Apparently I Cannot Spell

Discussion in 'Evolution of Language' started by Tom Locke, May 28, 2015.

  1. Tom Locke

    Tom Locke Veteran Member
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    I've been doing some writing work for a US-based company. Something I didn't take into account was the differences between UK and US spelling. I made the heinous mistake of using the word 'travelling' when, of course, I should have omitted an "l''.

    Result: an explosion of rage from the editor, who lambasted me for my inability to spell.

    Yes, we remain divided by a common language.
     
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  2. John Donovan

    John Donovan Veteran Member
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    Well, given the fact that UK and US English has its differences, I'm guessing it's completely natural for a US speaker to make a few mistakes when submitting a piece of work in UK English and vice versa. I don't think that his reaction was justified at all.
     
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  3. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    Apparently, letters (particularly vowels) grow on trees in England. We are not so wasteful of them here in America.
     
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  4. Tom Locke

    Tom Locke Veteran Member
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    I wouldn't like to evacuate my vowels in the wrong place, though...
     
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  5. Diane Lane

    Diane Lane Veteran Member
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    I'm American, and I've always spelled it with 2 LLs. I don't recognize differences between the UK/USA/Canadian spellings, as a problem, nor do I think they're a reason to lambast someone. Where I'm from, we use the UK spelling storeys, rather than storys (<--always looks incorrect to me) of a house. I used to pull deeds and other legal documents, and saw it that way many times. Maybe it's because Massachusetts started out as a British colony, I'm not sure, but I find either acceptable.
     
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  6. Joe Riley

    Joe Riley Supreme Member
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    In the US, traffic is traveling in the right lane, while in the UK it is travelling in the left lane.
     
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  7. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    There is right, and then there is wrong.
     
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  8. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    What annoys me is the pretentiousness of theaters in the United States inverting the letters to spell theatre. I could accept that from those New England theaters that have been around since before Americans learned how to spell the word, but then the theater groups and community theaters began spelling it that way, and now I'm seeing movie theaters in Montana doing that.
     
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  9. Tom Locke

    Tom Locke Veteran Member
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    I've just seen a vision of the future...next time, I'll use one 'l' and get panned by an editor who comes from Boston.
     
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  10. John Donovan

    John Donovan Veteran Member
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    Haha, I guess that's inevitable. As long as there is more than one type of people in the world, you can never please everyone. If I were you, I would make myself a cheat sheet with all the differences between American and British English, at least the most common words/mistakes. In this way, you would be able to look at it whenever you write for another British editor and avoid getting yelled at. :)
     
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  11. Tom Locke

    Tom Locke Veteran Member
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    I just hope I never have to write something about travelling to a theatre that is 200 metres away or discuss their cancellation policy.
     
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  12. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    For the record, even though the British haven't really learned the language very well, we do accept British spelling here.
     
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  13. Tom Locke

    Tom Locke Veteran Member
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    That gom* of an editor didn't!

    * Cork slang (gom = idiot, fool)
     
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  14. Joe Riley

    Joe Riley Supreme Member
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    Good idea!
    http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/words/british-and-american-spelling
     
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  15. John Donovan

    John Donovan Veteran Member
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