How do you spell?

[Myshlaevsky]

I'm really posting this out of personal curiosity, but I was wondering:

Members of the forum who don't have english as a first language, do you use American English or U.K. English with regards to spelling and the like?

[Terraoblivion]

I use a happy, nonsensical mix of whatever feels right at the given time. I think i lean more towards American spelling and vocabulary though, since all countries that don't have English as a first language gets far more exposure to American English than to British English.

[Haruki-kun]

I tend to use more US English than UK, but I do mix it up.

I like Colour and Honour. And Judgement.

I'm not a big fan of Centre and Metre, though. <.<

*waits for Curly to kill me*

[Bag_of_Holding]

Um... Aussie style, I guess? :smallconfused:

[skywalker]

American English was my first language, and I still mix it up.

Doesn't "grey" just look so much prettier than "gray?" You can say it prettier, too. I had a girlfriend once who contended that they were actually different colors, but I'm pretty sure this isn't true.

[Jayngfet]

I use whatever's easiest to type.

[reorith]

American English was my first language, and I still mix it up.

Doesn't "grey" just look so much prettier than "gray?" You can say it prettier, too. I had a girlfriend once who contended that they were actually different colors, but I'm pretty sure this isn't true.

did your gf go to howard community college? a girl in my art class tried to convince me of that. i'm with you though on grey looks prettier and they aren't different colours.

also, i'm an american, and i add u in between the o and r in colour, honour, favour, and a bunch of other words because i think it is neat.

[Ceska]

I try to spell British English only, but I'm far more exposed to the American variant, which I find horribly ugly.

[Mauve Shirt]

Gray and grey I mix up a lot. My internet and word spellcheckers say that grey is incorrect, so I usually spell it with an A, but not before deliberating for a few minutes over which way looks better.
Most other words I use American spelling for, just 'cause it's the language I was taught. :P

[BizzaroStormy]

Que? Look at me! Im circumventing a character requirment!

[DrowVampyre]

I'm a native American English speaker, but I often spell words using the UK conventions instead. As others before me have said, it's just...prettier...and seems to flow better to me. US English feels to me like a stereotypical orc trying to speak real English. >_> <_<

[Emperor Ing]

I'm American, so I spell 'Color' and 'Honor' without the U.

The most I ever got to an argument over english vs american spelling is spelling my name Randomiser or Randomizer.
:smallannoyed:
Apparently, Z is used even less in UK speak than it already is.

[Naleh]

English is my first language, but I'm not British or American, so I s'pose this question is applicable to me... I spell British. American just looks wrong. And sometimes there's a practical viewpoint too, such as metre vs. meter: they're actually different words, but in American, you can't see the difference.

Gray and grey are a problem. I'm so exposed to the horrid American spelling that I actually can't remember which is which. It frustrates me no end. (I have to admit, though, grey is a prettier colour than gray.)

[Serpentine]

The most I ever got to an argument over english vs american spelling is spelling my name Randomiser or Randomizer.
:smallannoyed:
Apparently, Z is used even less in UK speak than it already is.This is the one concession I'll give to US spelling. I like "z", I think it should be used more often, even if it does make my tongue itch.

[Dave Rapp]

English? Oh please, don't make me laugh. I don't speak English, I speak AMERICAN! The language of TRUE PATRIOTS! It's more patriotic and involves MORE YELLING!

Also, words like sayonara, ciao, and hola are all considered proper American. We stole them from those other deadbeat languages that some crazy people still insist on speaking.


American English was my first language, and I still mix it up.

Doesn't "grey" just look so much prettier than "gray?" You can say it prettier, too. I had a girlfriend once who contended that they were actually different colors, but I'm pretty sure this isn't true.
Use the word sparta in your post when you quote this, and you forfeit ownership of your soul to me.
This text is grey.
This text is gray.

According to the internet, grey is a shade of green. This is madness.

Edit: I take that back. According to IE7, grey is a shade of green. They're the same in firefox.

[Castaras]

English spelling.

FTW.

End of story.

[Exachix]

I usually spell with a book in my hand and a wand or a stave in the other.

[Serpentine]

This text is grey.
This text is gray.Quoted you just to see what you did... You're right :smallconfused: Weird. Also, the fact that the codes on here use US spelling gets really annoying when I forget, and write [color="white"]stuff[/colour]

[Jibar]

And Judgement.

