The Sanctity Of "Endeavour"...

I have been queried as to why I seem to prefer the British Standard English spelling of words (colour instead of color, flavour instead of flavor) instead of embracing the Americanized form. After all, I was born in the US so it stands to reason that my readers here in the Colonies state that I should not behave like a pompous twit and utilize the common American format like everyone else.

Truth is, I prefer the British Standard for no real reason other than to behave like a pompous twit. It stands to reason that my endeavour has reached a satisfying conclusion, no?

Alright, so I am pulling your lariat a bit. Here's the real reason:

Way back long time ago when grass was green, a good friend and colleague of mine also named Robert introduced me into the world of British television. Back in that age, it was uncommon for children of our ages or below to even be watching ANYTHING on PBS that didn't include Sesame Street, Mr. Rogers Neighborhood, 321 Contact or others in that genre. PBS just wasn't that enticing.

It was soon after meeting Robert that I was first introduced to such shows as 'Allo, 'Allo, Are You Being Served, Father Ted, One Foot In The Grave and, my personal lifelong favourite, Doctor Who. While others in my age group were fascinated with Friends, Seinfeld, I found myself to be locked away in a BBC closet of sorts.

After all, Britcoms and Sci-Fi shows went against the natural order in American high school society. As an American, you had to know what the 'frilly shirt' was about and you had to keep track of how many times Ross would do that almost stuttering protest voice trick thingie per episode.

To me, Friends and Seinfeld were shows that are chock to the brim with New York City humour, which quite honestly bores me to tears. Interesting to note perhaps that a majority of people who I have confessed my affinity for Britcoms to share the same opinion of Britcoms. Except Monty Python's Flying Circus or Benny Hill, those shows seem to have survived the 'coolness test' in most cases.

After exposing myself more and more to what the UK had to offer, I just started doing it one day. I started out using "colour" instead of "color." Finding that hilarious, I began to go further. "Catalog" became "catalogue," "flavor" became "flavour" and so on. I will still use the Americanized versions of words in official correspondence or the like, but when I write for recreational purposes, I endeavour to add a different flavour to my writing by adding an extra few letters here and there.

Hey, at least I don't go so far as to put things in the "boot" of my car or to comment on getting cut off by a "lorry" as I'm driving on the "motorway." At least not yet...