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dierences
Spelling dierences redirects here. For other uses, see 1 Historical origins
Category:Language comparison.
Many of the dierences between American and British
Extract
from the Orthography section of the rst edition (1828)
of Webster's "ADEL", which popularized the American
standard spellings of -er (6); -or (7); the dropped -e (8);
-or (10); -se (11); and the doubling of consonants with a
sux (15).
In the early 18th century, English spelling was incon-
English date back to a time when spelling standards had sistent. These dierences became noticeable after the
not yet developed. For instance, some spellings seen as publishing of inuential dictionaries. Todays British
American today were once commonly used in Britain. English spellings mostly follow Johnsons A Dictionary
A British standard began to emerge following the 1755 of the English Language (1755), while many American
publication of Samuel Johnson's A Dictionary of the En- English spellings follow Websters An American Dic-
glish Language, and an American standard started fol- tionary of the English Language (ADEL, Websters
lowing the work of Noah Webster and in particular his An Dictionary, 1828).[2]
American Dictionary of the English Language, rst pub- Webster was a proponent of English spelling reform for
lished in 1828.[1] reasons both philological and nationalistic. In A Com-
Websters eorts at spelling reform were somewhat eec- panion to the American Revolution (2008), John Algeo
tive in his native country, resulting in certain well-known notes: it is often assumed that characteristically Amer-
patterns of spelling dierences between the American ican spellings were invented by Noah Webster. He was
and British varieties of English. But English-language very inuential in popularizing certain spellings in Amer-
spelling reform has rarely been adopted otherwise, and ica, but he did not originate them. Rather [] he chose
thus modern English orthography varies somewhat be- already existing options such as center, color and check for
tween countries and is far from phonemic in any country. the simplicity, analogy or etymology.[3] William Shake-
1
2 2 LATIN-DERIVED SPELLINGS
speare's rst folios, for example, used spellings like center for words from Latin (e.g., color)[11] and -our for French
and color as much as centre and colour.[4][5] Webster did loans; but in many cases the etymology was not clear, and
attempt to introduce some reformed spellings, as did the therefore some scholars advocated -or only and others -
Simplied Spelling Board in the early 20th century, but our only.[13]
most were not adopted. In Britain, the inuence of those Websters 1828 dictionary had only -or and is given much
who preferred the Norman (or Anglo-French) spellings of of the credit for the adoption of this form in the United
words proved to be decisive. Later spelling adjustments States. By contrast, Johnsons 1755 dictionary used -
in the United Kingdom had little eect on todays Amer- our for all words still so spelled in Britain (like colour),
ican spellings and vice versa.
but also for words where the u has since been dropped:
For the most part, the spelling systems of most ambassadour, emperour, governour, perturbatour, infe-
Commonwealth countries and Ireland closely resem- riour, superiour; errour, horrour, mirrour, tenour, terrour,
ble the British system. In Canada, the spelling sys- tremour. Johnson, unlike Webster, was not an advocate
tem can be said to follow both British and Ameri- of spelling reform, but chose the spelling best derived, as
can forms,[6] and Canadians are somewhat more tol- he saw it, from among the variations in his sources. He
erant of foreign spellings when compared with other preferred French over Latin spellings because, as he put
English-speaking nationalities.[7] Australian spelling has it, the French generally supplied us.[14] English speak-
also strayed slightly from British spelling, with some ers who moved to America took these preferences with
American spellings incorporated as standard.[8] New them, and H. L. Mencken notes that "honor appears in the
Zealand spelling is almost identical to British spelling, ex- 1776 Declaration of Independence, but it seems to have
cept in the word ord (instead of fjord). There is also got there rather by accident than by design. In Jeerson's
an increasing use of macrons in words that originated in original draft it is spelled honour.[15] In Britain, ex-
Mori and an unambiguous preference for -ise endings amples of color, avor, behavior, harbor, and neighbor
(see below). rarely appear in Old Bailey court records from the 17th
and 18th centuries, whereas there are thousands of ex-
amples of their -our counterparts.[16] One notable excep-
2 Latin-derived spellings tion is honor. Honor and honour were equally frequent
in Britain until the 17th century;[17] honor still is, in the
UK, the usual spelling as a persons name and appears in
2.1 -our, -or Honor Oak, a district of London.
