American spelling

[PaulX35]

As most of you will know, English is not my first language. That doesn't mean, however, that I have no interest in writing correct English, or rather American-English, as this is the preferred spelling here. I was brought up with English academic writing, and I'm finding out not all common errors are filtered out by setting my spell-checker to English - USA.

Would appreciate if you could point me at a few common pitfalls. I myself found out about (so far):

- spelling of words ending with "-or", e.g. "humor" as opposed to "humour"
- the use of "z" in stead of the "Brit-s" in verbs, like "organizing", as opposed to "organising"

Anything else I should keep an eye on?

Thanks for your help,

Paul

 

[karmadog]

I see no reason why you should opt for American English over British. I read Brit authors and have absolutely no trouble with the spelling. The slang, well, they should provide a glossary for that.

To the point, there just isn't enough difference to sweat it.

 

[ronde]

I agree with karmadog. I enjoy seeing British spelling for some words. It lends a certain character to the writing.

 

[Whispersecret]

I agree. But it's up to you.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

"Grey" (UK) is "gray" in the US.

I once read a novel published in the UK and I could not for the life of me figure out what they meant by kerb . In the US it's spelled curb, meaning the elevated portion that runs along side a road.

The most obvious difference between British and American English, to my mind, is the British custom of treating group nouns as plural, while in America they're singular. "The team are reorganizing" vs. "The team is reorganizing.", but I think you know that.

Where it really gets dicey is when you start using slang. Then you've got to be verrrrry careful.

But I have no problem with British spelling either.

---dr.M.

 

[Octavian]

Slang or colloquial English

The problem is how do you become aware that certain phrases (or slang if you wish) are not common parlance?


___________________________________________
A gentleman will always raise his hat before striking a lady.

 

[Weird Harold]

Re: Slang or colloquial English

The problem is how do you become aware that certain phrases (or slang if you wish) are not common parlance?

Tht's a problem that works both ways. Americans tend to forget tht other "English Speakers" have different usages and slang than we do.

I became aware of the difference when stationed in England and had trouble with the language barrier because I thought I knew what was said.

The internet is a good source for finding what is Proper, common, or Slang -- reading writings from both sides of both ponds helps illustrate the differences in usage.

It might be interesting to get a Brit, Aussie and American to edit the same story into their local slang and see how the story changes.