Q for North Americans

[IsabelC]

It's interesting that the majority of people don't mind.  I always had the impression that Americans couldn't cope with non US spelling, and I have spent the last several years trying to 'translate' everything for you on here! I might just type normally from now on :D

[kiwik]

I think it is ridiculous. I think they believe we are stupid, like when they changed the title to Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone to the Sorcerer's Stone for the US market.

Which is weird because philosopher and sorcerer aren't the same thing.

[Laura Corin]

It's interesting that the majority of people don't mind. I always had the impression that Americans couldn't cope with non US spelling, and I have spent the last several years trying to 'translate' everything for you on here! I might just type normally from now on :D

I don't alter spelling but I do translate words where there could be misunderstanding.

[kiwik]

Tea does not taste like juice. Was it herb tea or one of those weird flavoured iced teas that we always assumed came from the US? But you do dip your biscuits in your tea if you are that way inclined.

[Laura Corin]

Tea does not taste like juice. Was it herb tea or one of those weird flavoured iced teas that we always assumed came from the US? But you do dip your biscuits in your tea if you are that way inclined.

 

I was wondering about this.  

 

There's the further complication of the dual meaning of 'tea'.  As you know, in Commonwealth literature, when children have 'tea' it's often the evening meal, eaten between 5pm and 6pm.  Depending on family culture, this could include a drink of tea, water, milk or juice.

[Melissa in Australia]

Oui, which is why I was disappointed she didn't know that a fellow Commonwealth member would use the same English as she does.

An Aussie here married to a Canadian. Believe me, we don't use the same English. We speak the same words sometimes but they can have very different meanings, and they sound VERY different.

[lea1]

It doesn't bother me at all.  I never can remember how grey/gray is suppose to be spelled (grey always seems more correct to me, for some reason).  I really enjoy hearing the different words/phrases.  I have read enough that i am familiar with many of them but we were watching a British cooking show the other day and there was a phrase that had us all rolling with laughter because it would have meant something very different in the U.S. (unfortunately I can't remember what it was).

 

I like it when people on the forum use spelling, words and phrases specific to their countries.  It provides another piece of information and maybe helps to better understand a point of view or context a bit.  I think it is fun to be on a forum where people from all over the world are discussing their viewpoints..

[DawnM]

I can't really answer.  I am American but I grew up in a more British society and at Primary and Secondary school (the only American school in the country at the time) where we had Americans and Europeans and we were told either spelling would be completely acceptable, but most people used the British spellings.  

 

So, I am completely messed up and often spell things the British way as I grew up spelling them that way.  So I can hardly be offended can I?  

Edited July 26, 2017 by DawnM

[gardenmom5]

it is interesting to me the focus is on spelling - when there are so very many many more "tells" to me that something was written by a brit.   they could do a US english spell check (so it was US spellilng) - and it would be different than an american would write.  just little things that are far more than lorry, or trolly (which is a more of a tram that runs on city streets here.), or even boot or bonnet, etc.

 

 

eta: this is the only thing I can think of, as my mind has gone blank.  "fell pregnant".   in the us, women do not "fall" pregnant. 

Edited July 26, 2017 by gardenmom5

[Lady Florida.]

No, it doesn't bother me. In fact, I often type that u in certain words and have to go back and "correct" it. I don't know why my finger always wants to add that letter but it happens fairly often.

[MaeFlowers]

I voted no. I'm another who got marks off in school for using British spelling. I had picked it up from my reading. I never understood why teachers would mark it wrong and it actually made me think badly of them.

[wintermom]

An Aussie here married to a Canadian. Believe me, we don't use the same English. We speak the same words sometimes but they can have very different meanings, and they sound VERY different.

 

Sure. I understand that there are words and expressions that are different, however the OP and the poll is only talking about spelling. As far as I know, Canadians, Australians, and other Commonwealth countries use the same English spelling as in the UK when using the same words. We also have much more similar government organization and terminology than other countries in the world. 

 

The differences in use of words and expressions between Canada, Australia, and the various parts of the UK would need a glossary or dictionary. Here, there is usually more similarities between Canada and the US, but there are still some differences.

[brehon]

My senior year English teacher was from England. She had attended Oxford and obtained a first from her college in Medieval literature or Medieval English literature. (It's been <ahem> several decades since I graduated high school.)

 

She always used the British spellings of words when giving written critiques on our papers. Even today I am as likely to use a British spelling of certain words as an American spelling, as are many of my fellow classmates who took the class with me.

