This section is where both the pronunciation and spelling differ from what's heard in other versions of English, or where the imported words have lost the connection to the original, and were adjusted to the local ear and tongue.
| English | American English | Note |
|---|---|---|
| aluminium | aluminum | |
| center | centre | |
| colosseum | coliseum | but I never got a straight answer as to how to pronounce this: as coll-Ease-ee-um, coll-uh-See-um or how else? |
| complete | compleat | |
| dialogue | dialog | |
| discrete | discreet | |
| Habsburg | Hapsburg | |
| Machiavelli | Machiavel | Other Italian words of the kind are OK. Don't know why this one was mangled. |
| mahagony | mahogany | Latin name: Swietenia mahagoni |
| Osman | Ottoman | What we call "Osmanli Empire" |
| Petrarca | Petrarch | |
| programme | program | |
| Rotonda | Rotunda | While Turin for Torino is OK - every language has its own versions of toponyms... Rotonda is a building. However, the Latin root is "rotundus", so this is off the list. |
| sanatarium | sanatorium | both words are OK in US English |
| sub poena | subpoena | used as a verb - "he was subpoenaed" |
| through | thru | |
| Volkswagen | Volkswagon |