Requiem to the -ise

Frankly, I have had enough with the Americans and their persistent abuse of the English language. They mispronounce words, omit letters and have an unhealthy obsession with the letter Z, which they too mispronounce as 'zee'.

Many of the great English words ending in -ise are slowly taking the more dynamic -ize. Some examples include; emphasise, maximise, minimise, hypothesise, theorise, etc. Traditionally, this abominable habit of Americanising words has been largely quarantined within the United States. For example, consider that most English speakers still spell the words neighbours, aluminium, amoeba, judgement, catalogue, colour and programme correctly. However, the proliferation of US software throughout the rest of the English speaking world is rapidly eroding this geographical containment. Microsoft Word is the greatest offender. Not only does the programme underline correctly spelt words with that obnoxious red squiggle (a jihad on that red squiggle!), but it suggests incorrect Americanised variants. Once in a while, Word won't even bother asking your permission to Americanise your spelling- it will just take the initiative itself, sticking in a zee where it doesn't belong!

And so, this is a requiem to the -ise, indeed, all correct spelling which has a fancy American variant. I, for one, will resist American linguistic imperialism, but I fear, alas, that I am in the minority.