TIL about one more thing US misunderstood and now we have to deal with it. Another one is command key on mac, "borrowed" from road sign indicating "sight seeing place" :)
Also, I'm certainly not a US apologist, but I also don't see how the US using the short scale is a case of misunderstanding - it sounds like they just decided that it makes more sense that way (and I would agree, although maybe that's just because I'm used to it).