lirazel | Words whose British spellings I like better

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Words whose British spellings I like better

I say British here because the books I read where I picked up these spellings were British, not because I’m ignoring the existence of other countries who spell things that way.

Not too crazy about all those extra “u”s, and I like the letter z, so we’ll keep that one around in things like “realize.”

But!

Judgement. LOOKS WRONG WITHOUT AN E. QUIT YELLING AT ME WITH YOUR SILLY RED LINE, SPELLCHECK!

Grey. I usually use “grey” to talk about a pretty or natural shade of grey—mist or the sea or clouds or something. On the other hand, I use “gray” when I’m talking about something more metallic or ugly—concrete or an ugly building or something.

I’m sure there are others, but those are the ones that leap to mind. Got any of your own? And if you are from not-America, is there any American spelling you actually like better? English as a second language speakers, which did you learn when you were taught the language? American or British spelling and pronunciation? I AM INTERESTED.

Also, Oxford commas forever and ever and ever.

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I love the British/European way to pronounce aluminium.

I find the difference between color/colour fascinating for some reason.

I tend to spell it theatre instead of theater. I'm sure there are others, but I can't think of any at the moment. I switch around using grey vs gray.

The whole second language thing is interesting, because I was taught Spanish first (at the tme when I was learning how to talk, we were living in a Spanish speaking country while my mom taught there) but then I forgot most of it when I learned English. As a result, while I certainly speak English BETTER, I struggle with both languages. But I mostly learned the American way, except when I spent time with my British aunt, which is why I have some Britishisms.

I've used "grey" since my year in Britain. It just looks right to me and did since I first saw it. I also cross "7" to avoid confusion with "1," but this predates Britain back to my first year in Germany. Though I use neither "spelt" nor "leant," I've always used "dreamt,"perhaps due to "I dreamt I dwelt in marble halls." I began reading poetry when very young. The one to which I can't seem to adjust is "span" as the simple past tense of "spin." The only time one sees it in America is in the historical context of, "When Adam delved and Evie span, who was then the gentleman?"

It's such fun, isn't it?

They look like they should be pronounced differently, I think. And...they kind of are?

When I'm talking about live theatre, I spell it that way, but when I say movie theater, I spell it the other way!

That is really interesting! Thanks for sharing it!

I sometimes cross the 7 as well. It really does help avoid confusion.

The one to which I can't seem to adjust is "span" as the simple past tense of "spin." The only time one sees it in America is in the historical context of, "When Adam delved and Evie span, who was then the gentleman?"

I would never be able to say "span" in that way!

It is fun!

I think they are pronounced differently. Yes.

My Dad made me cross my sevens. And he made me cross my "z"s.

Like, I would have to do my homework over if I didn't. My Dad was all about math being right, lol.

'judgement' and 'grey' forever, definitely. I always try to spell among as 'amoung'. It just makes more sense to me.

Well, isn't it, "He span quickly around"? The one I quoted just has to do with spinning thread for weaving.

English is my second language, and I'm still learning (I'm at Uni studying English, among other things). We are encouraged, especially in high school, to use British pronunciation. At university, a lot of my professors spend a time in America or are experts on American fiction and have a very american accent, and we are allowed to choose between the two (have to circle one on exams and such). The phonetics classes are taught by an actual British woman and a man with a very British accent.

As far as spelling goes; that's a bit trickier. I've personally never really had a teacher sit down and explain the differences in spelling, so I just kind of picked it up as I went along. Because of this, it's a bit of both - though on written exams, we're supposed to stick to one or the other.

I try for British both in accent and in spelling, though. I just think it's generally prettier? :) I certainly would use grey instead of gray etc.

To me grey is a warmer shade, slightly tinted with yellow, and gray is colder with a suggestion of red. Though this is mostly because I have synethesia and I see E as yellow and A as red :D

And I learned English spelling at school, which I think is the default here (though whether you'll learn American or English pronounciation usually depends on if your teacher is a fan of US or UK television :D), although I slip sometimes because as a technical writer I've worked in projects where American spelling was the default and have had to adapt to that. Currently I work in a project where we use UK spelling - and our texts are then translated into American English by other people :D

Edited 2011-02-17 20:38 (UTC)

I've never preferred an American spelling to a British one. British is just... better.

Leapt has always felt better than leaped to me.

Aww, a pretentious language discussion is just what I need on a Friday night <33

I was taught the British spelling at school, but I actually picked up like 80% of my knowledge from tv and fan forums, so it would be hard to tell which version comes naturally for me.

The U in 'colour' makes the word kinda more expessive and... colourful?

Judgement sounds wrong without an E, I agree. I'm obsessed with the Anathema album of the same name :)

Theatre vs. theater is kinda confusing, but the latter is easier to write on my keyboard :)))

And thank you for finally telling the difference between grey and gray.

