Zee & Zed, Cheque & Check, Optimise/ize

Are we judged by dialect and grammar?

[peewhy]

I earn money from words and I'm acutely aware that certain words give away geographic clues.

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?

[peewhy]

Another good one is 'monetize'.

[TheDoctor]

'monetize'

Which word would you use instead?

[AlexK]

faltered:

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

My understanding of the epidemiology (not totally accurate, but it is a wonderful word) of the schism between English and American is that

1 USA uses the old (original) spellings
2 There were also some deliberate changes in the USA

Let's not forget that until the printing press virtually every hill and dale in England had it's own dialect, and that spelling was phonetic (and rare). Caxton's Bible was criticised because his spelling was seemingly drawn at random from many places throughout the Kingdom.

I was born in 1949 and went to an English Grammar School. I therefore love about the US:

1 Spelling Bees (sp?)
2 Gallons
3 Miles
4 etc...

PS There is a Union Jack on my site. I see nothing wrong with showing allegiance to the Queen by a British subject, and sod the idiots who try to usurp such symbols for false ends.

[kaled]

Logically, the word should be monetarise, however, this isn't widely used.

My own pet hate is oriented which should, of course, be orientated.

Kaled.

[TheDoctor]

monetarise

Ah yes, quite correct. I think I might use both words inconsistently (I'm always too busy listening to other people to listen to myself).

Actually, orientated used to annoy me. I thought that the correct word was oriented. But both are of similar antiquity - early seventeenth century as far as I remember.