British English vs. American English, spelling differences Options

[JLY]

Dear Friends:
There are many websites devoted to the differences of opinion/spelling of commonly used words on both sides of the Atlantic. I will offer just a smattering for you...in Alpha order not necessarily in order of preference:

American                  British

aluminum                                    aluminium

analog                                       analogue

boro                                          borough

bylaw                                        bye law

center                                       centre

defense                                     defence

donut                                        doughnut

favorite                                      favourite

gage                                          guage

gray                                           grey

hauler                                         haulier

honor                                          honour

license                                        licence

jewelry                                        jewellery

mustache                                    moustache

nite                                            night

omelet                                        omelette

pajamas                                      pyjamas

routing                                        routeing

thru                                            through

traveler                                       traveller

tire                                             tyre

vise                                            vice

Oftentimes, when we crit each other, there are words that may not appear to be correct (spelling-wise that is) but in reality it may be what is commonly used in that person's country.

I am sure we can add many more to this list, but I just tried to share a few.

JLY

[4rum]

There was a time when seeing a word in print lent to it's legitimacy. Not so anymore. A gradual degradation of literacy has taken place worldwide. It's not just the U.S. or the U.K. it's a universal problem and it is worsening. Advertising does contrubute... words are money, hence thru, gr8 or X-mas. Now 'chat-speak' in the cyber world is surpassing all previous violations of grammar.

I really don't want to sound hateful, and I would be the first to take imagination and creativity over spelling or grammar, but not having an education myself, I long for the knowledge that we now seem to discard or take for granted.

I do often write in a phonetic sort of jibberish, largely because it's the way I speak normally. Short choppy sentences... breaks, pauses, and often I leave off several words if I think the idea is made clear.
So... maybe I contrubute to a situation I'm not happy about, but I have certainly enjoyed the opinions stated here. Many valid points. Thanks all.