2.1.2 Exceptions switched from "-or" endings to "-our" endings. The "-
our" spelling is taught in schools nationwide as part of
American usage, in most cases, keeps the u in the word the Australian curriculum. The most notable country-
glamour, which comes from Scots, not Latin or French. wide use of the -or ending is for the Australian Labor
Glamor is sometimes used in imitation of the spelling Party, which was originally called the Australian Labour
reform of other -our words to -or. Nevertheless, the Party (name adopted in 1908), but was frequently re-
adjective glamorous often drops the rst u. Saviour ferred to as both Labour and Labor. The Labor
is a somewhat common variant of savior in the US. was adopted from 1912 onward due to the inuence of the
The British spelling is very common for honour (and American labor movement[21] and King O'Malley. Aside
favour) in the formal language of wedding invitations in from that, -our is now almost universal in Australia. New
the US.[18] The name of the Space Shuttle Endeavour Zealand English, while sharing some words and syntax
has a u in it as the spacecraft was named after Captain with Australian English, follows British usage.
James Cook's ship, HMS Endeavour. The special car on
Amtrak's Coast Starlight train is known as the Pacic Par-
lour car, not Pacic Parlor. Proper names such as Pearl 2.2 -re, -er
Harbor or Sydney Harbour are usually spelled according
to their native-variety spelling vocabulary. In British English, some words from French, Latin or
The name of the herb savory is thus spelled everywhere, Greek end with a consonant followed by an unstressed -re
although the related adjective savo(u)ry, like savo(u)r, has (pronounced (non-rhotic accent) /()/ or (rhotic accent)
a u in the UK. Honor (the name) and arbor (the tool) have //). In American English, most of these words have
[22][23]
-or in Britain, as mentioned above. As a general noun, the ending -er. The dierence is most common
rigour /r/ or /-r/ has a u in the UK; the medical term for words ending -bre or -tre: British spellings calibre,
rigor (often /ra/ or /-r/)[19] does not, such as in rigor centre, bre, goitre, litre, lustre, manoeuvre, meagre,
mortis, which is Latin. Derivations of rigour/rigor such as metre, mitre, nitre, ochre, reconnoitre, sabre, saltpetre,
rigorous, however, are typically spelled without a u even sepulchre, sombre, spectre, theatre (see exceptions) and
in the UK. Words with the ending -irior, -erior or similar titre all have -er in American spelling.
are spelled thus everywhere. In Britain, both -re and -er spellings were common before
The word armour was once somewhat common in Ameri- Johnsons dictionary was published. In Shakespeares rst
[5]
can usage but has disappeared from the current language. folios, -er spellings are used the most. Most English
words that today use -er were spelled -re at one time. In
American English, almost all of these have become -er,
2.1.3 Commonwealth usage but in British English only some of them have. Words that
were once spelled -re include chapter, December, disaster,
Commonwealth countries normally follow British usage. enter, lter, letter, member, minister, monster, Novem-
Canadian English most commonly uses the -our ending ber, number, October, oyster, powder, proper, Septem-
and -our- in derivatives and inected forms. However, ber, sober and tender. Words using the "-meter sux
(from ancient Greek - via post-Classical Latin me-
owing to the close historic, economic, and cultural rela-
tionship with the United States, -or endings are also some- ter) have normally had the -er spelling from earliest use in
English. Examples include thermometer and barometer.
