ugh British!

Man, I have a difficult time sometimes because the kids here learn British English. It's just little things, but they add up and are frustrating.

Today, for example, I was walking around checking homework and told a kid that "shortcut" is one word, not two. Then I sit back down and look at their book and sure enough it's two. I checked the Oxford English dictionary and an American English dictionary (and Google, by the way, if you type in "short cut" asks you if you mean "shortcut") and sure enough those Brits separate it out...

Also, am I just weird or is the word "clothes" pronounced the same as close as in "please close the door"? The Germans have such a hard time with the "th" I told them not to worry about that one, and just pronounce it like an "s". But according to the phoenetic spelling in the dictionary I'm wrong. Oh man...like I said, little non-important things but these are some little thoughts that drive me nuts.

By the way, the Brits also say "at the weekend" instead of "on the weekend" and "to get on with somebody" instead of "to get along with somebody." I hope that makes you smile, too.