Whats the difference between american english and british english?

There is one major difference. In English whether British or American we use verbs is, was etc with single nouns and are. were etc with plural nouns etc. However nouns like government, country, city, nation, company etc we Americans view them as single nouns even though they are comprised of many people and we say "government is" "nation was" etc etc. The British way is different because entities are made up of many people they view them as plural and they will say the "government were" etc. Funny thing I was typing a school paper for a nun from Ireland over 30 years ago and she corrected the way students wrote things as she had been taught the British way. I typed things in the American way and she disagreed. Then later she had me change it back but I could tell she was very uncomfortable with it. Then I was listening to a radio program from the BBC shortwave and I heard them discussing the difference between American usage and British usage. Neither are stupid it is just different way. Also they do spell color colour. Another thing you have to understand are double meaning expressions are different in many English speaking countries. If we say something is bloody we just mean something had blood on it. In England that is profanity. The nuns from Ireland had to take little classes about double meaning expressions to be careful about. Particularly if they were teaching high schoolers they would have kids rolling on the floor with laughter. I know a woman from Australia that when she first came to the U.S. went into a 5 & 10cent store(inflation has changed them to dollar stores) asking for a rubber. She said she noticed all the clerks looking at her very strangely. Then one figured out what she wanted was an eraser. She went home and told her husband and he told her never to ask for a rubber again. A guy who was stationed in England during WW2 said they were advised not to use the expression that someone gave them a "bum steer." In England, your bum is your backside. Also another story was some nuns were greeting some new postulants in August at hot humid Houston Intercontinental Airport. The postulants left Ireland in August were it is not hot and humid at all and had on heavy woolen clothing. One who was very tiny and red in the face from heat was told she was "cute." That postulant didn't speak to that person for several weeks. Later she found out that "cute" in Ireland meant bow legged. Actually I understand the root meaning of the word "cute" refers to a new born calf that is bowlegged and people call it a "cute calf." I have a feeling your friend just hasn't had a time to get comfortable with America and our expression and it is quite possible he has had some clods to laugh and make fun of him. So try to lighten up and be helpful to him. Edit: You know there are different speech patterns in the U.S. I was amused when the Catholic church switched from Latin to English and it was announced we were to pronounce the word "Amen" using the long A rather than with the short "A" Ahmen. In the South, people use the short A for Amen at least they do in my neck of the woods.Catholic churches are the only churches that sign off with the long A Amen around here. The long A is used as slang. We sleep in our pa jah mas. Jam is something we put on bread. In Virginia they say po tah toe and to mah toe. In Georgia they pronounce the word "water" as waw ter just like they do in England. Now Georgia is where they have melody in their speech. I feel no accent is incorrect. There are standard usage of grammar. But we have to be very careful about correcting the way a person pronounces a word. I heard something on TV a few night ago about the correct pronunciation of Copenhagen. Should it be the long A Copenhaygen or the short A Copenhahgen. What got my interest is about 1961 I heard something very interesting about that. The Danes use the long A and the Germans use the short A and I was told you should not say Copen hah gen in Denmark or you would b spat upon because they would think you were German. You have to understand at that time it was less than 20 years since the end of WW2 and there were still hostilities since Germany occupied Denmark in WW2.

No, one is not more stupid than the other. They are simply different, like the Spanish spoken in Spain and the Spanish spoken in Mexico. The main differences between English English and American English are, as you mentioned, a few spelling choices, a few different words, and very slight grammar variations. For instance, the Brits will say "have got" where we would just say have. Your friend is just trying to start a fight!

I'm Canadian and I've heard the same thing about my English. There are lots of picky little differences but I really think only picky people worry about them. Even in England, everyone does not speak like the Queen, they have regional differences and slang as well. http://esl.about.com/od/toeflieltscambridge/a/dif_ambrit.htm

Neither are stupid they are just different..your friend sounds very narrow minded.

England did not have the influx of millions of people settle there from different parts of the world for over 300 years as we did in America. In the beginning, the Colonies were mainly settled by the British and used British law and customs and I'm sure the early settlers sounded the way the people in England did. But the French came and spoke English with their accents and before the English came, the East Coast's big cities were settled by the Dutch who spoke Dutch & didn't change to English until after 100 years. Think about the tradesman, the law makers, all the farmers who had to not only get along but learn to understand each other in order to work together and continue to build this new land. The Founding Fathers must have sounded exactly like their English counterparts or at least with English accents and words. Now imagine these same experiences continuing as more and more immigrants came over in the 1800s and bringing their languages with them. All this evolved as a natural evolution of building a new country with people from all over the world with different names for food, animals, clothing, furniture, working,and each other. Of course we sound different, what we have is a universal "American" language with our own pronounciations, shortened words for the same things and new words created by our new systems for working, cooking, food, plants, clothing, industries, terms of endearments & so forth. England really didn't have immigrants until the 20th century; until then, they were invading, taking over and ruling other third world countries and building the great British Empire. They wanted the resources of these countries and they had no respect for local customs, religions nor boundaries. So the conquered peoples had to learn English and do everything that the English people & country did. Because our varied 18th Century immigrants came from Germany, Sweeden, Norway, Denmark, Austria, Poland, Italy,Greece,& other Eastern countries, the smartest, handiest, most talented and creative peoples rose to become leaders. Our early settlers were strong, hearty, religious, purpose-driven, creative and talented people and they built America. As they drove West, they merged with the Spanish who had been in the West for hundreds of years, too. All this while England kept immigrants out, ruled over their "empire" and was creating different classes of people as they had in England, teaching everyone to dress as they did and learning what they wanted the people to learn which was the British way. To me, this means we have developed into the most brilliant, intelligent, & independent people on Earth and while different, I would never accept anyone's opinion that British people are smarter than we are; especially over the way we pronounce our words. The US is so large, we have regional accents like our Southern accents, New England accents, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey & Connecticut accents called the New York sounding accents, middle American accents, Western accents, North Dakota type accents and even Minnesota and Wisconsin type accents. You can tell where someone is from by their regional accents and the accent doesn't make anyone smarter than anyone else. The UK is no bigger than Vermont, Massachusetts & the State of New York; they're a tiny country with their own regional accents and few big cities & a much smaller population. I love England and I love English History but I could never believe anyone would be considered smarter ( or retarded ?) because they speak differently. The differences in names for similar things such as elevator & the Lift, Bathroom vs the Loo, the trunk of a car is called a boot and they even drive on the wrong side of the road (LOL)! Does he have a British or Indian accent? He sounds very insecure with a inferiority complex to me & he sounds like a bore. I hope I have answered most of your questions because the diversity of our immigrants ( including the English) have made us the Greatest Country in the World. I am proud to be an American with a New York accent!

There is a difference in pronunciation as in the slang. American slang has a tendency to sound harsher. Bugger off, one of the English strongest basically equates to Fu_ k off. there is also a difference in meanings od some words. You example of the word pants, refers to underwear while trousers are the blue jeans or dress pants worn with a jacket. Something I have learned is that some young people from India seen to very snobbish about English and will use the excuse of British English being correct almost as a crutch or block to remain different and to put down Americans. It appears a arrogance to many, but I believe it is a defense from being teased. No language is stupid, if it is used in a correct manner and if someone to whom the language is not their primary one is willing to learn the language of the country where they are. Personally I would not consider someone a friend that spoke to me the way he has spoken to you,

IZ COZ BRITISH SPEAK LYK DIS INNIT MAYTE.