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Google's Imperial Hold over the English Speaking World

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I used to have this gripe about Microsoft - that on a PC the default on a computer bought in the UK was for US English. Why has it just taken me 10 minutes of pain trying to change the page settings in a Google Doc from inches to centimeters? Because the default on thousands of college computers is US English,  and with that all the spelling, punctuation and measurement defaults.

It no longer surprises me how much American English is now used in England - not just spellings, but pronunciations too. But I am no longer my mother's son, ready to do as her generation did - correct anything that wasn't 'Received Pronunciation'.

I see it is indicative of multiculturalism and welcoming constant change. I am the antithesis of conservative, laggardly tradition.

 

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