"The term Standard American English customarily refers to a variety of the English language that's generally used in professional communication in the United States and taught in American schools." "In the United States, we don't have a language academy, but we have many grammar and usage books that people turn to for the determination of standard forms. The key words in this definition are 'prescribed' and 'authority' so that the responsibility of determining standard forms is largely out of the hands of most speakers of the language. . . ."
"If we took a sample of everyday conversational speech, we would find that there are virtually no speakers who consistently speak formal standard English as prescribed in the grammar books. In fact, it is not unusual for the same person who prescribes a formal standard English form to violate standard usage in ordinary conversation."(1)
(1) About.com: Standard American English (SAE)
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