The difference between American English and English doesn't annoy me so much as throw me off for a second or two. And even that is happening less and less often, now I read so much fanfic. I think I notice it more in published novels, than I do on the net, for the simple reason that I've become used to it on the net.
As other have mentioned, it's the wrong phrases that really annoy me, or things that are out of context. I'm Scottish, and in everyday life, I would never dream of someone having an 'appartment', however, if Lois went up to her 'flat', I'd think 'what?!'. It's all in the context. I don't notice the little details in L&C, like "the 495" or "495" but it really drives me up the wall when I see see it in Harry Potter fanfic, simply because HP is set in the UK and I
know what's 'right' and 'wrong'. So it must be equally annoying for American readers to see American phases and slang 'butchered' like that.
Just went back to read the poll, and thought I'd beter add that American spelling and/or different phrases don't bother me at all in posts. The only thing may be if its colloquism that I don't quite 'get'. However, I can usually infer the meaning from the context.
Loriel