 

So, here's to you Dr. Meyers! You had an awesome British literature class and were an amazing teacher.

[Ellie]

If it's a British book, and I know it's a British book, then of course it wouldn't put me off. It's only when Americans write things like "centre" or "theatre" instead of "center" or "theater" that I'm really put off.

[Mom22ns]

I said it bothers me a little. The reason for that is, I spend a lot of time editing academic writing for high school and college students and so my eye is trained to pick up anything that a teacher in a US school would consider misspelled (watch me misspell something in this post). That means my eyes catch on non-American spellings and they distract me.

 

That said, if I'm reading a book set in England or Australia, I would prefer the spellings be appropriate. I don't need books written in other countries sanitized for me. As for product names, It would only bother me if it caused me to not understand what something was. I wasn't aware of the iser instead of izer and that one could have thrown me. If I saw something that interested me, the spelling of the product name wouldn't have any bearing on my purchase. A really stupid product name can be off-putting, but a non-American spelling alone wouldn't be. 

[luuknam]

It's interesting that the majority of people don't mind.  I always had the impression that Americans couldn't cope with non US spelling, and I have spent the last several years trying to 'translate' everything for you on here! I might just type normally from now on :D

 

 

This board is hardly representative of the "average" American. Either way, I'd stop changing your spelling.

[gardenmom5]

I voted no. I'm another who got marks off in school for using British spelling. I had picked it up from my reading. I never understood why teachers would mark it wrong and it actually made me think badly of them.

 

 

from what I've read - UK students get docked for using american spelling and words.

[Laura Corin]

from what I've read - UK students get docked for using american spelling and words.

Spelling yes. Words less so, I suspect.

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

I'd be happy if all my British friends could put the emphasis on the correct syllable in words!  I had friends over Tuesday and the daughter was talking to me about the narrator of a story, but she was saying something like neh-RAY-ter and I had no idea what she was talking about until her mom said, "NAR-rater"

 

hehehe.  

 

No, it doesn't bother me at all.  

[vonfirmath]

Tea does not taste like juice. Was it herb tea or one of those weird flavoured iced teas that we always assumed came from the US? But you do dip your biscuits in your tea if you are that way inclined.

 

I was told it was "Green tea"

[Bluegoat]

Which is weird because philosopher and sorcerer aren't the same thing.

 

They are closer than you might think.  Would you call an alchemist a sorcerer, or natural philosopher, if you didn't know that the premises of his system happened to be mistaken?

[Laura Corin]

I was told it was "Green tea"

So, not what most British people drink. Normal would be Indian black tea, hot, with milk and possibly sugar.

[Laura Corin]

I'd be happy if all my British friends could put the emphasis on the correct syllable in words! I had friends over Tuesday and the daughter was talking to me about the narrator of a story, but she was saying something like neh-RAY-ter and I had no idea what she was talking about until her mom said, "NAR-rater"

 

hehehe.

 

No, it doesn't bother me at all.

But then I could have a problem with the US pronunciation of laboratory, something like LAB ruh tree instead of my la BO ru tuh ree. But actually it's all good.

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

But then I could have a problem with the US pronunciation of laboratory, something like LAB ruh tree instead of my la BO ru tuh ree. But actually it's all good.

Dont even get m e started on aluminum foil!

[Laura Corin]

Dont even get m e started on aluminum foil!

That's an interesting one of a fairly recent coinage where people couldn't make up their minds.

[eternalsummer]

I think that in some dialects of American English, the terms Great Britain, United Kingdom, and England are all fairly interchangeable, and residents of these places are interchangeably referred to as English or British.  I would be surprised if more than 20% of the American population knew that the Welsh existed.

[Laura Corin]

I think that in some dialects of American English, the terms Great Britain, United Kingdom, and England are all fairly interchangeable, and residents of these places are interchangeably referred to as English or British. I would be surprised if more than 20% of the American population knew that the Welsh existed.

That's fine until you are actually face to face. If that is likely, I would suggest a little education to avoid offence. The wounds have cut deep in some hearts. Here's a current news story based on horror at events 800 years in the past

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-north-east-wales-40703954

Edited July 26, 2017 by Laura Corin

[eternalsummer]

I agree that it makes sense to research things like this before travelling to another country, but otherwise how would someone know if she were about to be face to face with a person with whose culture or country of origin's history she isn't familiar?  Even when we went to NZ for a year, I did some research about the country and its people beforehand, but I made several faux pas in the first week anyway.

