If I may enter into this debate, the originator of this thread, Walkaboutsverse, states "we may pronounce words differently, but we all accept the same spelling." Forgive me, but we do not. The spelling of some words is different in the USA than it is in Great Britain. the best examples I can think of, right off the top of my head, are neighbour and behaviour, in the USA they are spelled neighbor and behavior. There are some others as well, an American English Dictionary and, perhaps, the OED, will furnish other examples.