[drc]

I spent times at two English institutions, and both times they tried to make me English. And they weren’t covert or subtle about it. The first time I thought it was interesting, the second time it bothered me. One thing I laugh about to this day is when I was told I had to write in English (as opposed to American).

The philosophy behind their rules is there were a lot of internationals involved at both places, and they wanted to have smooth communication between everyone. Like it or not, English English is the international standard, not the American version we speak. Oxford promotes the use of smiley faces, frown faces and such to prevent miscommunication between internationals, in particular when someone’s cracking a joke. So evidently, the smiley face is considered universal language.