Wait wait wait.
Americans spell Judgement differently?
How can you spell Judgement differently?

[Ceska]

The most I ever got to an argument over english vs american spelling is spelling my name Randomiser or Randomizer.
:smallannoyed:
Apparently, Z is used even less in UK speak than it already is.
But both are allowed in both versions of the language, there's only a preference for the s in British, and z in American.

I use Randomiser, simply because the z looks wrong for me. And I don't say a voiced s (like the z) anyway. Nor do I say a proper t, k, ch (in German there's too versions, IPA χ and IPA ç, I only use the ç) or p, but that's my accent.

[Dave Rapp]

Quoted you just to see what you did... You're right :smallconfused: Weird. Also, the fact that the codes on here use US spelling gets really annoying when I forget, and write [color="white"]stuff[/colour]

You think you've got problems? I spent/spend so much time on forums and other places that just use basic HTML, half the time I'll type <font color="#FFFFFF">blah</font> and look like an idiot for having random HTML in the middle of my post.

......

I look like an idiot for having that in the middle of my post. Now look what I've done.

[Rawhide]

This is the one concession I'll give to US spelling. I like "z", I think it should be used more often, even if it does make my tongue itch.

Have fun with this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_and_British_English_spelling_differences#-ise.2C_-ize)

[Dhavaer]

Australian English, except for the word 'maneuver', which I find difficult both to remember and type in the Australian fashion.

[Bag_of_Holding]

Wait wait wait.
Americans spell Judgement differently?
How can you spell Judgement differently?

Apparently, the word 'judgement' is a British way of spelling. American version of it would be 'judgment'. Eeeeewww :smalleek:



Australian English, except for the word 'maneuver', which I find difficult both to remember and type in the Australian fashion.

Manoeuvre! I memorised it by remembering oe-/e- of Oesophagus/Esophagus (how could one spell it without the 'O'? Really.) and the usual -re/-er difference.



p.s. As much as I love UK way of spelling, the word 'Gaol' frustrates me greatly. I always feel this urge to pronounce it as Gah-ol. For those of you who're unfamiliar with the word, it means 'jail' and is pronounced exactly the same way.

[Glaivemaster]

Being British, I use British spelling obviously. Exceptions are when I learned a word from something American, such as 'Civilization', and metre/centre, which I mix up because I'm never sure which is supposed to be 'American' and which is supposed to be 'British'

I'm immune to the way other people spell though, as long as they spell it right in at least one language. I find it very annoying, smug and patronising when people say "you should have a u in there" or something stupid like that. As long as it's in a dictionary it's right

[Zar Peter]

I learned british english in school but now I look these words up in the dictionary which Firefox tells me they are wrong. Colour for example. I think my Firefox dictionary is american.

[Rawhide]

Being British, I use British spelling obviously. Exceptions are when I learned a word from something American, such as 'Civilization', and metre/centre, which I mix up because I'm never sure which is supposed to be 'American' and which is supposed to be 'British'

I'm immune to the way other people spell though, as long as they spell it right in at least one language. I find it very annoying, smug and patronising when people say "you should have a u in there" or something stupid like that. As long as it's in a dictionary it's right

But its fun to make fun of Americans! (ok, only in jest and when you know they will take it well)


I learned british english in school but now I look these words up in the dictionary which Firefox tells me they are wrong. Colour for example. I think my Firefox dictionary is american.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/browse/type:3

(Then right-click on any text field, choose Languages and select your new dictionary language from the list)

[Zar Peter]

Test: colour! Color! Yay, it works.

Another test: Germknödel

Austrian German works, too!

Thank you.

[InaVegt]

Ai spel wif spelling meet toe fit wif mai netif lengoeatch.

((Translation: I spell with spelling made to fit my native language)

[Groundhog]

Despite the fact that I am American, I use a few British spellings. Like judgement. I fail to see the point of taking out that "e" when the word judge is spelled with an "e".

[GolemsVoice]

I try to spell my words in british English, because I feel like an aristrocrat doing so, but I hardly can remember which spelling is which language.
And yes, jugdement is way cooler than jugdment.

[aapje]

Being a nonnative English speaker, my education has been UK English. But since I acquired most of my vocabulary through other media such as tv, computer games and the internet i suppose I use a mix of both.

