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The American spelling, akin to Greek, is the earliest known spelling in English. [171] It was preferred by Fowler, and is used by many Canadians, where it is the earlier form. [ 12 ] Sceptic also pre-dates the European settlement of the US and it follows the French sceptique and Latin scepticus .
The English language was introduced to the Americas by the arrival of the British, beginning in the late 16th and early 17th centuries.The language also spread to numerous other parts of the world as a result of British trade and settlement and the spread of the former British Empire, which, by 1921, included 470–570 million people, about a quarter of the world's population.
bottle of spirits ("a fifth of bourbon"), traditionally 1/5 of a US gallon, now the metric near-equivalent of 750 mL. to "plead the Fifth (Amendment)", i.e. refuse to testify against oneself in an incriminating manner. filth. (the filth) the police (derogatory slang) dirt, disgusting substance. obscene material.
Some usages identified as American English are common in British English; e.g., disk for disc. A few listed words are more different words than different spellings: "aeroplane/airplane", "mum/mom". See also: American and British English differences, Wikipedia:List of common misspellings and Wikipedia:Manual of Style#National varieties of English
better off than 'working class', but not rich, i.e., a narrower term than in the U.S. and often negative ordinary; not rich although not destitute, generally a positive term midway (adv.) in the centre of a line or period (n.) part of a fair in which there are games, rides, etc. military: relating specifically to the British Army (dated)
In American English (AmE), collective nouns are almost always singular in construction: the committee was unable to agree. However, when a speaker wishes to emphasize that the individuals are acting separately, a plural pronoun may be employed with a singular or plural verb: the team takes their seats, rather than the team takes its seats.
List of irregularly spelled English names. This is a set of lists of English personal and place names having spellings that are counterintuitive to their pronunciation because the spelling does not accord with conventional pronunciation associations. Many of these are degenerations in the pronunciation of names that originated in other languages.
American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, [b] is the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States. [4] English is the most widely spoken language in the United States; the de facto common language used in government, education and commerce; and an official language of most U.S. states (32 out of 50). [5]