times used. Throughout the late 19th and early to mid-
20th century, most Canadian newspapers chose to use the The e preceding the r is kept in American-derived forms
American usage of -or endings, originally to save time of nouns and verbs, for example, bers, reconnoitered,
and money in the era of manual movable type.[20] How- centering, which are bres, reconnoitred, and centring re-
ever, in the 1990s, the majority of Canadian newspapers spectively in British English. Centring is an interesting ex-
ocially updated their spelling policies to the British us- ample, since, according to the OED, it is a word ... of 3
age of -our. This coincided with a renewed interest in syllables (in careful pronunciation)" [24] (i.e., /snt/),
Canadian English, and the release of the updated Gage yet there is no vowel in the spelling corresponding to the
Canadian Dictionary in 1997 and the rst Oxford Cana- second syllable (//). The three-syllable version is listed
dian Dictionary in 1998. Historically, most libraries and as only the American pronunciation of centering on the
educational institutions in Canada have supported the use Oxford Dictionaries Online website. The e is dropped
of the Oxford English Dictionary rather the American for other derivations, for example, central, brous, spec-
Websters Dictionary. Today, the use of a distinctive set tral. However, such dropping cannot be deemed proof of
of Canadian English spellings is viewed by many Canadi- an -re British spelling: for example, entry and entrance
ans as one of the cultural uniquenesses of Canada (espe- come from enter, which has not been spelled entre for
cially when compared to the United States). centuries.[25]
In Australia, -or endings enjoyed some use throughout The dierence relates only to root words; -er rather than
the 19th century and in the early 20th century. Like in -re is universal as a sux for agentive (reader, winner,
Canada though, most major Australian newspapers have user) and comparative (louder, nicer) forms. One out-
4 2 LATIN-DERIVED SPELLINGS
come is the British distinction of meter for a measuring 2.2.2 Commonwealth usage
instrument from metre for the unit of length. However,
while "poetic metre" is often -re, pentameter, hexameter The -re endings are mostly standard throughout the Com-
etc. are always -er.[26] monwealth. The -er spellings are recognized as minor
variants in Canada, partly due to American inuence, and
are sometimes used in proper names (such as Torontos
controversially named Centerpoint Mall).[35]
2.2.1 Exceptions
Many other words have -er in British English. These in- 2.3 -ce, -se
clude Germanic words; such as anger, mother, timber and
water and Romance words danger, quarter and river. For advice/advise and device/devise, American English
The ending -cre, as in acre,[27] lucre, massacre, and and British English both keep the nounverb distinction
mediocre, is used in both British and American English both graphically and phonetically (where the pronunci-
to show that the c is pronounced /k/ rather than /s/. The ation is -[s] for the noun and -[z] for the verb). For
spellings ogre and euchre are also the same in both British licence/license or practice/practise, British English also
and American English. keeps the nounverb distinction graphically (although
phonetically the two words in each pair are homophones
Theater is the prevailing American spelling used to re- with -[s] pronunciation). On the other hand, American
fer to both the dramatic arts and buildings where stage English uses license and practice for both nouns and verbs
performances and screenings of lms take place (i.e., (with -[s] pronunciation in both cases too).
"movie theaters"); for example, a national newspaper
such as The New York Times would use theater in its en- American English has kept the Anglo-French spelling
tertainment section. However, the spelling theatre ap- for defense and oense, which are defence and oence
pears in the names of many New York City theaters on in British English. Likewise, there are the American
Broadway[28] (cf. Broadway theatre) and elsewhere in the pretense and British pretence; but derivatives such as
United States. In 2003, the American National Theatre defensive, oensive, and pretension are always thus spelled
was referred to by The New York Times as the Amer- in both systems.
ican National Theater", but the organization uses re Australian[36] and Canadian usage generally follows
in the spelling of its name.[29][30] The John F. Kennedy British.
Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. has
the more common American spelling theater in its refer-
ences to The Eisenhower Theater, part of the Kennedy 2.4 -xion, -ction
Center.[31] Some cinemas outside New York also use the
theatre spelling.[32] (Note also that the word theater in The spelling connexion is now rare in everyday British
American English is a place where stage performances usage, its use lessening as knowledge of Latin lessens,[37]
and screenings of lms take place, but in British English and it is not used at all in the US: the more common con-
a theatre is where stage performances take place but not nection has become the standard worldwide. According
lm screenings these take place in a cinema.) to the Oxford English Dictionary the older spelling is more
Some placenames in the United States use Centre in their etymologically conservative, since the original Latin word
names. Examples include the Stonebriar Centre mall, the had -xio-. The American usage comes from Webster, who
cities of Rockville Centre and Centreville, Centre County abandoned -xion in favour of -ction by analogy with verbs
and Centre College. Sometimes, these places were named like connect.[38] Connexion was still the house style of The
before spelling changes but more often the spelling merely Times of London until the 1980s and was still used by the
serves as an aectation. British Post Oce for its telephone services in the 1970s,
For British accoutre, the American practice varies: the but had by then been overtaken by connection in regular
Merriam-Webster Dictionary prefers the -re spelling,[33] usage (for example, in more popular newspapers).
but The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Lan- Complexion (which comes from complex) is standard
guage prefers the -er spelling.[34] worldwide and complection is rare.[39] However, the ad-
More recent French loanwords keep the -re spelling in jective complected (as in dark-complected), although
American English. These are not exceptions when a sometimes objected to, is[40] standard in the US as an al-
French-style pronunciation is used (// rather than /()/ ternative to complexioned, but is not used in this way
or //), as with double entendre, genre and oeuvre. How- in the UK, although there is a rare usage to mean compli-
[41]
ever, the unstressed /()/ and // pronunciation of an -er cated.
ending is used more (or less) often with some words, in- In some cases, words with old-fashioned spellings are
cluding cadre, macabre, matre d', Notre Dame, piastre, retained widely in the US for historical reasons (cf.
and timbre. connexionalism).