Hmm I've just noticed that my FF spelling correcter is US English so I am going to change that right away to the real deal :smalltongue:

Oh and gray look preposterous! What kind of moron came up with that spelling?

Edit: Oh and I'm Dutch in case you were wondering

[r23r5]

British is just better. In every way, but -ize, thats cool.
Zed is just cooler then Zee.

[Emperor Ing]

British is just better. In every way, but -ize, thats cool.


*snicker* you just contradicted yourself. :smallamused:

[Rawhide]

*snicker* you just contradicted yourself. :smallamused:

No, he simply listed an exception (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=exception). (P.S. r23r5, please see my earlier link regarding -ize and -ise.)

[Gygaxphobia]

Nah, he said one thing was "cool" he didn't state that one thing was better. No contradiction, ya see?

American English frustrates me, I can see why it is superior phonetically, it just lacks a certain artfulness. Also, given the spelling is phonetic, I'm sure people will change the way they speak in time to mirror the spelling.

e.g. you see color, eventually you will say "coh'lore" rather than "cu-lah"

[Dallas-Dakota]

I'm really posting this out of personal curiosity, but I was wondering:

Members of the forum who don't have english as a first language, do you use American English or U.K. English with regards to spelling and the like?

I use Abreran.
It really looks like English, feels like english, talks like english.
But whenever I use it and it doesnt match with english I don't make any mistakes.
And its so much like english it doesnt have to be translated.



Yeah, thats my petty excuse for my poor english.

[Rare Pink Leech]

Being Canadian, I proudly and steadfastly use Canadian English, which is really a mixture of American and British English. Unlike Americans, it's colour and centre, not color and center. Unlike Brits, it's curb and jail, not kerb and gaol. I'm pretty sure Canadian spellings are closer to British spellings overall, but there are some words that either version is proper.

[Flickerdart]

Same as TPAM, Canadian English. Which is like real English but without the stupid slang they have and more of our own stupid slang.

[Arokh]

Hey.
My spelling is apperently mostly British English, although most of the time, some
American English phrases/writings manage to sneak into my texts, creating some
kind of weird hybrid that psooibly would be able to offend native speakers of both languages with equal ease. :smallwink:

So long, Arokh.

[captain_decadence]

American English frustrates me, I can see why it is superior phonetically, it just lacks a certain artfulness. Also, given the spelling is phonetic, I'm sure people will change the way they speak in time to mirror the spelling.

e.g. you see color, eventually you will say "coh'lore" rather than "cu-lah"

English (of either variety) is not in any way phonetic. That's the beauty of the language. In standard American english, we have five vowel letters but 13 vowel sounds. If the language was phonetic, that would be impossible. I'm not pro phonetics-only for the English language, as some scholars have been, because we would have to completely reorganize the language and I like that English has been allowed to grow and shift own its own. We have schools that teach grammar and vocabulary but we have no standardization boards or anything like that to try to keep the language "pure".

I also like to bring it up with Brits (I know, useless antagonism) that Standard Southern American English sounds more like Shakespeare's English than the any modern British accent. Take that, language purists!

[Serpentine]

Wow. I'd never even heard of "judgment". Ugh. Oh. So. Wrong >.< I feel dirty just writing that. Need to be cleeean!
Judgement.
Judgement.
JUDGEMENT JUDGEMENT JUDGEMENT.

Thanks Rawhide! Now I don't have to feel guilty about upping my "z" usage :smallbiggrin:

[Rawhide]

Wow. I'd never even heard of "judgment".

ORLY?

http://artfiles.art.com/images/-/Terminator-2---Judgment-Day-Poster-C10299547.jpeg

[Serpentine]

...

Either they changed that for Australia, or I blocked that from my memory. Thanks :smallannoyed:

[Dullyanna]

I prefer Canadian English, although I most often use American, so that I don't confuse some of my peers.

On an unrelated note: I hate America's use of the U.S. Customary units of measurement. It gets far deeper under my skin than gaol, kerb, or judgment (All of which annoy me, greatly).

[Myshlaevsky]

I'm pleasantly surprised at a vague general preference for UK English. I must say I feel differently about the grey/gray issue though - to me, gray looks nicer. It's not right though and I will not use it!

I apologise for not considering other variants of English such as Canadian or Australian. I just didn't realise the degree of variation there.


