I just have to charm in here on the British-American thing.

Here in Germany, I am often mistaken for being British. My fiancée keeps telling me that if I could just get my grammar in order, few would notice that I am not a native German speaker--the point is that it cannot be the accent.

So what is it? Is in the way I dress? If so, I am not sure which is worse--given the fashion tragedy that is the Anglo-American world generally. Is it just that they don't expect to see an American so far from home--or at least one not wearing tennis shoes?

So, then I get asked whether I am capable of translating from German into English--as well as into American. I try to explain that the written differences are pretty small. Nevertheless, they take British English to be the standard, from which American English is some deviation--and all the while writing "color" and "sympathize". (Oops, the placement of that last period/full-stop looks awfully British to me.)

Or is it an imperial thing? The denial of the current American Empire, causing them to focus on the former British one?

Okay, I am rambling. But, I do have a question for the Brits in the group: Is Tony Blair just George Bush's poodle or what? (I mean it kinda seriously, with no offense intended. I am just interested in the British reaction to Tony's beating the war drums with George.)

Cheers,
Jamie