywhere else, even Canada, I believe). Maybe with the popularity of the internet, and the way we now communicate with people all over the world, American spelling will eventually disappear.
To me, though, the American way is easier as it is spelled more phonetically. For example, you do not hear the "u" in "favourite" or "colour". And "theater" is pronounced "theater", even if you spell it "theatre". Hmm maybe it was just a matter of laziness, or trying to make it easier to spell.
1 person likes this
@mentalward (14690)
• United States
27 Oct 08
I think it's more pure laziness! But then, if we're spelling phonetically, why is 'Hooked on Phonics' not 'Hukd on Fonix'?
Aaaargh! The English language drives me batty! Opps, change that... The AMERICAN language drives me batty!
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@fluffysue (1482)
• United States
28 Oct 08
LOL! Well, I said, "more phonetically".
English in general (American or otherwise) makes no sense with a lot of its spelling rules. I was amazed when I studied Spanish and realized that, once you learn the sounds of the letters, words are spelled exactly as they sound! What a concept! Why couldn't English be like that? ![](/Content/images/emotes/lol.gif)
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1 person likes this
@onetrackmind (104)
• United States
28 Oct 08
Press 1 to hear this in English.
Press 2 to hear this in Hispanola
Press 3 to learn English, since you are NOW living in this country!
Although the reasons why British spelling keeps the u in certain words, such as colour, flavour and honour, may not be very definite, it may speak to a sense of tradition and a hesitation to make sweeping changes to the accepted spelling rules. While many Brits may blame Americans for hijacking and ruining the language, in reality, English had undergone numerous changes over the centuries, dictated by different influences. The division that had begun to take place between American spelling, which favored -or endings, and British spelling, which used -our endings, was first apparent with the publication of Noah Webster’s An American Dictionary of the English Language, published in 1828.
Samuel Johnson, who published the Dictionary of the English Language in 1755, was a spelling purist. His dictionary was and is considered the accepted authority on British spelling. He felt that his purpose wasn’t to advocate spelling reform, but only to document accepted British spelling. He even went as far to say that the “evolution” of spelling was a corruption of the language, particularly with “American” English. Webster, on the other hand, didn’t hesitate to advocate for spelling reform, and included “Americanized” spellings with -or endings. Webster believed that spelling could be simplified and still remain correct.
1 person likes this
@mentalward (14690)
• United States
28 Oct 08
Partypooper!
Okay, but explain 'queue' as opposed to 'line' to me. How in the world did THAT evolve?
Have you been taking English classes, onetrack? More exact, have you been taking 'American' classes? That's an awesome explanation and I thank you for it! It does help my poor old brain to better understand the origin of this confusing issue.
So, it was Webster after all, eh? That rebel! That skallywag! That ruffian! I bet he spent a lot of time in the corner at school when he was young!
I wish Webster had taken it a bit farther, though. He could have rewritten words like 'pneumonia' and spelled 'phonic' phonetically (fonik), you know?
1 person likes this
@onlydia (2808)
• United States
28 Oct 08
We have done alot of that as we are a mutt nation. We are not just english. WE are of many. negro is spanish for black and things like that. So we have many coumtries within one. French, Russian,German, and way way more. So that is one of the reason's plus the first people here from a boat were not to learned. Have a nice day.
1 person likes this
@tcage08 (88)
• Canada
28 Oct 08
I have a theory that the Americans are hoarding the world's 'U' supply as part of a nefarious world-domination scheme.
While the rest of us frivilously use our Us in colour, favourite, and flavour..the Americans intend to corner the U market and then unleash their mayhem on the world economy. Maybe the U supply has reached capacity, or a majour hurricane will impact the supply of future Us, you never know what inside info the Government has
You may think i'm crazy, but know this...if there ever is a worldwide U shortage, you know who i'm blaming? The Nited States! ;)
1 person likes this
@mentalward (14690)
• United States
28 Oct 08
Egads! We've been found out! Quick, relocate those U's!
Nah, tcage, as you've no doubt noticed, we've been storing up those U's for the invention of text messaging, u no? Everybody uses it now. Aren't you glad we saved them all now?
Yep, it's the Nited States that did it, all right. But, please, don't blame the people; we're just poor, innocent victims of our over-zealous and U-hoarding government. ![](/Content/images/emotes/angry.gif)
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@kiiizu (1901)
• Estonia
27 Oct 08
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!
You see, Alan Jay Lerner was obviously also concerned about American English, and that's why he made Henry Higgins to say so in "My Fair Lady"... don't know how it was in Shaw's "Pygmalion", and can't check it at the moment.
Yes, I noticed the missing U-s, and English isn't my native language. I don't know why Americans are dropping them but I guess they want to make the words shorter. In fact, it's natural, and it happens to every alive language, sooner or later.
FE, "aasta" in my native language means "year". 2000 years ago there wasn't such a word... according some researches on historical linguistics the old Estonians had the word "ajastaega" instead (means literally "from time to time" in our present language but isn't used)! That's what I call shortening
Well, the u-s didn't disappear in 2000 years but in much shorter time, and only in one part of English-speaking world, so to say. It's interesting, actually.
Do you know, when exactly it happened? When the forms with dropped u-s were first time accepted by dictionaries?
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@mentalward (14690)
• United States
28 Oct 08
Hahaha! I love that poem! It's so true, American's don't speak English, we speak American.