I also like to bring it up with Brits (I know, useless antagonism) that Standard Southern American English sounds more like Shakespeare's English than the any modern British accent. Take that, language purists!

I wouldn't know, I've never heard Shakespeare talk.

Anyway, all we need to do now is get you all using Scots dialect. :smalltongue:

P.S. One other thing: Who in Britain actually uses gaol anymore? I think prison is massively more widespread these days. That, and I imagine if people were spelling what they are saying they'd be spelling it 'jail'. At least around here, anyway.

[Rawhide]

...

Either they changed that for Australia, or I blocked that from my memory. Thanks :smallannoyed:

Not changed. (See: 1 (http://www.ezydvd.com.au/item.zml/226546), 2 (http://www.ezydvd.com.au/item.zml/223348), 3 (http://www.ezydvd.com.au/item.zml/786131)) Though I do agree it should have the e.


I prefer Canadian English, although I most often use American, so that I don't confuse some of my peers.

On an unrelated note: I hate America's use of the U.S. Customary units of measurement. It gets far deeper under my skin than gaol, kerb, or judgment (All of which annoy me, greatly).

"Silly Americans using the British imperial system even the British don't use any more." (Quote recalled from memory, probably not a direct quote) - One of the Neverwinter Nights staff on converting measurements for the game.


I also like to bring it up with Brits (I know, useless antagonism) that Standard Southern American English sounds more like Shakespeare's English than the any modern British accent. Take that, language purists!

Shakespeare's use of the English language was considered highly archaic even in his time. People did not speak like that then.

[Dragonrider]

I generally prefer British English.
However, one thing I cannot STAND -

fetus verses foetus

WHAT IS THAT EXTRA O?!

Come on, people!

I do prefer medaeval to medieval, colour to color, grey to gray (Gandalf the Grey sounds so much better than Gandalf the Gray...), favourite to favorite, centre to center, etc.

I think it was FDR decided to drop the extra Us. And I've heard rumor (rumour, heh heh) toat they're talking about changing "though" to "tho", "through" to "thru", etc. NO NO NO NO NO! That is TOO FAR! :smallfurious:

[Ceska]

I generally prefer British English.
However, one thing I cannot STAND -

fetus verses foetus

WHAT IS THAT EXTRA O?!

Come on, people!
Wiki says blame this guy. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Isidore_of_Seville) That said, I think the French spell it this way too. Also, I just was told it's Fetus in German, odd that I've never heard this pronunciation before.

[RTGoodman]

Being an American, I use mostly American spellings, but I read so much stuff when I was younger that was British that I've picked up certain things. I add the "e" in words like "judgement" and I use "grey" instead of "gray," and probably some other stuff I don't remember.

Here's a question for you British English speakers: do you guys put an "e" at the end of "develop" or in the middle of "development?" I spelled one of those that way on an essay a while back and the professor penalized me for misspelling, but told me he thought that it was at least was the British way of spelling it rather than I was just wrong.

[Vibrant]

That's it, I'm leaving the "e" in judg(e)ment from now on. That's how I naturally spell it and spellcheckers always disagree with me so I change it, but no more! :smallannoyed:

:smallbiggrin:

[Serpentine]

fetus verses foetus

WHAT IS THAT EXTRA O?!I can't really explain it, and it probably doesn't really come out when I actually say it, but "fetus" and "foetus" does sound kinda different to me. Kinda... "fetus" looks like it should = "fett-uss", "foetus" = sorta "foee-tus" (sort of a nearly-"w" sound around the "o")... I can't really tell you how.

I know! It signifies an inflection far too subtle for your crude, purile American ears and tongues :smalltongue:

[sktarq]

Yeah. Spelling. *shudder*

There are many advantages to growing up surrounded by a British ex-pat community in California. Spelling is not one of them. My parents, my parents friends, proprietors of many of the local stores are all British ex pats and use UK spellings. School tried to use US spellings. Many Xmas presents were from my relatives in the UK were books and used UK spellings. Local books used US spellings.

Generally when I just write stream on consciousness style they come out UK.
And have had many arguments with English teachers about proper spelling and grammar. Easy trump card. "When the class is called American 110 I'll start writing in American, until then I'm writing in English!" Only problem is you have to be consistent.

Overall though, I am still confused on a regular basis.

[aapje]

I prefer Canadian English, although I most often use American, so that I don't confuse some of my peers.

