Americans that write like the English

[Chicklet]

Hey there,

I have this problem. My problem is that some words look absolutely wrong without a "u" in them. Honour, humour, you see the pattern. When I write, I tend to slip into that. Does anyone else find themselves doing that? Do any Brits do the opposite? FESS UP. I KNOW I'M NOT ALONE.




-Chicklet

(very alone in the corner)

 

[wildsweetone]

Hey there,

I have this problem. My problem is that some words look absolutely wrong without a "u" in them. Honour, humour, you see the pattern. When I write, I tend to slip into that. Does anyone else find themselves doing that? Do any Brits do the opposite? FESS UP. I KNOW I'M NOT ALONE.




-Chicklet

(very alone in the corner)

You're very right! Those words should have a 'u' in them!

 

[Chicklet]

Re: Re: Americans that write like the English

You're very right! Those words should have a 'u' in them!

yeah I know! and my stupid spell check HATES ME!

(I know that I could change it...but oh well whateverthefuck)

ps - I realize I should have titled this thread "Americans that write like everyone else"

 

[wildsweetone]

Re: Re: Re: Americans that write like the English

yeah I know! and my stupid spell check HATES ME!

(I know that I could change it...but oh well whateverthefuck)

ps - I realize I should have titled this thread "Americans that write like everyone else"

lol

I find it difficult to edit an Englishman's story that he/she has written for the American market and that contains American spelling and Americanisms.

I find it much easier to edit American author's work.

I have given my Spell Check a headache

 

[Chicklet]

d'ya reckon they make advil for spell-check?

 

[wildsweetone]

okay what is advil?

 

[Chicklet]

okay what is advil?

are you serious?

advil is IBprofin or however that's spelled. It's this nice little brown tablet with a white "A" printed on it that works wonders for headaches and cramps, if you can get past the child-proof-cap (DAMN THOSE CAPS TO HELL)

 

[Lauren Hynde]

How can Americans write Theater and then go and write Theatrical? Or Tiger and Tigress? Or Meter and Metric?

 

[wildsweetone]

Aah now I know the stuff you mean. And I know those wretched bottles. I get my kids to open them for me (they also work the remote controls in the house really well too).

Grief, your Spell Check gives you cramps too? You wanna watch that, it sounds serious.

Actually, I'm almost at the point of turning the darn thing off (the Spell Check that is) because it picks up what I don't want it to, and it misses what I do want it to spot.

Crazy darn invention.

You know... A thought just crossed my mind, do you read a lot of British published novels? It could be that your reading is transferring to your writing. If it is, there's hope for us all.

 

[Chicklet]

How can Americans write Theater and then go and write Theatrical? Or Tiger and Tigress? Or Meter and Metric?

...I write "theatre"

 

[Chicklet]

You know... A thought just crossed my mind, do you read a lot of British published novels? It could be that your reading is transferring to your writing. If it is, there's hope for us all.

maybe

 

[Just-Legal]

...advil is IBprofin or however that's spelled...

Ibruprofen.

Anti-inflammatory and painkiller. Available in 250, 500 and 800mg. Usually used for medium to severe headaches, swelling due to injury, and period pains.

Not advisable to be taken by Asthmatics as can trigger attacks by narrowing airways.

*slaps self*

Dad's a Pharmaceutical rep, one of my first words was flucloxacillin...

 

[TheEarl]

Lauren: What's wrong with tiger? You can't write tigre.

Chicklet: No, I never write those words without a u. I'd get shot by the English writer's organisation for treason if I did .

The Earl

 

[snooper]

... You can't write tigre...

Tu puis, si tu veux. Moi, je l'ecrit toujours.

 

[Why]

Well: I am English. My editor is American, but my work is in "English english Now and then things get confusing lol...

But not as bad as when I work with a fellow writer, who is American. We usually toss a coin at the beginning, as to whose English we are going to use

 

[Lauren Hynde]

Lauren: What's wrong with tiger? You can't write tigre.