3.2 -yse, -yze 5
4.2 Doubled in American English Both forms of English keep the silent e in the words dye-
ing, singeing, and swingeing[91] (in the sense of dye, singe,
Conversely, there are words where British writers prefer and swinge), to distinguish from dying, singing, swinging
a single l and Americans a double l. In American usage, (in the sense of die, sing, and swing). In contrast, the verb
the spelling of words is usually not changed when they bathe and the British verb bath both form bathing. Both
form the main part (not prex or sux) of other words, forms of English vary for tinge and twinge; both prefer
especially in newly formed words and in words whose cringing, hinging, lunging, syringing.
main part is in common use. Words with this spelling dif-
ference include wil(l)ful, skil(l)ful, thral(l)dom, appal(l),
Before -able, British English prefers likeable, live-
full(l), full(l)ment, enrol(l)ment, instal(l)ment. These
able, rateable, saleable, sizeable, unshakeable,[92]
words have monosyllabic cognates always written with -
where American practice prefers to drop the "-
ll: will, skill, thrall, pall, ll, roll, stall. Cases where a
e"; but both British and American English pre-
single l nevertheless occurs in both American and British
fer breathable, curable, datable, lovable, movable,
English include nullannul, annulment; tilluntil (al-
notable, provable, quotable, scalable, solvable, us-
though some prefer til to reect the single l in until, some-
able,[92] and those where the root is polysyllabic, like
times using an apostrophe (til); this should be considered
believable or decidable. Both systems keep the silent
a hypercorrection as till predates the use of until); and
e when it is needed to preserve a soft c, ch,
others where the connection is not clear or the monosyl-
or g, such as in traceable, cacheable, changeable;
labic cognate is not in common use in American English
both usually keep the e after "-dge, as in knowl-
(e.g., null is used mainly as a technical term in law, math-
edgeable, unbridgeable, and unabridgeable (These
ematics, and computer science).
rights are unabridgeable).
In the UK, a single l is generally preferred in distil(l),
instil(l), enrol(l), and enthral(l)ment, and enthral(l), al- Both abridgment and the more regular abridgement
though ll was formerly used;[84] these are always spelled are current in the US, only the latter in the UK.[93]
with ll in American usage. The former British spellings Likewise for the word lodg(e)ment. Both judgment
instal, fulness, and dulness are now quite rare.[85] The and judgement are in use interchangeably every-
Scottish tolbooth is cognate with tollbooth, but it has a where, although the former prevails in the US and
distinct meaning. the latter prevails in the UK[94] except in the prac-
In both American and British usages, words normally tice of law, where judgment is standard. This also
spelled -ll usually drop the second l when used as holds for abridgment and acknowledgment. Both
prexes or suxes, for example fulluseful, hand- systems prefer edgling to edgeling, but ridgeling
ful; allalmighty, altogether; wellwelfare, welcome; to ridgling. Both acknowledgment, acknowledge-
chillchilblain. ment, abridgment and abridgement are used in Aus-
tralia; the shorter forms are endorsed by the Aus-
Both the British full and the American fulll never tralian Capital Territory Government.[8][95] Apart
use -ll- in the middle (i.e., *fullll and *fulll are from when the e is dropped and in the word gaol
incorrect).[86][87] and some pronunciations of margarine, g can only
Johnson wavered on this issue. His dictionary of 1755 be soft when followed by an e, i, or y.
lemmatizes distil and instill, downhil and uphill.[88]
The word blue always drops the e when forming
bluish or bluing.
5 Dropped e
British English sometimes keeps silent e when adding 6 Hard and soft c
suxes where American English does not. Generally
speaking, British English drops it in only some cases in A c is generally soft when followed by an e, i, or
which it is needed to show pronunciation whereas Amer- y. One word with a pronunciation that is an exception
ican English only uses it where needed. in British English, sceptic, is spelled skeptic in Amer-
ican English. See Miscellaneous spelling dierences
British prefers ageing,[89] American usually aging below.