So I guess learning the British spelling in school subconsciously made me consider those versions the right ones and I think I use them more often.

When I see "color" I mentally pronounce it "col - ore", which I know you don't do, but that's how it sounds to me.

Whoa. I think there's some sort of weird psychic umbilical cord thingy running between us. Because, seriously, at 10 this morning, I was just contemplating British vs. American spellings. And, okay, so I'm a copyeditor, and I contemplate that a lot--but still.

Disclaimer: Everything I'm about to say applies only to AMERICANS' use of different spellings. I have not even the tiniest issue with spellings as used by people of other English-speaking countries or speakers of English as a second language.

My feelings are thus--and are completely and totally shaped by what I do for a living: When the writing is being done by an American, I say AmE spellings FTW. The only exception I will ever, ever make for this rule is "theatre." But for the record, I prefer "theater." But the Frenchified spelling is so ubiquitous in marketing, that I can't work myself into a lather when people use it.

I will defer to the inimitable Bryan Garner, editor of the Chicago Manual of Style and writer and editor of Garner's Modern American Usage, when he says that Americans should limit their use of BrE spellings and Britishisms to certain circumstances. Because of the shift of the epicenter of the English language from Britain at the beginning of the 20th century to the US today, using BrE can come off as either purposefully (or, even worse, not purposefully) antiquated, twee, ironically twee, or pretentious. There are only 2 of those that are acceptable in writing--purposefully antiquated and ironically twee. And you have to go there with a great deal of caution.

Personally, I want to stab myself in the neck with a pen when I read stuff written by Americans that uses British spellings. "Grey" I get--it's an easy mistake. And I agree with your assessment that it conjures a more soothing hue than "gray." But I think that has to do with our tendency as Americans to romanticize the foreign--and grey is a spelling rooted in French vowel identification (it most likely is a spelling that was adopted by the English to Franco-cize the language)--whereas gray is a spelling that is more firmly and purely rooted in English phonics. So, there're some latent class issues embedded in those spelling differences. But I totally understand why you're more drawn to "grey."

That said, I have contemplated murder/suicide over "favourite."

And--yes on the Oxford comma. I've never met an editor (even editors who work in AP style) who didn't prefer Oxford. True facts. It's just better.

And, while we're on the subject (or we're on a subject that's close to the subject), let's talk apostrophes--I will damn the American school systems to hell for convincing our entire generation that singular nouns ending in s just take an apostrophe and not an apostrophe-s. This is the single greatest tragedy of our time.

It's "Charles's dog" NOT "Charles' dog"! Oh my god, it hurts me just to type that second one. It's so ugly and wrong. It's just wrong.

I bet you didn't expect such a crazed tirade on this post, did you? I am full of surprises! Also--I'm sorry that I got my crazy all over your comments.

Edited 2011-02-17 22:00 (UTC)

When I'm talking about live theatre, I spell it that way, but when I say movie theater, I spell it the other way!

Haha, I tend to do that, too! Also, totally with you on "grey" AND the Oxford comma!

When I came back from my semester in London, it did take me a while to adjust to using z's again, lol.

You are amazing. I was going to post about this yesterday but thought nobody would care. SILLY ME. Livejournal is exactly the place for this.

I can't remember the word that sparked an hour long debate in our office last time but trust me, I was on the British side. And grey is definitely how it's spelled :)

In my corner of not-America, we spell the British way. To me, grey is a colour and Gray is a surname.

I remember during primary school we got in a lot of trouble for spelling colour the American way.

I like my ise over ize, it looks prettier :)

Pronunciation is another story. I much prefer the American over English in some cases. Vitamin and Yoghurt being the two big ones.

I try for British both in accent and in spelling, though. I just think it's generally prettier? :) I certainly would use grey instead of gray etc.

As another English-as-Foreign-Language, I so totally agree. My accent tries for British but ends up embarrassingly Hollywood a lot of the time (not my fault! televisional influence!) but American spelling never ever made sense to me, and I find it aesthetically bothersome.

It's kinda nifty we get to pick and choose, don't you think?

... I'm pretty sure the word "speaker" ought to have been included somewhere in there.

All time favorite British pronunciation kink is schedule. I remember rewinding Spice World a couple times because of the British pronunciation of schedule. And I just admitted to watching Spice World. Dear God.

I have always spelt colour with a u. And I really have no idea why. It just happened. o.O

As a Canadian, I default to British spellings but occasionally American spellings slip in there. We consume so much material using American spellings up here that I'm used to seeing both American and British English.. There are times when I don't even remember what version is which (though I always, always, add the extra 'u').

Edited 2011-02-17 22:57 (UTC)

I am not only English but a teacher of English, so circling American spellings in red is second nature to me!

