the missing u's

The difference between American and English words is very clear if you read or write a lot.

My spell check likes to reset itself to the wrong region constantly, personally I think a pixie got loose in my machine, and this causes the constant harrowing red squiggles on my work telling me to get rid of the 'u' out of words like colour and flavour. Them extra l's they have to go too and it always wants me to swap s's for z's. If you're not from the UK the opposite may be true for you.

I know the reason for all this confusion is the fault of one man, Noah Webster. I'm just happy some of the other spellings he wanted to change never happened. That aside it isn't always the spelling of a word that causes the main problems, it's the meanings behind the words.

I remember speaking to someone from America and telling them that I was tired because my son's friend had knocked me up. Now, if you're not from England you might be pulling the same face I have no doubt she did before typing, 'What!'

What I was telling her was that he had knocked on the door and woken me up, this was certainly lost in translation. Language may not always be a barrier to communication, but sometimes even if you both speak the same language things can get lost along the way.