(compare raging, ageism). For the noun or verb
route, British English often uses routeing,[90] but
in America routing is used. The military term rout
forms routing everywhere. However, all of these
7 Past tense dierences
words form router, whether used in the context of
carpentry, data communications, or military. (e.g., This is a particular case of #Dierent spellings
Attacus was the router of the Huns at ....) for dierent pronunciations.
9
In the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, and enquiry as equal alternatives, in that order (with
it is more common to end some past tense verbs with a t the addition of public inquiry in a 1993 addition).
as in learnt or dreamt rather than learned or dreamed.[96] Some British dictionaries, such as Chambers 21st
However, such spellings are also found in American En- Century Dictionary,[100] present the two spellings as
glish. interchangeable variants in the general sense, but
Several verbs have dierent past tenses or past participles prefer inquiry for the formal inquest sense. In
in American and British English: the US, only inquiry is commonly used; the title of
the National Enquirer, as a proper name, is an ex-
ception. In Australia, inquiry and enquiry are of-
The past tense of the verb to dive is most com- ten interchangeable.[101] Both are current in Canada,
monly found as dived in British, Australian, and where enquiry is often associated with scholarly or
New Zealand English. Dove is usually used in its intellectual research.
place in American English. Both terms are under-
stood in Canada, and may be found either in minor- ensure or insure: In the UK (and Australia and New
ity use or in regional dialect in America. Zealand), the word ensure (to make sure, to make
certain) has a distinct meaning from the word in-
The past participle and past tense of the verb to get sure (often followed by against to guarantee or
is most commonly found as got in British and New protect against, typically by means of an insurance
Zealand English. Gotten is also used in its place policy). The distinction is only about a century
in American and Canadian, and occasionally in Aus- old.[102] In American usage, insure may also be used
tralian English, as a past participle, though got is in the former sense, but ensure may not be used in
widely used as a past tense. The main exception is the latter sense. According to Merriam-Websters
in the phrase ill-gotten, which is widely used in usage notes, ensure and insure are interchangeable
British, Australian and New Zealand English. Both in many contexts where they indicate the making
terms are understood, and may be found either in certain or [making] inevitable of an outcome, but
minority use or in regional dialect. This does not ensure may imply a virtual guarantee <the govern-
aect forget and beget, whose past participles ment has ensured the safety of the refugees>, while
are forgotten and begotten in all varieties. insure sometimes stresses the taking of necessary
measures beforehand <careful planning should in-
sure the success of the party>.[103]
8 Dierent spellings for dierent
matt or matte: In the UK, matt refers to a non-
meanings glossy surface, and matte to the motion-picture tech-
nique; in the US, matte covers both.[104]
dependant or dependent (noun): British dictionar-
ies distinguish between dependent (adjective) and programme or program: The British programme
dependant (noun). In the US, dependent is usual is from post-classical Latin programma and French
for both noun and adjective, regardless of dependant programme. Program rst appeared in Scotland in
also being an acceptable variant for the noun form 1633 (earlier than programme in England in 1671)
in the US.[97] and is the only spelling found in the US. The OED
entry, updated in 2007, says that program conforms
disc or disk: Traditionally, disc used to be British to the usual representation of the Greek as in ana-
and disk American. Both spellings are etymologi- gram, diagram, telegram etc. In British English,
cally sound (Greek diskos, Latin discus), although program is the common spelling for computer pro-
disk is earlier. In computing, disc is used for opti- grams, but for other meanings programme is used.
