I am so sorry for being born the wrong side of the Atlantic! But at least I am compensating by living in the USA now.

Actually I mix what I consider the best of both US and Brit English styles and spelling. It turns out that very often US usage is older (and hence more 'correct' if you like) than British English.

Examples:

-- the US 'gotten' is old English, no longer used in Britain.

-- Words like 'color' and 'labor', which Brits think of as horrible American spelling, are originally British. Shakespeare called his play 'Loves Labor Lost'. In the early 18th century French was all the fashion in England, so the Brits started putting in the 'u' to make 'colour' and 'labour' to follow the French. The US kept the original spelling.

Same with Brits spelling 'program' as 'programme' - the first spelling form was originally British, but modified in the 1730's to follow French.

Lesson over for the day.

-- Mike