Generally most of our spellings are closer to their French roots, which makes sense to me (France is actually closer to me than Scotland or Ireland), and Webster's variants often look "lazy" to the eyes of someone trained in British spelling. I often mentally pronounce American spellings differently in my head.

To me grey is a warmer shade, slightly tinted with yellow, and gray is colder with a suggestion of red.

Yes! Yes! Possibly gray is a little purply, as well.

Generally, though, I much prefer 'grey' as a spelling. MS Word objects. *g*

I'm prone to spelling it 'saviour' instead of 'savior.' Not sure why I'd default to British on that word and almost no others (except grey, just because I like it better!).

However, I will never not be amused by the British pronunciation of lieutenant. Just, what?

I must disagree with you on 'judgment,' though. That extra letter just bogs the word down. It goes from crisp to mushy, just like that.

Hi, Canadian, yes, but I love our u's, c's (ie, defence), and re's (like in centre), grey >>> gray, plus...check is never synonymous with cheque, for me, I've had to train myself for when I read Americans, haha. Fortunately, I had not realized/noticed that people spell judgement without the e, so now I will try to go back to my ignorance :p

I tend to like the z's, though. There are probably some other Americanisms that I like, but I get them all mixed up in my head, being too close to the States as it takes over our language ;p At least half my friends use American spelling--teachers tended to give up on it very early, because most of our literature is American -- even if it's by a Canadian author, because apparently our spelling "annoys" Americans? (This could be Canadians being...Canadians-when-faced-with-Americans.) Or something? I've had people jump all over my spelling, especially with fiction, because editors will supposedly change it to the American spelling anyway so that it isn't obviously ~Canadian~.

Also, Oxford commas forever and ever and ever.

iawtc. I have to backtrack when they aren't used, my brain flies off in the wrong direction :p

I do the grey/gray thing too! "Grey" just looks more evocative of the feeling that the color brings to mind.

Interestingly enough, I'm covering the local spelling bees, and the theatre/theater came up and was challenged, though they went with the official American spelling, as found in the dictionary. Can get tough in a competitive setting!

When I'm talking about live theatre, I spell it that way, but when I say movie theater, I spell it the other way!

I totally agree. Although, because of my Texas roots I avoid saying it out loud because it usually comes out "thee-AY-ter" and then I get strange looks. Can I not get to say just one word that makes me sound Southern?

Also, a lot of my extended family lives on Centre St, so sometimes I mess that one up too.

It's "Charles's dog" NOT "Charles' dog"! Oh my god, it hurts me just to type that second one. It's so ugly and wrong. It's just wrong.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

I do this. I was taught this. It's why I'm constantly writing Joss' and making your eyes bleed. My problem with destroying this rule is that it's not acceptable to just do 's to everything. Like if the words are archaic or whatever, you SHALL NOT PASS with that extra s. So...

"Grey" and "judgement" are most definitely the way to go.

English is actually my second language, yeah, but I mostly grew up in Australia so it's mostly the British spelling? The only exception is that down here, "realise" seems to be more correct, but that always gives me a red line on LJ, so I've taken up the 'z'...

Yeah, I do notice that my accent goes American when I've been watching too much American tv. Though tbh, I'm happy as long as it isn't too obviously a Belgian accent ;).
And I do think it's kind of neat we can sort of construct our own in-between form of English!

You know, I never put the u in "color" but I've always thought that "honour" and "labour" look wrong without it. Used to get marked off in all my assignments in high school too, because I'd forget that we actually don't spell them that way here in America. *sigh* I also always want to use "grey," simply because I think of the color when I see that, whereas "gray" makes me think of someone's last name.

Oh, and "theatre" for a play, "theater" for the movies, like you said in a comment above. (And I am so with you on "judgement," and the spellcheck continuously pisses me off about it too.)

I know! I don't get upset toward anyone who uses just an apostrophe--because that's how we were taught to do it. But I honestly have no idea why they started teaching it that way--because if you look at all the published usage authorities, every one says apostrophe-s is better. So, why, school systems? WHY.

And, you're right about the archaic words--but how often do you right "Xerxes'" compared with "Joss'"? If that's the reason they started teaching it that way--it seems like they did it backwards--changing the more frequent usage to accommodate the less frequent.

I don't know. I'm insane for getting worked up about it. I totally realize that.

I'll never spell "grey" with an "a." "Theatre" is "re." I had no idea that people spell "judgement" without an "e."

Here's an odd one for you: Mr. IB is Canadian, and one day, I was at WalMart there with my in-laws and saw the sign for the "Jewellery" section. I asked Mr. IB why the sign was spelled wrong. He said that that's how they spell "jewelry." I said, "That's not jewelry; it's joo-el-uh-ree." :-P

ETA: Yes on Oxford commas. I feel so bad for Comma; he's so misunderstood. :-(

Edited 2011-02-18 23:51 (UTC)

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Words whose British spellings I like better

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