 

I think not knowing these things is fine.  Now, if I were to meet you at the library, and you had an accent, and I said, "Oh, cool accent!  You must be English!" and you said, "No, I'm Scottish - we're part of the UK like the English but in a different part" [or something like that], it would be rude of me to say, "Whatever, I'm calling you English anyway," and polite to say, "Cool, I didn't know Scotland was its own country in the UK."
 

[Laura Corin]

I agree that it makes sense to research things like this before travelling to another country, but otherwise how would someone know if she were about to be face to face with a person with whose culture or country of origin's history she isn't familiar? Even when we went to NZ for a year, I did some research about the country and its people beforehand, but I made several faux pas in the first week anyway.

 

I think not knowing these things is fine. Now, if I were to meet you at the library, and you had an accent, and I said, "Oh, cool accent! You must be English!" and you said, "No, I'm Scottish - we're part of the UK like the English but in a different part" [or something like that], it would be rude of me to say, "Whatever, I'm calling you English anyway," and polite to say, "Cool, I didn't know Scotland was its own country in the UK."

 

I think that's a decent balance.

 

Around a decade ago, a Welsh language film was entered for the foreign language Oscars. The committee wouldn't accept the entry form because they insisted that Welsh wasn't a non-English language. It took sending them a Welsh English dictionary for the point to be accepted.

[regentrude]

Can't vote. I am an American now, but grew up in Germany, and the English I learned as a foreign language in school was British English. I had to learn the American spelling, and probably still spell some words the British way.

[regentrude]

Around a decade ago, a Welsh language film was entered for the foreign language Oscars. The committee wouldn't accept the entry form because they insisted that Welsh wasn't a non-English language. It took sending them a Welsh English dictionary for the point to be accepted.

 

Huh? Have they tried to understand a single Welsh sentence???

[Jean in Newcastle]

I think that in some dialects of American English, the terms Great Britain, United Kingdom, and England are all fairly interchangeable, and residents of these places are interchangeably referred to as English or British.  I would be surprised if more than 20% of the American population knew that the Welsh existed.

 

I must be around a different percentage of the American population than you are.  I would be very surprised at anyone who didn't know that Wales and the Welsh existed. 

Edited July 26, 2017 by Jean in Newcastle

[eternalsummer]

I would be surprised if anyone I know personally didn't know about Wales and the Welsh.  I am aware that my immediate circle is not representative of the average American.

[gardenmom5]

I think that's a decent balance.

 

Around a decade ago, a Welsh language film was entered for the foreign language Oscars. The committee wouldn't accept the entry form because they insisted that Welsh wasn't a non-English language. It took sending them a Welsh English dictionary for the point to be accepted.

 

:huh: :confused1: :blink: :huh: :svengo:  - that's when you start speaking welsh. . . .  . 

 

Huh? Have they tried to understand a single Welsh sentence???

 

I was going to say that. . . .

[Jean in Newcastle]

I would be surprised if anyone I know personally didn't know about Wales and the Welsh. I am aware that my immediate circle is not representative of the average American.

Then why would you make such an outrageous claim?

[Violet Crown]

The most difficult aspect of British English in my experience has been everyday euphemisms. It took me a week to figure out that prices for "concessions" at events were not for a hamburger and coke but were the discount for the elderly and disabled. And our family was puzzled through a long train ride by signs threatening jail (sorry, gaol*) time for anyone overheard using "sectarian language" on the train. Could we be arrested for discussing the role of bishops, or the preferability of the silent canon, we wondered? We were eventually enlightened by an amused (by us) and horrified (by the topic) security guard.

 

*(Related: To my great and unworthy joy, at church one Sunday in the UK the young American student reading the Epistle told us all about the angel freeing St. Peter from "goal." Poor thing.)

[Seeking Squirrels]

I voted that it doesn't bother me at all. But after reading some responses I agree that context does matter. If it supposed to be taking place in the US and the characters are supposed to be American, it would probably be off-putting if they "sounded" British. But the same would be true for me if a British character in Britain sounded American. 

 

So, not what most British people drink. Normal would be Indian black tea, hot, with milk and possibly sugar.

I am a tea drinker and I have it the way the British do. It annoys me that you can't find it like that around here when you go out. Last time I tried I got a cupful of some herbal nonsense. DH is a coffee drinker and I'm envious that he is always within a block of a decent cup of coffee while I have no chance of a decent cup of tea without going home and making it myself. 

 

I think that in some dialects of American English, the terms Great Britain, United Kingdom, and England are all fairly interchangeable, and residents of these places are interchangeably referred to as English or British.  I would be surprised if more than 20% of the American population knew that the Welsh existed.

