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Posted by: JLY Dec 12 05, 12:31

Dear Friends:
There are many websites devoted to the differences of opinion/spelling of commonly used words on both sides of the Atlantic. I will offer just a smattering for you...in Alpha order not necessarily in order of preference:

American                  British

aluminum                                    aluminium

analog                                       analogue

boro                                          borough

bylaw                                        bye law

center                                       centre

defense                                     defence

donut                                        doughnut

favorite                                      favourite

gage                                          guage

gray                                           grey

hauler                                         haulier

honor                                          honour

license                                        licence

jewelry                                        jewellery

mustache                                    moustache

nite                                            night

omelet                                        omelette

pajamas                                      pyjamas

routing                                        routeing

thru                                            through

traveler                                       traveller

tire                                             tyre

vise                                            vice

Oftentimes, when we crit each other, there are words that may not appear to be correct (spelling-wise that is) but in reality it may be what is commonly used in that person's country.

I am sure we can add many more to this list, but I just tried to share a few.

JLY

Posted by: Jox Dec 12 05, 12:50

Brill, thanks John - an excellent ready-reference. Please add to it as and when. I'll pin it at the top of the Library, too.

P.S. If any other countries' spellings are different again, PM them to John and (if you don't mind, please John) he can enter more columns, above.

Cheers, J.

Posted by: Toumai Dec 12 05, 13:00

Thanks, John - a fascinating reference

I'd add  check  and cheque

and thanks, James, for pinning it so we can always see it.

Of course, may words also have subtly (or not so subtly) different meanings, too - pavement, duvet, gas and so on ...

Fran

Posted by: Nina Dec 12 05, 13:07

thanks John for starting this thread , what an excellent idea and thanks James for pinning it.

Other spelling differences include:

color, colour

all the words we end in ise that in US end in ize

and as Fran says all the different meanings of the same word such as pants.

Nina

Posted by: Don Apr 24 06, 10:28

Looking over JLY's original list I amend three.

Nite is not in my American Heritage Dictionary

Thru is informal for through; hence sorta slang.

Both vise and vice are valid American words
Vise is a clamping tool; therefore, different than morality vice.

Respectfully,

Don

Posted by: Jox Apr 24 06, 11:57

Hi Don,

That is interesting. I has assumed that "thru" and "nite" were standard American spellings (they are not used here, save when someone wants to appear American). "Vice" means both clamp and illegal activities, which have public morality implications - so, there, the American spelling difference is useful.

Cheers, James.

John, would you mind re-editing your original to include the later suggestions, please?

J.

Posted by: Don Apr 24 06, 18:33

John may disagree.

In my mind thru and nite are slang corruptions and often seen in advertising.

The online OED has both American and English, which may be a decent standard to query.

Don

Posted by: JustDaniel Aug 18 06, 15:17

Doughnut, guage and grey have been in my vocabulary since I was young, though I've found that few Americans use "grey" and most young folk only know donut, I must admit. Our words, alas, have been corrupted by advertisements and signs.

I still recall the first 50-word Monday spelling test in which I didn't get enough correct words to avoid taking the test on Friday in the sixth grade. ( The highest scores did not have to take the test on Friday... and I never had to... except that week! ). On Sunday we had passed the "Chicken in the Ruff" place, so I was relieved that I knew how to spell that word the next morning... only to find out that "rough" is the correct word! And that summer I learned that it's spelled the same way alongside the fairways on the golf links too! I spent a good deal of time there... on the right side of the course.

Lightly, Daniel

Posted by: Don Aug 19 06, 08:26

That is just downright "ruff," Daniel. Put a doughnut in one hand and a donut in the other for a balanced diet.

Don

Posted by: Arnfinn Sep 4 06, 05:19

a fEW more.

English American

anaemia anemia

analyse analyze

apologise apologize

axe ax

catalogue catalog

dialogue dialog

defence defense

disc disk

draught draft

faeces feces

favourite favorite

gaol jail

mould mold

offence offense

plough plow

sceptic skeptic

smoulder smolder

storey story

sulphur sulfur

theatre theater

woollen woolen



For a bit of fun I'll add the 'Cockney Alphabet' that emerged from the music-hall in the 1920s.

A for 'orses'
B for mutton
C for yourself
D for mation
E for brick
F for vesence
G for crying out loud
H for retirement
I for lutin
J for oranges
K for teria
L for leather
M for sis
N for lope
O for the top
P for a whistle
Q for everthing
R for mo
S for you
T for two
U for me
V for la France
W for quits
X for breakfast
Y for unts
Z for breezes

William Shakespear, Love's Labours Lost V, i ( Holoferes)

'I abhor such fanatical phantasms, such insociable and point device companions; such rackers of orthography, as to speak dout, fine, when he should say doubt; det, when he should pronounce debt-d, e, b, t, not d, e, t; he clepeth a calf, cauf; half, hauf; neighbour vocatur nebour, neigh abbreviated ne...

