Lose-lose

See comments on 16. Seriously, it's people like you that make us Americans seem so ignorant. Even I knew that, and I'm from the South, which is supposedly stupid.

it's "maths" in other countries than the US. short for mathematics. maybe open your mind a tad and don't be such an ignorant asshole.

32, calm down. His mistake doesn't make him an ignorant closeminded asshole. He was simply uninformed, as was I. You learn something new everyday.

Tbf, Schitz, we might not get so annoyed if it were only one or two people that did it. But I've seen so many cases of Americans not realising that there are alternative spellings for words, and it does get to you eventually. Or if we only had to explain it once rather than having to repeat ourselves needlessly.

Cinn, I hear you, but it's not like he was like, "It's APOLOGIZE, not APOLOGISE, dumbass." I can see how that'd get to you though, given the number of idiots who do actually act that way. But in all fairness, I don't think the 'maths' one is known across the board. That isn't to say that people, especially Americans, shouldn't be aware of variations of the language in different parts of the world.

I don't remember being taught that other places spelled English words differently in high school; cut us some slack. I've seen people outside of America commenting things similar to the above. "It's cheque NOT check." "*apologise/colour/etc.*" It works both ways, and us Americans get annoyed, too.

That is true, Samantha. They're the ones who are all like "well it's OUR language", most aren't that bad and tend just to stick up for our spellings. (I used to be like that, but I grew up) I don't remember ever being taught that American's spelt things differently, I just figured it out when I kept arguing with Google over the spelling of things like colour and favourite.

85, while you may have a case, I think it's safe to say that Americans take the cake on being unaware of the differences.

80 ikr? I mathsed your mom last night!

Holy Shit people: it's called SARCASM. The internet has a strong need for a sarcasm font... <.<;;

100, shut up, you know it was a mistake.

I wouldn't say that's safe to say, 90. I've had to tell people outside of America that English is spelled differently in America too many times to count. So let's all have a slice of cake. :P Btw, what is this? You're suppose to be sticking up for your country! >.<

Well then I guess we have to agree to disagree, because my experiences have demonstrated otherwise. Aha sorry, but I'm just speaking the truth, as I see it.

samantha: I only stick up for my country when my countrymen aren't wrong. = The brash, arrogant American stereotype is, unfortunately, rooted in truth; there *are* a lot of Americans who don't bother to learn from and about other cultures. Too often, they mask their ignorance— or worse, take pride in it— by calling it patriotism. I'm not accusing you, or anyone who didn't know the "maths" thing, of being that way. Just saying it happens. Being loyal to your country doesn't mean excusing its flaws and refusing to see value in other cultures. IMO, once you start doing those things, the line between patriotism and extremism can blur quickly.

dumb ass it's called maths in many countries.

I didn't say there wasn't Americans who fit that description; I was just saying that there are people outside of America who fit that description, too. Meaning, there are also a lot of people who aren't American that don't bother to learn from and about other cultures. Which is why I said, "it works both ways", earlier.

As Cinn said, it's not that one person may not get it, it's that SO many people don't, AND they feel the need to start ripping on people for something that is completely legitimate. Just look down the thread to see how many people have said the same thing. You'd think that because this comes up on almost every single FML, people would stop for just a second and check if they're about to make a fool of themselves, but no - every. single. time. The thing is, due to the influence of American TV etc., people that use British English usually just take the alternatives in stride. This goes for spelling as well as for words: flashlight/torch, sidewalk/footpath, elevator/lift, apartment/flat, wrench/spanner and so on. It's not so much the ignorance of the alternatives that is frustrating, it's when that ignorance is combined with such a staggering level of arrogance.

Arg, I'm not communicating well today. :[  I definitely saw "it works both ways" as your main point, samantha, and I completely agree. Perhaps my post came off as more aggressive than intended. Americans certainly don't corner the market on ignorance.  I think Zebidee's point about the coupling of ignorance and arrogance explained where I was trying to go with the patriotism thing. Americans may not be drastically more ignorant than other cultures, but we often seem to be more content with it, more stubborn about our way being the right way, and sometimes, even downright proud about it. I'm of course speaking quite generally here; there are a lot of exceptions to the stereotype.     

I agree Jane, there are millions of intelligent, articulate and cultured Americans who do their country proud every day. I hate it when I see people leave their little circle of higher degree educated professional friends, go into a KFC in the backwoods of the US, and just because their server has never heard of Düsseldorf, they slam all Americans for being ignorant of the outside world. That said, the stereotypes exist for a reason, and we see that continually reinforced here every day. I suppose it's our own fault for the type of website we choose to hang out on, but I still get a laugh out of FML, and there are some cool people on here, so I figure it's worth it.

I don't think it helps that other countries are a lot more exposed to our culture than we are of theirs. American shows and movies are shown the world over, but how often are we exposed to even British movies, television or news in contrast?

CodingSquirrel - a completely valid point. It's available, but you have to go looking for it. I'm constantly surprised by the number of my American friends that watch the BBC news online. Personally, I don't think it's the greatest news service in the world, but it's pretty good. By way of comparison, I genuinely thought Fox News was a parody show the first time I saw it. With the heavy emphasis on things that happen in the Middle East these days, I often go double-check a story on Al Jazeera if I think the western version sounds fishy. I'll also go check the New York Times and the Washington Post, who seem to be the last bastions of proper current affairs journalism in the States. It only takes a second to look for the story you're after. As for cultural stuff, it can be harder. In Australia, we have a TV station called SBS that specialises in foreign content. They run news services from about a dozen countries during the day (untranslated) and subtitled shows from a vast range of places in prime time. I think once you know there's that sort of stuff available, you're halfway there. The internet has broken the stranglehold of local media.

Why are people claiming the OP isn't doing well in English? Is it because she used the word 'maths', which is perfectly acceptable where he's from?

You aren't doing too well either. Look up there. Listen to Cinn.

Like so many other examples, there is a difference in spelling between the UK and US versions of the word. That doesn't make one right, or wrong. Both are correct. Maths is correct, in the UK, and also Australia. Math is correct in the US. I don't know which goes for which other English-speaking countries. EDIT: I type too slow.

Apparently people get on FML and start commenting without reading. It does get annoying when so many people repeat the same mistake. Especially when you've seen it occur on many other FMLs.

Nothing wrong with the grammar there. Check the OPs location.

lol word ^ I would feel realllyyyyyyy awkward

*sighs exasperatedly*

I apologize, Cinn. Apparently this one isn't know across the board. Not even I knew, and I like to pride myself in my multicultural awareness.

#43 I'm sighing exasperatedly by now too, Cinn, and I'm not even from the UK...

I'm sighing exasperatedly too, and I made the same mistake.

This happens EVERY TIME there's an fml about math(s) by someone outside the US. It's IMPOSSIBLE TO COMBAT.

Correction; this happens every time any fml involves alternative spellings. :P (Maths and mum are common ones)

True, Cinn, but it seems like it's even worse when it comes to math/maths... the amount of people "correcting" the OP is huge. I think it's a lesser-known spelling difference.

Suppose you might be onto something there, Spastastic

Yes, maths.

See Comment numbers 17, 21, 27, 28, 31, 34, 32, 38, 39, 43, and 46

and about eight other FMLs in the past. sigh!