On an unrelated note: I hate America's use of the U.S. Customary units of measurement. It gets far deeper under my skin than gaol, kerb, or judgment (All of which annoy me, greatly).

Yeah it's just really outdated. Inch, pound, Fahrenheit, mile and all such units just don't belong in the 21st century. (nor did they in the 20th for that matter)

It leads to absurd measures as pounds per square inch.

[Hiraghm]

"I look like an idiot for having that in the middle of my post. Now look what I've done."

I usually look like an idiot for whatever words I have in the middle of my posts...


I hate the metric system btw; it's easy alright. And artificial. Every time I encounter the metric system, I think "1984" and pull out my peril-sensitive sunglasses.

I usually speak British-American, but I'm trying (slowly) to learn modern-American.

I know a few words already, like "habla" and "mas", and "hombre".

(I think the most commonly used word in modern American may be "mas".)
:smallfrown:

[Hiraghm]

ooh, "outdated" there's a word I hate.

People look at hairstyles and clothes from the 80s, 70s and 60s and think, "boy that's outdated".. but in the 80s, 70s, and 60s, everyone thought they were "cool".

So now look at your hair and your clothes. 10-20 years from now, what's cool today will be "outdated".

A pint's a pound the world round...

I realise that kids are being dumbed-down in the schools, which is all the more reason to keep measurement math more difficult. 12 inches to the foot, I dunno how many feet to the meter...

"In poetry, the meter or metre is the basic rhythmic structure of a verse. Many traditional verse forms prescribe a specific verse meter, or a certain set of meters alternating in a particular order.

"In most Western classical poetic traditions, the meter of a verse can be described as a sequence of feet, each foot being a specific sequence of syllable types --- such as stressed/unstressed (the norm for English poetry) or long/short (as in most classical Latin and Greek poetry)."

3 feet to the yard, 16 ounces to the pint, 2 pints to the quart, 4 quarts to the gallon, 16 gallons to the tank :smallwink:

The biggest conversion problem I have is figuring out how many pounds to the stone, or vice-versa.

"Down with Big Brother!" - Winston Smith

[InaVegt]

10 millimeter to the centimeter, 10 centimeter to the decimeter, 10 decimeter to the meter, 10 meter to the decameter, 10 decameter to the hectometer, 10 hectometer to the kilometer.

Simple and logical, works as a charm too.

[Dullyanna]

@Hiraghm:If kids are being dumbed down, then why should we keep the same system? It sure as hell doesn't appear to help them in the math department. And furthermore, how's the metric system "artificial" when compared to the imperial system (Or any of its inbred offspring). I think a completely universal system of measurement wouldn't do us any harm (Unlike, say, having a single language for the entire world). Some differences are just arbitrary and pointless, IMO.

[Ceska]

I can't really explain it, and it probably doesn't really come out when I actually say it, but "fetus" and "foetus" does sound kinda different to me. Kinda... "fetus" looks like it should = "fett-uss", "foetus" = sorta "foee-tus" (sort of a nearly-"w" sound around the "o")... I can't really tell you how.

I know! It signifies an inflection far too subtle for your crude, purile American ears and tongues :smalltongue:
I would guess it's rather an error of an occitan or french version of Latin, from fɛtus to fœtus. Which is closer than the English fiːtus, but still a pronunciation error.

[CurlyKitGirl]

English.
Thus British English all the way.
I actually can't stand this thing called American and how it's written and, on the few occasions I've bought a book published in America (charity shops) I went around and had to restrain myself from correcting the writing.
Grey is grey. And why are there missing vowels everywhere? It makes no sense. Combination of vowels produces a slightly different inflection and pronounciation to the word when it's pronounced.
Aluminum. It has never and never will be a word. every other science community uses aluminium.
However; I've only ever seen 'gaol' in American written books and subtitles. here all I see is jail, prison or slang terms.

@'ruki-chan: your peril hath increased nigh ten fold. Thou hast lost thy once uncontested right to ask spelling advice. :smalltongue:

That comic of his shall represent me for eternity.

[The Extinguisher]

Canadian English forever, eh?

[Aereshaa_the_2nd]

I mostly use British English, because it looks better to me. I also use the metric system because it is internally-consistant, and is based off universal constants. For example a kilogram is just the mass of a 10 centimetre cube of water.
Also, never say that something weighs x kilograms. A kilogram is a unit of mass, NOT weight. The correct unit of weight is the newton, which is the force needed to give a mass of one kilogram an acceleration of one metre per second per second.