Posted by: Don Sep 4 06, 09:03

I find it ironic that dear William, who added something like one hundred fifty new words to the English Language, would be deeply concerned about preserving proper pronunciation. Go figure. I am not so daft as to think this impossible.

Heaven forgive me for failing to quote sources, but I recently learned that not all American spellings are due to ignorant loutishness. A cyclic movement by lexiconographers is to officially simplify the language. One high point took place during the tenure of U.S. President Teddy Roosevelt. A lot of "ae, ouse, yse, ue" were either eliminated or modified to "look more like spoken,"

Major mutations such as "draught" to "draft", "gaol" to "jail", and "barrister" to "attorney" may be due to really fanatic lexicon police. Is it possible that they may be the edifices of ignorant louts after all?

Don

Posted by: Arnfinn Sep 5 06, 02:49

Hi Don,

Actually I agree. I believe, English words should be lexically phonetic and standardised. In saying that- English and American readers are aware of the difference between words. I could write a poem about a ploughman or a plowman and it would be quite acceptable.

Andrew Jackson, US President 1829-37

'It is a damn poor mind that can think of only one way to spell a word'

And I think this is a good one.

Humphrey Bogart

'You're not a star until they can spell your name in Karachi'


Regards,


John

Posted by: Don Sep 5 06, 09:24

Good morning John,

I wonder if Andrew Jackson meant that the different spellings of the same word were to be acceptably correct? A jib at a southerner by a northener.

You are enhancing our wealth of mind with your double list.

Karchi? My star is fated not to be a "star."

The sun is shining this morning and I shall trundle to an opticians office to have my nosepiece repaired. Sensitive noses prefer nosepads don't fall off.

See ya later

Don

Posted by: Arnfinn Sep 5 06, 21:43

QUOTE (Don @ Sep 5 06, 14:24 )

Posted by: JLY Sep 6 06, 05:48

John,
Just to add a little bit of regional, local flavor to the pronunciation pallette......in the NYC area one of the words you listed:

axe / ax is actually used in place of the word ask

With a good ear, you can hear many of our residents speak the following......."hey mister, can I axe you a question"



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Posted by: Arnfinn Sep 8 06, 04:05

QUOTE (JLY @ Sep 6 06, 10:48 )

Posted by: JLY Sep 8 06, 07:02

John,
New Yorkers are always in a hurry...some of the fastest talkers around....it's easier and quicker to say "axe" instead of "ask" and that is what many residents have fallen victim to.

I will share some more local flavor with you when I get more time.

JLY

Posted by: 4rum Jul 22 07, 11:35

There was a time when seeing a word in print lent to it's legitimacy. Not so anymore. A gradual degradation of literacy has taken place worldwide. It's not just the U.S. or the U.K. it's a universal problem and it is worsening. Advertising does contrubute... words are money, hence thru, gr8 or X-mas. Now 'chat-speak' in the cyber world is surpassing all previous violations of grammar.

I really don't want to sound hateful, and I would be the first to take imagination and creativity over spelling or grammar, but not having an education myself, I long for the knowledge that we now seem to discard or take for granted.

I do often write in a phonetic sort of jibberish, largely because it's the way I speak normally. Short choppy sentences... breaks, pauses, and often I leave off several words if I think the idea is made clear.
So... maybe I contrubute to a situation I'm not happy about, but I have certainly enjoyed the opinions stated here. Many valid points. Thanks all.

Posted by: Don Jul 22 07, 12:05

Dear 4rum,

The helter-skelter nature of language due to democratic usage of many is preferable over only restictive preisthoods being able to read and write. It would simply be blashphemy to say it any other way. The magic is out of its box generating havoc wherever it may go.

I sorta watch the use of the letter "X" to abbreviate. Xmission = trasnmission, xpress = express, xport = transport, Xmas = Christmas (sometimes used intentionally to eliminate Jesus), and xing = crossing are a few floating on top of my foolish pool.

The days of Samuel Johnson and Roget as living experts seems to have passed. But...I could be wrong now.

Don

Posted by: ohsteve Sep 13 08, 14:47

Interesting topic, the differences in spellin, there are also difference in pronunciation, my wife is English, from the Cambridge area, and the different dialects can reek havoc with how you understand some one, just like the different dialects in the US can, compare the way a New England Yankee speaks to a Georgia Southerner, to a California vally girl, then there are the different words that mean the same thing such as Eng=Boot US=Trunk,
Eng=motor US=engine/car Eng=Auto US=car, wheels(slang). When I say garage I pronounce it Garaage When my wife says it it comes out as garedge, when I say hawk it comes out hock when my wife says it it comes out haaawwk. Of course she says I'm a damn colonist and can't speak anyway, I always come back with at least I aint a damn prisoner (Australians). But the bad part is, is when my youngest daughter says crayon it sounds like crown...whats a guy to do. PS I hate chat speak and I refuse to type that way, and refuse to respond to anything that has chat speak in it.
Steve