The change of spelling to "route" would be a great disappointment to Australians and changes the context entirely . To me the term American Roots held untold promise - it sounded X rated !!
I refer you to the Australian Slang dictionary (see the hyperlink below):
Root (verb and noun) : synonym for f*ck in nearly all its senses: "I feel rooted"; "this washing machine is rooted"; "(s)he's a good root". A very useful word in fairly polite company.
If you are interested in Australian slang this may be a good starting point. (It isn't all as coarse as this example ) lol
http://www.koalanet.com.au/australian-slang.html