[Morty]

I was taught to speak in British English, but I have such a strong accent that it barely sounds like it.

[Haruki-kun]

English spelling.

FTW.

End of story.

Haha.

I can't debate that. :smallbiggrin:


This is the one concession I'll give to US spelling. I like "z", I think it should be used more often, even if it does make my tongue itch.

........to be honest, spelling is one thing.... but I pronounce the Z and the S exactly the same. Probably because they sound the same in Spanish.

Well..... except in Spain Spanish. But I'm not from Spain, so....

So back to English...... <.<


@'ruki-chan: your peril hath increased nigh ten fold. Thou hast lost thy once uncontested right to ask spelling advice. :smalltongue:

That comic of his shall represent me for eternity.

Aye. But again, it's all out of love. :smallwink:

[Glaivemaster]

I also like to bring it up with Brits (I know, useless antagonism) that Standard Southern American English sounds more like Shakespeare's English than the any modern British accent. Take that, language purists!

What, you mean British English has evolved like a normal language while Americans are futilely clinging to an old system of spellings? :smallamused:

As for measurements, I just use whatever seems easiest at the time. Playing D&D and Warhammer has taught me to measure in inches, though I recognise metric is probably better. I also weigh myself in pounds, though once again, kilograms are better. Unfortunately, I'm awful at conversion, so this isn't a great situation for me.

[Project_Mayhem]

rah, American English makes Angry

If you're going to continue using our language after you revolt, at least have the decencey to use it properly :smallwink:

And if there were any spelling mistakes in this, I am drunk, but I appreciate the irony.

[Vella_Malachite]

Generally, British English. When I was younger, I realised that Americans spelled 'colour' 'color' and determined never to spell anything the American way ever again, so most of my spelling is British. (This was when I was about four or five, the same age as when I named my cat Judy because I didn't want to insult her by giving her a demeaning kitty name like 'fluffy', so no-one take offense, please...)

I also spell words like 'foetus' and 'manoeuvre' with the extra letters because it makes me feel vaguely superior, and 'gaol' rather than 'jail' because it's uncommon and looks cool.
Yes, when it comes to spelling, I can be extremely shallow.:smallredface:

I like 'grey' better than 'gray' because 'grey' makes me think of the colour of clouds during rain in winter when you're inside and warm, while 'gray' makes me think of the colour of that horrible sweater the overweight old woman is wearing down the street that you swear you'll never be caught dead in anything like. Yes, that made sense. I think.

Once again, that's just my opinion, no offense intended to anyone.

[Myshlaevsky]

Vella Malachite, you're like a paladin of the language I speak. Even a heathen can see the light. :smalltongue::smalltongue:

[Quincunx]

"Wherever in the world I am, a cubic centimeter is a gram"? I can't remember where I plucked that bit of trivia.

American here--I view Americans who use only a sampling of British spellings as willing to lie about the larger issues also. Vella presents herself as a Canadian in matters of spelling, and I have to refrain from sniping at them because I haven't internalized their standardizations. My husband (Swedish) was taught British English in school but uses American spellings, although the longer we are mired here in Ireland, the more local slang he's acquiring.

On the American vocalization of spelling: ess pee ee el el aye en gee.
On the local (Irish) vocalization of spelling: ess pee ee double-el aye en gee.

Pounds per square inch is just as absurd as grams per square centimeter--the metric system just more often gives those derived measurements a new name, making them sound less contrived and clumsy--EXCEPT for weight. Weight is contrived in metric but basic in imperial measurements, and that linguistic distinction carries on. Couple that with the association of "mass" with "fatness" (who likes to discuss the material content of their bodies, instead of blaming it all on gravity?) and the pounds and stones are well equipped to outlast the inches and acres.

Hiraghm: Pentameter. Five feet to the meter. Shakespeare said so. *vigorous nod*

[Telonius]

The difference between gray and grey, as I see it:

Elephants are gray.
Gandalf is grey.

Grey has more silver or white in it. Gray is closer to black, or has a little bit of brown in it.

