London - The rise of the Internet threatens to Americanise the English language, linguistic experts said yesterday. Widespread use of the world wide web is leading to more Britons substituting "center" for centre, "program" for programme, and "color" for colour, said Mr John Simpson, chief editor of the Oxford English Dictionary.
"For two centuries there has been a domination of British English, but as we approach the new millennium there is a clear drift towards a use of American English. The Inter net has certainly played a big part," he said.