Why American English is more traditional than British English in many ways

Business Insider spoke to Philip Gooden, author and expert on the origins of the English language,  about why the variety of English used in the US is different – and more traditional – to the variety of English used in Britain. 

Read the full transcript of the video below. 

Philip Gooden: "Americans have taken some British English terms. A couple of examples – “fall” as a word for autumn originated in England and went over to America with the earliest settlers."

"The very characteristic American “gotten” for the past tense of “get” has died out over here, but it does survive still in a formulation like “forgotten.”"

"So, there are a few terms that actually, either way, you could say the Americans are more traditional because they’re still using them."

"One reason why America has got a slightly different form of English from British English is that it was a kind of conscious decision in the 19th century when the first dictionaries were being compiled to set up a slightly different form of the language."

"Which is why, for instance, Americans have slightly different spelling – a slightly simplified form of spelling – they spell “colour” without the “U” in it, or “humour” without the “U” in it, and that was almost a deliberate decision by the dictionary compilers to say, we’ve got our own language, we want to support our own printing houses, we’ll forge ahead with our own style of speaking English."

"If enough British English people want to use Americanisms, then they will do. I don’t think you can stop language, language is like water, you can’t dam it, you can’t stop it flowing where it wants to flow."

Video filmed by David Ibekwe. Research and production by Fraser Moore. 

See Also:

• A universal language exists but it never really caught on – here's why

• A rescuer demonstrates how to walk on quicksand without getting pulled under

• A diver encountered a natural phenomenon that makes water resemble flames in the Santa Fe River

SEE ALSO: A universal language exists but it never really caught on – here's why