cal discs (e.g., a CD, Compact Disc; DVD, Digital New Zealand also follows this pattern. In Australia,
Versatile/Video Disc), by choice of the group that program has been endorsed by government writing
coined and trademarked the name Compact Disc, standards for all meanings since the 1960s,[105] and
while disk is used for products using magnetic stor- is listed as the ocial spelling in the Macquarie
age (e.g., hard disks or oppy disks, also known Dictionary;[8] see also the name of The Micallef
as diskettes).[98] For this limited application, these P(r)ogram(me). In Canada, program prevails, and
spellings are used in both the US and the Com- the Canadian Oxford Dictionary makes no meaning-
monwealth. Solid-state devices also use the spelling based distinction between it and programme. How-
disk. ever, some Canadian government documents nev-
ertheless use programme for all meanings of the
enquiry or inquiry:[99] According to Fowler, inquiry word and also to match the spelling of the French
should be used in relation to a formal inquest, and equivalent.[105]
enquiry to the act of questioning. Many (though
not all) British writers maintain this distinction; the tonne or ton: In the UK, Australia, Canada, and
OED, in their entry dating from 1900, lists inquiry New Zealand, the spelling tonne refers to the metric
10 12 ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS
unit (1000 kilograms), whereas in the US the same writing.[198] Other senses always have the two-word
unit is called a metric ton. The unqualied ton usu- form; thus Americans distinguish I couldn't love
ally refers to the long ton (2,240 pounds or 1,016 you anymore [so I left you]" from I couldn't love
kilograms) in the UK and to the short ton (2,000 you any more [than I already do]". In Hong Kong
pounds or 907 kilograms) in the US (but note that English, any more is always two words.[199]
the tonne and long ton dier by only 1.6%, and are
roughly interchangeable when accuracy is not criti- for ever or forever: Traditional British English us-
cal; ton and tonne are usually pronounced the same age makes a distinction between for ever, meaning
in speech). for eternity (or a very long time into the future), as
in If you are waiting for income tax to be abolished
See also meter/metre, for which there is a British En- you will probably have to wait for ever"; and for-
glish distinction between these etymologically related ever, meaning continually, always, as in They are
forms with dierent meanings but the standard American forever arguing.[200] In British usage today, how-
spelling is meter. The spelling used by the International ever, forever prevails in the for eternity sense as
Bureau of Weights and Measures is metre.[106] This well,[201] in spite of several style guides maintain-
spelling is also the usual one for the unit of length in most ing the distinction.[202] American writers usually use
English-speaking countries, but only the spelling meter forever regardless of which sense they intend (al-
is used in American English, and this is ocially en- though forever in the sense of continually is com-
dorsed by the United States.[107] paratively rare in American English, having been
displaced by always).
case. However, sometimes title case is still used in the English in the Commonwealth of Nations
UK, such as Pc (Police Constable).[205]
English orthography
Contractions, where the nal letter is present, are often
written in British English without full stops/periods (Mr, Hong Kong English
Mrs, Dr, St, Ave). Abbreviations where the nal letter is
not present generally do take full stops/periods (such as Hiberno-English
vol., etc., i.e., ed.); British English shares this convention Indian English
with the French: Mlle, Mme, Dr, Ste, but M. for Monsieur.
In American and Canadian English, abbreviations like Malaysian English
St., Ave., Mr., Mrs., Ms., Dr., and Jr., always require full
stops/periods. Some initials are usually upper case in the Manx English
US but lower case in the UK: liter/litre and its compounds New Zealand English
(2 L or 25 mL vs 2 l or 25 ml);[206][207] and ante meri-
diem and post meridiem (10 P.M. or 10 PM vs 10 p.m. Philippine English
or 10 pm).[208][209][210] Both AM/PM and a.m./p.m. are
acceptable in American English, though AM/PM is more Scottish English
common. Singaporean English
The convention used to be, and in American English still [4] -or. Online Etymology Dictionary.
is, to put full stops (periods) and commas inside the quo-
[5] Venezky, Richard. The American Way of Spelling: The
tation marks, irrespective of the sense. British English
Structure and Origins of American English Orthography.
has moved away from this style while American English Guilford Press, 1999. p.26
has kept it. British style now prefers to punctuate accord-
ing to the sense, in which punctuation marks only appear [6] Clark, 2009.
inside quotation marks if they were there in the original.
[7] Chambers, 1998.
Formal British English practice requires a full stop to be
put inside the quotation marks if the quoted item is a full [8] The Macquarie Dictionary, Fourth Edition. The Mac-
sentence that ends where the main sentence ends, but it quarie Library Pty Ltd, 2005.
is common to see the stop outside the ending quotation
marks.[212] [9] Websters Third, p. 24a.
[11] Onions, CT, ed. (1987) [1933]. The Shorter Oxford En-
14 See also glish Dictionary (Third Edition (1933) with corrections
(1975) ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 370.
Australian English ISBN 0-19-861126-9.
[16] Sta. The Proceedings of the Old Bailey, 16741913. [35] Peters, p 461.
Humanities Research Institute, University of Sheeld.
