ShadowBob

I have been asked a few times 'where is your accent from?' as if it's an entirely separate entity to me. It's like asking 'where is your hat from?'.

Pulaski

How about, you and I both being British, agree to stick to the Oxford Dictionary ruling on the use of ize/ise/yse/yze?

This is what the Oxford English Dictionary has to say on the subject specifically of British English. It has been debated here before, and I was surprised by the outcome, and discovered that I had been wrong. Please note carefully the third sentence of the first paragraph on the subject of the Oxford Dictionary's preference.

Here's an Oxford Dictionary blog on the subject.. And the Wikipedia Oxford Dictionary article on the history of "ize", both in British usage and connections to it's Greek root.

On the subject of using transatlantic words, I agree, and so I stick with "tap" and "car", however, as others have noted, "torch" is not one of those words.

Jerseygirl

I even try to change spellings after spell check has Americanised them. Does anyone else do this?

robin1234

Car is an interesting one. Clearly, the word "automobile" was used in British English in the early days. After all, in Britain we have the RAC and the AA, founded in 1897 and 1905 respectively. I recently read a British novel by Arnold Bennett, Roll Call, published in 1918. He uses the word automobile a lot in that novel. And yet, over the course of the twentieth century, the British more or less abandoned the multi syllable, somewhat technical word "automobile" and preferred "car," an old word that is basically a short form of the word carriage. Over the same period, the Americans retained "automobile" as the more common term.

Also, railway versus railroad. "Railroad" was commonly used in the early nineteenth century in the UK, but was completely replaced by railway at some point ...

Speedwell

I have to, frequently. I write documentation for a multinational company. It's got so annoying that I try my best not to use words or spellings that would distract anyone from the message.

Nutmegger

When I'm working on European texts, I just reset Word to UK English rather than US English, to ensure I don't miss any British spellings. That helps to remind me to check the punctuation, too!.

Speedwell

This doesn't help me when I am writing documentation for readers in the US AND the UK (AND Canada AND India AND South Africa). The "happy medium" generally comes out like this:

- University of Chicago rules of style, generally.
- Word choices that work for all readers when possible.
- US usage only when I am unaware it's exclusively US usage (I am, after all, a Yank).
- British punctuation.
- The subjunctive is dead; make sure it stays dead.
- Singular "they" at all times.
- The Oxford comma is my best friend, good comrade, and drinking buddy.
- Don't cause confusion. Above all, just don't cause confusion.

Nutmegger

I'm lucky, don't have to combine things, the texts are for either one market or the other so I adhere to one style throughout -- sounds as if you have lots of fun. Big "Chicago" advocate, and the Oxford comma rules!

RoadWarriorFromLP

Noah Webster (a) disliked the British and (b) preferred phonetic spellings. Most of the spelling differences are attributable to his efforts to create a uniquely American dictionary.

In the case of -ise/-ize, the former comes from French, while the latter comes from Greek.

SultanOfSwing

Webster is the fundamental difference, I believe. British English used the spellings et cetera from Samuel Johnson's dictionary and the Americans used the ones from Webster's and the two versions of English differed due to that.

It's all a means to an end though, as long as you are articulate enough, I find that Americans can understand me even when I do use a British word instead of an American one.

hungryhorace

I wouldn't mind calling football 'soccer', if it wasn't for the utter liberty American's have taken by calling a game that involves THROWING a ball 'football'. The only foot to ball that occurs in that game is either a punt or a field goal (both consume about 1% of the game).

SultanOfSwing

American football is derived (I believe) from Rugby League. While it should be called American Rugby, the game of Rugby itself was just one of many codes of 'football' back in the mid-late 1800s (when the game played using the Cambridge rules was starting to be referred to as soccer ...)

The nomenclature was an artifact of the time when the game was invented, rather than a corruption of the term.

Pulaski

As opposed to Rugby football.

Rugby Football Union

SultanOfSwing

Beat you to it, mate ...

(see above)

Sally Redux

If we think of names like Leslie and Joseph, the British pronunciation is Lezlie and Jozeph. From this, I gather that 'cosy' or 'criticise' would confuse an American speaker as to the 's' sound.