text: why  are americans  so defensive? the proper english is exit, remember there was a britain before an  america. i think we all have too much time on our hands if we can be upset by something as inane as the various quite acceptable pronunciations of words.  seems rather obvious that all nationalities are a bit defensive .... sometimes we spend too much time criticizing each other rather than celebrating our similarities as well as our differences.  come on, people, it is a small world and life is too short and precious to be bothered by such minor things.