jmh

I was born, raised and educated in NZ but have spent 24 years in the UK, working for a period as an editor. I noticed in the NZ Herald that the word inquiry was used instead of enquiry which I am more used to. I looked it up in my dictionary and got this:

inquiry |ɪnˈkwʌɪri| (also chiefly Brit. enquiry)
noun ( pl. -quiries)
an act of asking for information : the deluge of phone inquiries after a crash | they were following a definite line of inquiry.
• an official investigation.


Does anyone know of other examples where UK and NZ spelling is different?

Genesis

[QUOTE=j• Does anyone know of other examples where UK and NZ spelling is different?[/QUOTE]

Yes I have noticed especially on trademe how bad spelling is. That is the main difference I see. And these are NOT 'typos'...these are genuine mistakes..I am amazed just how bad it is.

Foxesecho

Unfortunately people are spelling as they speak e.g spear= spare

As seen on Trademe "Selling spear duvet off the spear bed"

Had to read it out loud to understand what it meant

shirl

Yes I hate bad spelling and bad grammar too! I worked for law firms both here and in UK and on the first day of my new job here in NZ I typed a letter to a Dear John and ended it with Yours sincerely and got corrected by the boss who said it was always Yours faithfully on which I said actually no it is not, he won and all my letters had to go out Yours faithfully when clearly that was bad letter writing. He said he had been taught that in university in NZ and had always done it that way and so could I!!!! I hated the job from that day forth!

UKNZAUS

I, too, have this argument so I now use 'Kind Regards' on everything

UKNZAUS

I have had University assignments back with my e in enquiry crossed out and replaced with an i *sigh* It's just not worth the hassle anymore!

shirl

And is it just me or what but what is all this stuff about names being in (...) when journalists write in papers! What is all that about she (Julia Roberts) etc...... If the article is about her why put her name in brackets. My grandchildren are having these things in their homework too! When was it decided in the english class that this was correct!

Margaret Parkinson

Another thing I have noticed when someone is telling you something they indicate it in "Inverted commas" with their hands. Why?

June

BEVS

I'm quite shocked by that.

shirl

Must be to do with our age June, I don't get that either! Please enlighten us someone! Although to be honest I have done that once or twice, don't know why though!!! Just following what everyone else does!! Does that make me a follower and not a leader lol!!

shirl

So was I Bev and that coming from a so called educated person!

jmh

As a member of several forums I can assure you that the general population in many countries is pretty ignorant when it comes to spelling and grammar. My question is about legitimate differences. Since inquiry appeared twice in a major newspaper headline and appears in a dictionary I accept that this is the NZ way of spelling and will adapt accordingly. I would be interested in hearing about other accepted ways of spelling in NZ that differ from the UK.

jmh

I just received a letter from Kiwibank which was addressed to me by name and signed Yours sincerely, so I'm not sure how widespread that is. Bring back the days of secretarial college eh?

NakiMan

The thing that really iritates me is bad grammar. I have to say, much of this seems to be in advertising, where they should know better.

For example, Farmers were advertising a "sale of women's bras" this week.

That would be as oposed to a "sale of mens bras" I guess.

Batty

Every time I hear something like this I thank GOD I ended up working for the company I worked for. Every standard letter we have has Yours sincerely on it - I've systematically gone through them all and put faithfully on them Nobody has even noticed!