Why do you insist on Americanism when the English language has rules?

English, is the language of England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 and the various countries that have been affected and/or settled by the English, including Ireland 🇮🇪,Scotland, Wales, 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Australia 🇦🇺, New Zealand 🇳🇿, Canada 🇨🇦, the United States 🇺🇸 and countless territories around the world 🌍 and English is the lingua Franca for the rest of the world, especially places like various African nations including South Africa 🇿🇦, Botswana 🇧🇼, Nigeria 🇳🇬, Ghana 🇬🇭, Uganda 🇺🇬, India 🇮🇳, Pakistan 🇵🇰 and even Papua New Guinea 🇵🇬, all have been aware of how English is spoken!

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SunshineGirl · 36-40, F

English has grammar, syntax, spelling . . but there is no equivalent of the French Academy to maintain rigid and uniform standards. If there were, I am quite sure that English would not have become the lingua franca of the world.

PicturesOfABetterTomorrow · 41-45, M

@SunshineGirl English being a lingua franca like French is a result of colonial empire not grammar.

SunshineGirl · 36-40, F

@PicturesOfABetterTomorrow Yes, but other European empires were around before and for longer than the British one. And until the 19th century there was little attempt to impose English cultural institutions in the colonies. Why English rather than Portuguese or Spanish? I believe that its origins in migratory movements from northern Europe gave it an evolutionary advantage when it was re-exported across the world.

PicturesOfABetterTomorrow · 41-45, M

@SunshineGirl Yeah not quite. There is a reason why Spanish and Portuguese are spoken in their former colonies even today. The difference was not about language it was about the fact England took over most of the known world and even stole colonies from those other European empires. It all happened through military force.

And if you think England did not impose their language on their colonies you really need to brush up on your history. The English have been imposing their language on conquered territories going as far back as the conquest of Wales.