I am a huge Doctor Who and David Tennant fan so I am on a lot of fb pages for each and also visit you tube video comment sections. You would be amazed how often something comes up that includes DT amongst a list of British actors or in some other way mentions him as British and someone who wants to prove their DT knowledge pipes up to say "DT isn't British, he's Scottish."  .......... I always link them to the Catherine Tate Comic Relief skit with DT. (Which, BTW, if anyone hasn't seen before, get yourself to youtube!)

[eternalsummer]

I don't think it's outrageous.  These kinds of polls: https://thoughtcatalog.com/nico-lang/2013/10/14-surprising-things-americans-dont-know-according-to-poll-numbers/

[theelfqueen]

There's a joke that basically goes - if you're unimportant you can be Welsh or Scottish, but if you're famous then you're British.

 

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[ElizabethB]

Colour v colour, -ise v -ize, etc.

 

 

Btw, grey looks classier than gray. :001_tt2:

I think so, too. But, I loke color better than colour, but I enjoy seening them all in a book. I read so many British novels that I am never sure the right way to spell grey and a few other words.

 

Of course, I love language and teaching phonics and reading, so I am not the average American. In fact, we probably are not representive of the average American here as a whole either...

Edited July 27, 2017 by ElizabethB

[rose]

I'm Canadian and I <3 Canadian and British spelling. Canadian is my favourite. I think that it adds colour to my writing. I think that I need to practise more. ;) I just wish that I knew all the rules so that I could use them consistently.

[kiwik]

They are closer than you might think. Would you call an alchemist a sorcerer, or natural philosopher, if you didn't know that the premises of his system happened to be mistaken?

To me it is about intent. I an probably wrong but to me a sorcerer has at best a neutral intent whereas a philosopher swings more to the benign side. But then I often have feelings about words that are not quite correct.

 

I would think of alchemy as a science not a magic.

Edited July 27, 2017 by kiwik

[KungFuPanda]

Dont even get m e started on aluminum foil!

  

That's an interesting one of a fairly recent coinage where people couldn't make up their minds.

  

 

Does aluminum have a British spelling? I'm always confused by the British pronunciation. 'Herb' confuses me too. If I didn't know better, and had to guess which pronunciation goes where, I'd switch them.

 

I think that in some dialects of American English, the terms Great Britain, United Kingdom, and England are all fairly interchangeable, and residents of these places are interchangeably referred to as English or British.  I would be surprised if more than 20% of the American population knew that the Welsh existed.

I think it would be very unusual to find someone who didn't know the Welsh existed. It's likely they can't give you the name of a single person from Wales, but they know it's there. Why wouldn't they? If for no other reason they know the puppy dog rhyme.

[OneStepAtATime]

So, not what most British people drink. Normal would be Indian black tea, hot, with milk and possibly sugar.

And so tasty!

[OneStepAtATime]

I must be around a different percentage of the American population than you are. I would be very surprised at anyone who didn't know that Wales and the Welsh existed.

Especially if they are a Doctor Who fan. :)

[Jean in Newcastle]

Especially if they are a Doctor Who fan. :)

 

Or of the Royals.  Prince of Wales, anyone?

 

Or of Welsh ponies.

 

Or of Welsh corgies.

 

Or of How Green Was My Valley

 

Or of Brother Cadfael

[OneStepAtATime]

Or of the Royals. Prince of Wales, anyone?

 

Or of Welsh ponies.

 

Or of Welsh corgies.

 

Or of How Green Was My Valley

 

Or of Brother Cadfael

Yep

[Sherry in OH]

    

 

Does aluminum have a British spelling? I'm always confused by the British pronunciation. 'Herb' confuses me too. If I didn't know better, and had to guess which pronunciation goes where, I'd switch them.

 

 

I think it would be very unusual to find someone who didn't know the Welsh existed. It's likely they can't give you the name of a single person from Wales, but they know it's there. Why wouldn't they? If for no other reason they know the puppy dog rhyme.

 

Aluminium.   There is a Lost in the Pond blog post about the pronunciation difference.

[wathe]

Aluminium.   There is a Lost in the Pond blog post about the pronunciation difference.

 

Ends with "ium",  to be consistent with all the other elements that end the same way.

[Dicentra]

And now I'm beginning to wonder how many people here are irked with my pinned posts on the High School board where I constantly refer to "Honours Chemistry", "Honours Biology", and "Honours Physics". :D

 

Ah well. :)