Forum Moderators: phranque
Sometimes I try and write in a neutral format so as not to create a bias.
Other times I wave the Union Jack in order to attract 'anglophiles'.
George W Bush's grammar is always a source of amusement and it causes concern that we are judged by the way we speak or write.
In the USA, can you read regional accents? Do you write in a manner to attract or otherwise certain buyers?
Same applies to Canada.
In the UK, do you polish the British or lean towards European ... or indeed go neutral?
Whatever nationality, how to you 'sell' on the world wide web to gain the best advantage?
It has been surmized (sp?) that the internet could spell the end of some of the minor dialects in favour (sp?) of the majorities. Pity, but perhaps unavoidable.
Onya
Woz
...and to have to write burglarize, no! I can't do.
Kaled (in the UK).
I'm happy to use the less ugly US spellings such as color and favorites and will use even use customize instead of customise but grammar, for the most part, is not dialect-dependant. In other words, bad grammar results from ignorance or sloppiness rather than geolocation.
I'm in the US. Just curious why you think the "U" is ugly. I find it elegant, actually. And I also find it interesting to observe the evolution of the English language: to learn of new words, to see newly accepted ways of spelling older words, etc.
In college I was forced to take several editing classes. It was the best thing that ever happened to me. To this day I pull out my Webster's New World College Dictionary to check the spelling of a word. For grammatical questions, of course I turn to Words into Type, third edition. These books contain what is generally thought to be the most accepted rules of writing.
Of course, newspapers each have their own styles that they follow, which makes the situation that much more complex.
Did one individual proclaim the abolition of U in Colour, Neighbour etc?
Then did a 'Promote Zee' campaign start. When the settlers arrived, it must have been 'zed', why was it changed?
In the end, I write the best I can, and don't worry so much about the traffic.
I often wonder how the dropping of 'U' came about. Was there an 'anti U committee'?
Did one individual proclaim the abolition of U in Colour, Neighbour etc?
The dropping of the u occured naturally, and would have continued had not the Americans dropped the us faster than us Brits - our national pride and abhorence of Americanisms has blocked this particular path of linguistic progression.
Fowler argues that 'our' is incorrect, and that 'or' is better, has occured with 'governour' which we dropped the u from some years ago - along with other words which were adjusted to conform to their Latin origins during the Renaissance period.
So in short, the u was dropped because it was technically incorrect, but not all words were corrected and then the Yanks jumped on the bandwagon and we got arrogant <g>
Matt
American English is also altered by past attempts at spelling reform. The Chicago Tribune used simplified spellings like "thru" and "nite" into the 70s, but they never gained real currency. Some dictionaries say they are acceptable as alternative spellings of "through" and "night" but don't tell any of my teachers that.
in fact, i go out of my way to use english english.
any time i see a site using american english, i assume the site to be american. my potential customers will think the same.
i'd love to fly the union flag on my sites, but i'd probably get some left wing loonies kicking up a fuss about it ............ all publicity is good publicity, but i don't want the grief .........
Fowler argues that 'our' is incorrect, and that 'or' is better, has occured with 'governour' which we dropped the u from some years ago - along with other words which were adjusted to conform to their Latin origins during the Renaissance period.
I'm assuming this is a joke, it's funny anyway!
So in short, the u was dropped because it was technically incorrect, but not all words were corrected and then the Yanks jumped on the bandwagon and we got arrogant <g>
....and that's even funnier, or do we drop the 'u' and add an 'o'?
In 1906, President Teddy Roosevelt challenged the traditions of the written language by ordering the official use of 300 new simplified spellings in executive documents. Within four months, Roosevelt retracted this order because of much ridicule and opposition.
When I said that I was happy to use less-ugly US spellings, I did not mean that I found UK spellings ugly, I meant that some US spellings are horrifyingly ugly - thru being a prime example.
Kaled.
some US spellings are horrifyingly ugly - thru being a prime example
Thru is an imperfect example, in that it's a shortcut, a semiofficial little mangle trying to work its way into spurious legitimacy. To be fair, some of the worst manglings of the English language I've ever witnessed have come from my customers in the UK.
