this post was submitted on 02 Mar 2026
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[–] Zozano@aussie.zone 23 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (6 children)

It's controversial in countries like Australia...

We need to standardise English, and we need to accept the US won in spelling.

Conversely, the US needs to accept they lost the metric/imperial war and start changing their shit to be less stupid.

What the fuck is 90 ~~stone~~? How long is 2.5 miles? Pounds = lbs? How? (Okay US doesn't use stone)

Don't get me started on the "19 hamburgers is equal to 5 eagles" memes.


Also, everyone needs to accept the ISO date format.

YYYY-MM-DD

You're objectively wrong if you think any other format is comparable.


Also also, you can keep using feet and inches for your own height as long as you're between 5-6 feet.

Otherwise I get confused.

[–] spittingimage@lemmy.world 3 points 6 days ago (1 children)

We need to standardise English, and we need to accept the US won in spelling.

You mean the US showed up to a fight no-one wanted, handed around medals and went home, while everyone else was still wondering what the loud tourists were shouting about.

[–] Zozano@aussie.zone 1 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

I'm not saying they are right, but they did win.

Computing systems use US English as a default, and most countries which teach English as a secondary language use the US variant.

TBH I think we could just use steady patch notes for English, update a few things every 10 years or so.

[–] TronBronson@lemmy.world 2 points 6 days ago

I was visibly shaken when I was dating an English gal and she said her weight was like 20 stone or some shit. still makes me laugh.

[–] NewSocialWhoDis@lemmy.zip 1 points 6 days ago

Least controversial opinion in this thread.

[–] ageedizzle@piefed.ca 9 points 1 week ago (3 children)

We need to standardise English, and we need to accept the US won in spelling.

As a Canadian I cannot accept this. To drop the U in 'colour' would be an affront to my dignity

[–] neidu3@sh.itjust.works 5 points 6 days ago

Even as someone with English as my 2nd language, I know that "Colour" is the proper spelling.

[–] Zozano@aussie.zone 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Well, Canadians probably pronounce the U in colour like the U in Brochure.

[–] ageedizzle@piefed.ca 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Do you mean to tell me that Australians don't pronounce the U?

[–] Zozano@aussie.zone 5 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Saying it out loud sounds like "Kulla"

Also, do you mean to tell me Canadians DO pronounce the U in colour like brochure?

[–] ageedizzle@piefed.ca 3 points 1 week ago

Haa I can just hear the Australian accent in my head when I read “Kulla”. Very nice.

And yes, we do pronounce the U as in brochure (“cul-lure”). But the francaphones say it like “cool-lurrrre” so idek what’s going in there. But I’m pretty sure a lot of Americans pronounce the U tho just like they do in Canadian English.

So maybe the optimal solution here for the Americans to add a U and the Australians to drop it, and the French Canadians can keep doing whatever the hell they’re doing if their neat little accents.

[–] NewNewAugustEast@lemmy.zip 2 points 1 week ago

I will support colour if we can get everyone onboard with 'behaviour'.

[–] KingGimpicus@sh.itjust.works 8 points 1 week ago

The US does not use stone. You can thank the queen's men for that.

As a machinist, though, I'm coming around to metric being the superior standard for building and engineering. Its easier to keep track of everything instead of constantly converting from decimal to fraction and back. Figuring out taps and drills is WAY easier too.

[–] QuandaleDingle@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago

As an American, I completely agree with the idea of the US adopting the metric system. It just makes too much sense. I do think that countries' unique English spellings add "typographical flavor". :D