Someone here answered that Webster changed the spelling on some of these words himself while he was writing the first American dictionary. If that's the truth, maybe he had writer's cramp from writing all those words down on paper so decided to do away with some letters and the poor little 'U' was a prime target!
I'm going to do some research into this. It just doesn't make sense that the United States is the ONLY country in the world to spell certain words differently.
I'm sure it would make a lot of difference if you're trying to learn English as a second language... will you be using it more in the United States or in any of the other English-speaking countries?
@Grandmaof2 (7579)
• Canada
27 Oct 08
Oh how refreshing, I'm not the only one who has noticed this. The whole english language is screwed up if you ask me. I do fairly well with spelling but it's no wonder so many people have spelling issues. The word phone for example you don't say the ph, would it not make more sense to say fone? Maybe that would be to eazy or easy LOL.
@mentalward (14690)
• United States
28 Oct 08
Oh, Grandma! The absolute WORSE example I can think of is the word "phonic". Weren't we taught to spell phonetically? I can remember my teachers saying "Sound it out" so many times!
Yet, the word itself is not spelled phonetically! 'Hooked on Phonix' is downright laughable! It should be, 'Hukt on Fonix'.
Unbelieveable! I was an English major in high school and college and I STILL don't understand the American language!
@mentalward (14690)
• United States
28 Oct 08
Oops, look at that! I spelled it wrong... sorry. I meant 'Hooked on Phonics'. See how wrong that is? LOL
@mentalward (14690)
• United States
28 Oct 08
Oh, another example is 'pneumonia'. We don't even pronounce the 'p'! Why is IT still there? I'm dumbfounded, flummoxed, flabbergasted!
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@ElicBxn (63394)
• United States
28 Oct 08
Our language standardized without the "French" spelling that included those "u's."
To give an example. I have some old books from the early 1900's that spell the word "clue" "klew." So, even as late as then we were still working on standardizing the writen form of American English.
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@ElicBxn (63394)
• United States
28 Oct 08
Well, I, for one, don't accept friends who excessively "txt spk" and even started a discussion on it months ago!
I also don't like "kewl", however, I don't have a problem without the "u" in certain words, but you are welcome to use it - I can understand you anyway.
I do know I wrote a story and "Britishized" the spelling of the title because it was a fan story for a British TV show. I did not, however, make all my other spelling that way - my spell check didn't like it!
@mentalward (14690)
• United States
28 Oct 08
Ah, the old spell checker! Here's something for you. You've probably seen it before but I always get a kick out of it:
My Spell Checker
Eye halve a spelling chequer.
It came with my pea sea.
It plainly marques for my revue
Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.
Eye strike a key and type a word
And weight four it two say
Weather eye am wrong oar write.
It shows me strait a weigh.
As soon as a mist ache is maid,
It nose bee fore two long,
And eye can put the error rite.
It's rarely ever wrong.
Eye have run this poem threw it.
I am shore your pleased two no.
Its letter perfect in every weigh --
My chequer tolled me sew.
-source unknown
Enjoy your day!
1 person likes this
@mentalward (14690)
• United States
28 Oct 08
Oh, I believe it's still in a transitional phase and probably always will be.
For a while, people were spelling the word 'cool', as a slang exclaimation, 'kewl'. Now, just look at the new 'text messaging' form of spelling. That, to me, is pure laziness, u no? Just ask my BFF. Aaaaaargh!
Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but I think we should stick to the established way of spelling things. It would make it so much easier for everyone in the world!
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@dawnald (85147)
• Shingle Springs, California
27 Oct 08
Webster's Dictionary. In the 19th century American English spelling was standardized and a lot of things were changed. From Wikipedia:
Noah Webster, the author of immensely popular readers and spelling books for schools, published his first dictionary, A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language, in 1806. In it, he introduced features that would be a hallmark of future editions such as American spellings (center rather than centre, honor rather than honour, program rather than programme, etc.) and including technical terms from the arts and sciences rather than confining his dictionary to literary words. He spent the next two decades working to expand his dictionary.
1 person likes this
@mentalward (14690)
• United States
28 Oct 08
That's great information, dawnald. Thanks so much for sharing it!
I want to know exactly who decided to change the spellings and why. Who approved it? Was it in defiance of Britian? Was it because we're lazier in general?
Unfortunately, these are the kinds of things I think about every day! LOL I've always questioned what most people don't. This is one of those things that I've thought about for years but never seemed to have the time to research myself, or maybe it was that I didn't think it was important enough to waste time on.
But, now, I'm very curious!
@_sketch_ (5742)
• United States
28 Oct 08
I dont know why this is. But English is not the only language that differs from country to country. Spanish is the same way. People in Spain speak a very different Spanish than those in Mexico, but it is still Spanish. America is famous for our slang and laziness. It's like our trademark. I guess some lazy american person sometime somewhere just decided that it takes too much time to put in that little "U". But with or without the "U"s we still understand what the word is and that's all that really matters.
@mentalward (14690)
• United States
29 Oct 08
Isn't Spanish one of those languages with the 'male' and 'female' words? That confused the heck out of me when I was trying to learn Spanish after four years of French!
@soyporteno (406)
• United States
27 Oct 08
I always wondered about that too. It makes sense though because Americans want to do things differently from the rest of the world, so why not spell words differently too? It probably started as a rebellious act against Great Britain. It would make perfect sense.
@mentalward (14690)
• United States
28 Oct 08
You're probably right about that, soy. It makes more sense than anything else! But it sure would make it confusing for anyone trying to learn English as a second language! Only in America, eh?
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