A) If you use proper english instead of American english, the Americans will think you misspelled the word.
B) Canadians are exposed to so much american publications and tv, they know that both spellings are correct.
Canadian schools used to reprimand you for usings American spellings instead of the proper form. I don't believe they enforce this in Canadians schools anymore.
Canadian schools used to reprimand you for usings American spellings instead of the proper form. I don't believe they enforce this in Canadians schools anymore.
Teachers in the UK are happy if most of the letters are correct - it doesn't much matter what order they come in provided you can guess the meaning and be right some of the time.
Kaled.
Colour = incorrect
mum it's broken.
Few years later
we grudgingly click on US english.
rule britania britania rules the waaaa...
Whatever nationality, how to you 'sell' on the world wide web to gain the best advantage?
Or, perhaps, "how do y'all sell...
:-)
Teachers in the UK are happy if most of the letters are correct - it doesn't much matter what order they come in provided you can guess the meaning and be right some of the time.
That's not totally true, both my daughters' schools are very strict on spelling. 100% right is correct. 99.9% is wrong.
The vast bulk of my market is UK/Europe, I write in UK English to highlight this.
I think the US language is based on creating shortcuts, someone decided the 'o' in colour is redundant and the 'Q' in cheque confused the Latin folk.
both my daughters' schools are very strict on spelling. 100% right is correct. 99.9% is wrong.
Money doesn't grow on trees but, apparently, fur does.
Kaled.
One of the things that struck me with the UK/USA adaptations is in general the US cuts some UK words by dropping a letter or two.
But then they add some letters in words such as 'gotten'...no such word in the 'Queens' English and my favourite .."Burglarized"!
"fawcett" ... why, it's a tap!
Walmart recently bought ASDA in the UK. At the moment we don't have anything like the Walmart experience, I hope we do but time will tell. It they relocated a real 'dyed in the wool' experienced Walmart manager over here to open a US style store, he'd die!
This is a true story, I wanted to buy a friend a book whilst I was in a a Walmart in NV, I couldn't see the one so I asked someone.
"do you have 'Flowers In The Attic' please?"
He replied, "we've only got one level, so I think the flowers would be over there somewhere sir".
I think the US language is based on creating shortcuts, someone decided the 'o' in colour is redundant and the 'Q' in cheque confused the Latin folk.
Frankly, I'm for the elimination of silent letters in most of our words. It would be nice to see an international body set up to eliminate most of the exceptions to the English grammar and phonics rules and generally simplify things. It is not the first time English spelling and grammar was changed by committee, but I'm afraid that that is wishful thinking today.
But then they add some letters in words such as 'gotten'...no such word in the 'Queens' English
and my favourite .."Burglarized"!
"fawcett" ... why, it's a tap!
I do't think we can attribute any Latin, Norse, Old English etc with American bastardisations of English. They've simply taken words and modifified them for whatever reason.
The word 'booey' for buoy for example, it isn't mis-spelt, just mis-pronounced.
I think, what has happened over the years through settler, pioneers and immigrants, they have simply written the word exactly has it is pronounced and invented the others, such as burglarized.
How often have we seen officials in front of a camera use vocabulary that they simply don't understand? I'm not taking a pop at Americans - this happens in the UK too.
Kaled.
I do't think we can attribute any Latin, Norse, Old English etc with American bastardisations of English. They've simply taken words and modifified them for whatever reason.
I use different versions of English spelling depending on the primary target audience of a site.
But, I have NEVER, and I mean absolutely never, received an email from a UK user pointing out a "misspelling" at a US site, but at least 4-5 times a month I get emails from US users helpfully informing me I have spelled things incorrectly at a UK/Irish site.
and my favourite .."Burglarized"!
Well it is more often pronounced with a 'z' sound instead of a 's' sound.
I think the question is why does it exist, when burgled is a perfectly good word that does the same job? I am intrigued by the American propensity for creating new words to replace ones that seem quite adequate and up to their job already. My favo(u)rite is 'normalcy' - what does it say that is not already perfectly well conveyed by 'normality'?