[poleboy]

As a non-native speaker, I find American English spelling easier to remember and more forgiving. It's very likely also because I simply hear American being spoken almost every day, and British much less often. The funny thing is that most schools here are quite strict about teaching only British spelling and pronounciation. Also, I never bothered to learn proper punctuation in English, since I felt little need to keep track of more than one system at the same time. So my rule of thumb for punctuation when writing english is "use Danish punctuation, then remove about half the commas and they probably won't notice" :smallredface:

With that said, I do think that British looks better in writing. I imagine Shakespeare felt something similiar about the way he wrote.

[Project_Mayhem]

Actually, on this subject, does anyone know of any mods to change, for example, Mage Armor to Mage Armour, or Color Spray to Colour Spray on Never Winter Nights. This would ease my frustration.

[Arioch]

We used to have an American-born English teacher at our British grammar school. He spelled everything in British English, and never made a single mistake. I was impressed. It must be hard to swap to a different spelling system halfway through life.

I refuse to give in to the media tide and use American spellings. I will, however, concede that "manoeuvre" is a ridiculous spelling that always cried out to be Anglicised. If I could swallow my pride, I'd use "maneuver" like any right-thinking person should.


Unlike Brits, it's curb and jail, not kerb and gaol.

Um...I'm a grammar and spelling stickler, and I've always used curb, and I'm pretty sure "gaol" hasn't been mainstream for a century or more.

[Player_Zero]

The difference between gray and grey, as I see it:

Elephants are gray.
Gandalf is grey.

Grey has more silver or white in it. Gray is closer to black, or has a little bit of brown in it.
"Grey or gray (see spelling differences) describes any shade between black and white."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gray_(color))

Also, I'm not entirely sure that '-ize' is more American. I was informed that '-ize' was used more in England back in the ol' days of lore, and it's just that it was bastardized over time.

Anyhow, being english, I spell with english spelling conventions. I also tend to spell wildly and with reckless abandon.

[evisiron]

Not only do I use UK English (despite being in Texas at the moment) I sometimes annoy my girlfriend by typing with Hyper-UK English!

Iut kuind ouf luooks luike thuis, yuou suee. Uunecessary U's four thue wuin! :smallbiggrin:

[Irenaeus]

I use (or try to use) the British spelling, as that is the English I was taught in school. I do mix it up a lot, since I am a lot more exposed to texts in American English than UK English.

Also, sometimes I find that I simply prefer the American English spelling.

Syncretism is a funny thing.

[Telonius]

"Grey or gray (see spelling differences) describes any shade between black and white."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gray_(color))


Oh, come on. Next you'll be telling me that icing and frosting are the same thing, or that Dawn and Don sound the same. :smallbiggrin:

[WalkingTarget]

Typical Standard Midwestern (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_American) accent here (variant with cot/caught, wine/whine, and horse/hoarse mergers but not pin/pen).

I agree that judgement and grey look better (as well as doughnut), whatever Firefox says.

When I read stuff that includes extra characters in stuff like foetus and manoeuvre I have a tendency to mentally swap in the ligature (like one would for Œdipus) but I still know what the word is and my mental pronunciation doesn't change any; fetus, foetus, and fœtus are all the same (strangely, though, I don't pronounce Ptolemy as "tolemy" or "puh-tolemy" as most people tend to, Pyramids (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyramids_%28Discworld%29) was particularly funny to me). I typically don't make the effort myself if I'm typing it though unless I'm making a point about the ligature itself as I don't have the keystroke for that memorized. I have no idea if that's even proper for the UK spellings, it's just what my mind does.

I don't think I'm going to make the jump and start using UK spellings in general (no colours or favourites for me).

[The Rose Dragon]

I spell in Turkish, you fascists! :smalltongue:

Or whatever Safari tells me is correct. Or whatever strikes me fancy. Mostly it's color, armor, gray, honor and poodle... wait, poodle is the same at both sides of the pond.

And with zees, not zeds, in my -ized words.

I am willing to rise to the defense of the honor of American English with my ionized gray colored armor.

So there.

[Don Julio Anejo]

A thread aboot different types of English, eh?

[Saeveo]

My husband (Swedish) was taught British English in school but uses American spellings, although the longer we are mired here in Ireland, the more local slang he's acquiring.