Tal como snooper, também eu escrevo sempre tigre. Vá lá, tenta...

 

[oggbashan]

British

I write in a variant of British English which is a subset of the worldwide language called English.

I have to tweak the wordprocessor so that it does not force me to spell US.

If I tried to write American English it wouldn't work. Which variant of US American should I use? I don't know enough to avoid basic mistakes such as using a Texan expression in a Bostonian's mouth.

It is not just the spelling. It is also punctuation and choice of style.

I could read a US author, say Zane Grey, and write a pastiche of his style but it would be awkward to maintain.

I read US authors, UK authors and classics written in English from a variety of cultures. I would not try to write like Dickens, Thackeray or Smollett because I couldn't.

I think you need to have lived in a country for some time to be able to write convincingly as if you were a native.

Og

 

[FlyontheWall99]

I actually write in the British version and then when I come to editing and proof reading I convert it to the American English dictionary and makes necessary changes....

It does get annoying sometimes, but for some reason I just figured this site was American based and as such I should spell to their standard ....

Personally I prefer the British ....

 

[Rainbow Skin]

I changed usernames because I was so livid that my best story had been mangled through a spelling-checker, turning 'Mrs' into 'Mrs.' and 'modelling' into 'modeling', and worst of all... turning a moreish kiss into a Moorish kiss!

So while that little battle was being fought and I was getting the correct version reposted, I did a Dr Who and changed incarnation again.

Not that there's anything wrong with Moorish kisses as such... they sound positively dashing, in fact, but not there in my story.

 

[MathGirl]

Ibruprofen. Anti-inflammatory and painkiller.

Dear JL,
I've always found cyclo-oxygenase inhibitors oddly erotic. Of course, I'm rather odd in the first place.
MG

 

[English Lady]

Well I spell English(badly mind) but my hubby is a computer geek....oh yes and he spells everything americanly(that's not a word....maybe it should be?)he blames it on all the coding he's been doing since,well, since he was big enough to reach the keyboard.

 

[Just_John1]

How can Americans write Theater and then go and write Theatrical? Or Tiger and Tigress? Or Meter and Metric?

When you say theater does it end in an r sound or a more french like ruh sound? I think Americans are just much more phonetically oriented perhaps. (I always thought I was more oriented towards phonetics because I was just too stupid to memorize spellings that just make no sense, I mean I just can't here the 'u' in harbor, or color). I always wanted to pronounce centre with a french pronunciation. Its sounds like center... then why not write it like it sounds.

 

[Rainbow Skin]

then why not write it like it sounds.

You mean senta?

US/Rest-of-World spelling differences are very minor and have almost nothing to do with pronunciation. We spell lever and leisure alike, and the -o(u)r and the rest make no difference to pronunciation.

I mean, look at the word neighbour and see which strike you as the most unnecessary letters. Webster's reform wasn't nearly as thorough-going as we need.

 

[Lauren Hynde]

When you say theater does it end in an r sound or a more french like ruh sound? I think Americans are just much more phonetically oriented perhaps. (I always thought I was more oriented towards phonetics because I was just too stupid to memorize spellings that just make no sense, I mean I just can't here the 'u' in harbor, or color). I always wanted to pronounce centre with a french pronunciation. Its sounds like center... then why not write it like it sounds.

Center and Central. Those were the words I was looking for yesterday and couldn't remember.

You have a point, of course, and the American spelling is closer to the predominant American pronunciation, no question about it. But there are sensible differences on the way those words are pronunced elsewhere, chiefly in the UK.

I don't think that's what Chicklet was refering to when she started the thread, though. The way these words are written just looks structurally wrong, regardless of pronunciation.

Besides, I personally think Americans and Englishmen should write like the Portuguese. It would make my life easier.

 

[Quasimodem]

then why not write it like it sounds.

Oh, God! No!

Spell it like it's supposed to be sounded, not like people actually mispronounce it, otherwise, we'll all be writing in dialects!!!

I have my word processor set for Canadian English. That way everybody thinks I write like the wrong country.