can almost always recognize when a writer is or isn't an American
I can too, and it always makes me smile. I spent a few months in the UK once upon a time and reading stories by our Brits in residence always takes me back to fond memories. The tip off for me usually is words like "properly" and "quite". Not that Americans don't use them; it just seems that Brits use them in a different way. I noticed that most of our UK writers don't use what we think of as typically British words, like "bloody" or "loo", but I did read a story least week in which Lois offered Clark "tea and biscuits"!
By the by, I have embarrassed myself numerous times while in the UK by referring to my trousers as my pants, including one particularly memorable occasion involving an elderly gentleman at Kempton Park racecourse.