Ugh, mired is such a cruel word. Unless you're somewhere like Longford or Mayo, in which case you probably mean it in a literal sense. :smallsmile:

And local slang tends not to be so bad. Unless, of course, he's addressed you as "Heeerrrree, Auulld-Waaaaannnn!!" recently. :smallwink:

I've personally had a preference for British Spelling, ever since I did a beginner's course in QBasic and it told me that "Colour" was wrong.

[Elder Tsofu]

I use both american and british, but when I think of how I write I tend to use british as it is what I learned in school and it simply look better on paper.
One thing that upsets me is the use of different names for substances like epinephrine and adrenaline... :smallsigh:

[Saeveo]

I use both american and british, but when I think of how I write I tend to use british as it is what I learned in school and it simply look better on paper.
One thing that upsets me is the use of different names for substances like epinephrine and adrenaline... :smallsigh:

Or paracetemol and acetominophen. That's down to the use of different naming standards more than anything else, though.

[Thiel]

We're taught to speak and write British English in school so that's what I do.
I'm a big fan of the SI system because while it may be artificial (It's based on two pieces of platinum-iridium) it is far easier to remember. And at least the celcius scale makes sense.

[Quincunx]

Or paracetemol and acetominophen. That's down to the use of different naming standards more than anything else, though.

Thank you for clarifying that little mystery for me. The package inserts didn't.

As for being mired, the geniuses who built the retaining wall for the field in which our houses have been built forgot to insert drainage pipes into said wall, so despite being nearly on the top of a hill, it's applicable in some months. Maybe once the downhill construction has finished, they'll have put some drainage into their wall. I no longer question why everything that could be paved, is.

[Logic]

As an American, it may surprise some of you that I prefer a few British versions of the words as opposed to the American ones.

For example, I prefer apologise with the "S," and grey with an "E."

But I still like color and armor without the "U."

[Serpentine]

I am willing to rise to the defense of the honor of American English with my ionized gray colored armor.But ionized grey-coloured armour would be so much cooler...

[unstattedCommoner]

Wow. I'd never even heard of "judgment". Ugh. Oh. So. Wrong >.< I feel dirty just writing that. Need to be cleeean!
Judgement.
Judgement.
JUDGEMENT JUDGEMENT JUDGEMENT.


Judgment: reasons given by a judge for his decision.
Judgement: exercised by a judge in giving judgment.

[Saeveo]

But ionized grey-coloured armour would be so much cooler...

Besides, everyone knows that extra "U"s give a +1 to AC.

[Thanatos 51-50]

~~This poster is American~~

"On my honor, the Greyguard's Armor was black!"
I just pulled that one out of my rear, but it shows how I spell.

Seriously, I just spell however feels natural. Sometimes, very rearel;y will I even think about the british spelling of words like "Armour, Colour and Honour", and that will even be only for joking purposes.
I just never leanred about the extra "u"s until I was six, and it confused my poor little six-year-old brain.
I'm apparently, a bit of a language-traitor, thoughbecause I use "grey" more often than "gray", no differance, just that I think with an "e" instead of an "a"
I have since stopped caring about the british/american differances, and in fact, don't even know them, aside from the occasional extra, superflorus "u"s and "k"s.

[The Rose Dragon]

Judgment: reasons given by a judge for his decision.
Judgement: exercised by a judge in giving judgment.

And knowing is half the battle.

[Bonecrusher Doc]

Any of y'all speak Southern?

That has always frustrated me that English doesn't have distinct words for the second person singular and plural pronouns. Hence y'all, you guys, yous guys... we're trying to make up for that deficiency in our language.

Talking about fetus/foetus, what about orthopedics/orthopaedics, and encyclopedia/encyclopaedia? Perhaps someone can explain that to me. Do the Brits spell it with the ae, or perhaps the smushed-together a&e?

My first year of college my roommate was a British-descent South African and two of my close friends were from Boston. I found myself omitting my r's from words like "door" and "chair." That was the same roommate who pronounced Toyota "Tee-yota" and Pecan as "PEE-kun."

[Arioch]

Talking about fetus/foetus, what about orthopedics/orthopaedics, and encyclopedia/encyclopaedia? Perhaps someone can explain that to me. Do the Brits spell it with the ae, or perhaps the smushed-together a&e?

I generally use "oe" and "ae" variants, as do other British people I know. The fused-letter variant (encyclopædia) isn't really used anymore, at least in mainstream English.

"Fetus" just looks ridiculous, though.