My grandfather yestersay said that he "speaks American". Is there any particular reason that some of the "baby boomers" would refuse to call the English language by its name.

by grumpy_flareon

For context, I live in the South and many people around my grandfather's age of 65-80 here that I've met say similar things. Is it based off of a strong sense of nationalism, or something else? Thanks!

grumpy_flareon

So I guess I should clarify, he literally thinks that the language is called "American" and that is a wholely different language than that of English, whether he was shortening the name from "American English" or not, I can not say.