to *ize a word(and derivatives). A common crime of Americans
Which just goes to show you have little grasp of (British) English. Might I refer you to one of those large collections of paper and print, otherwise known as a dictionary? You will find Fowler's of some use here as well.
I fail to see how Americans, whose distinct language styles developed from the English at the time the nation itself was being founded in its modern form (where "ize" was the standard ending to many words), have committed any crime.
The "ise" variant in (British) English became increasingly popular in the 20th Century, though "ize" remains perfectly acceptable and is the preference of the OED.
The only failing, as far as I can tell, has been the unquestioning reliance by the British on word processing programs, the spellcheckers of which assume that British English prefers "ise", rather than knowledge or independent thought.
So, to add to the list of grating words, can we also add the grating sound of a limited and prejudiced intellect railing blindly against something of which it is apprently entirely ignorant?