Archived from the original on 23 July 2008. Retrieved [36] Style Manual for Authors, Editors and Printers of Aus-
19 June 2008. tralian Government Publications, Third Edition, Revised
by John Pitson, Australian Government Publishing Ser-
[17] Oxford English Dictionary, honour, honor. vice, Canberra, 1978, page 10, In general, follow the
spellings given in the latest edition of the Concise Oxford
[18] Baldrige, Letitia (1990). Letitia Baldriges Complete Guide Dictionary.
to the New Manners for the '90s: A Complete Guide to Eti-
quette. Rawson. p. 214. ISBN 0-89256-320-6. [37] Peters (2004: 135)
[21] Australian Labor: History. ALP.org.au. [40] complected. Merriam-Websters Dictionary of English
usage. Springeld, Mass: Merriam-Webster, Inc. 1994.
[22] Venezky, Richard L. (2001). "-re versus -er". In Al- p. 271. ISBN 0-87779-132-5. not an error...simply an
geo, John. The Cambridge History of the English Lan- Americanism
guage. VI: English in North America. Cambridge, Eng-
land: Cambridge University Press. p. 353. ISBN 0-521- [41] complect, v.. Oxford English Dictionary.
26479-0. [42] "-ize or -ise?". Oxford Dictionaries. Oxford University
[23] Howard, Philip (1984). The State of the Language Press. Retrieved 9 August 2013.
English Observed. London: Hamish Hamilton. p. 148. [43] Oxford English Dictionary "-ise1 "
ISBN 0-241-11346-6.
[44] Hart, Horace. Harts Rules for Compositors and Readers
[24] (Oxford English Dictionary: Second edition). at the University Press, Oxford (39 ed.). Oxford, England:
Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-212983-X.
[25] From the OED cites, Chaucer used both forms, but the
last usages of the re form were in the early 18th century. [45] Weiner, E.S.C.; Delahunty, Andrew (1994). The Oxford
The Oxford English Dictionary: 1989 edition. Guide to English Usage (paperback). Oxford University
Press. p. 32.
[26] Except in a 1579 usage (Oxford English Dictionary: 1989
edition). [46] Allen, Robert, ed. (2008). Pocket Fowlers Modern En-
glish Usage. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
[27] Although acre was spelled cer in Old English and aker
p. 354. ISBN 978-0-19-923258-1. may be legitimately
in Middle English, the acre spelling of Middle French was
spelled with either -ize or -ise throughout the English-
introduced in the 15th century. Similarly, loover was re-
speaking world (except in America, where -ize is always
spelled in the 17th century by inuence of the unrelated
used)...Cambridge University Press and others prefer -ise
Louvre. (See OED, s.v. acre and louvre)
[47] University of Oxford Style Guide: Word usage and
[28] Gove, Philip, ed. (1989). "-er/-re. Websters third new
spelling Linked 2013-07-14
international dictionary of the English language. 2 (3 ed.).
Springeld, MA: Merriam Webster. pp. 24a. ISBN 978- [48] "Are spellings like 'privatize' and 'organize' American-
0-87779-302-1. isms?". AskOxford.com. 2006.
[29] Robin Pogrebin (3 September 2003). Proposing an [49] Peters, p. 298: "[With] contemporary British writers the
American Theater Downtown. The New York Times ise spellings outnumber those with ize in the ratio of about
(Arts section). The New York Times Company. Retrieved 3:2 (emphasis as original)
22 September 2008.
[50] Richard Dixon, Questions answered, The Times, 13 Jan-
[30] The American National Theatre (ANT)". ANT. 2008 uary 2004.
2009. Archived from the original on 7 September 2008.
Retrieved 22 September 2008. [51] IANA language subtag registry, IANA, with en-GM-
oed marked as added 2003-07-09 as grandfathered, and
[31] The Kennedy Center. John F. Kennedy Center for deprecated eective 2015-04-17, with en-GB-oxendict
the Performing Arts. Archived from the original on 23 preferred (accessed 2015-08-08).
September 2008. Retrieved 22 September 2008.
[52] 3.2 -is-/-iz- spelling. English Style Guide. A handbook
[32] Cinemark Theatres. Centurytheaters.com. Retrieved 7 for authors and translators in the European Commission
February 2010. (PDF) (8th ed.). 26 August 2016. p. 14.
13
[53] prize. Websters Third New International Dictionary, [79] Zorn, Eric (8 June 1997). Errant Spelling: Moves for
Unabridged. Merriam-Webster, 2002. Also, prize. simplication turn Inglish into another langwaj. Chicago
Merriam-Websters Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Ed. Tribune. pp. Section 3A page 14. Retrieved 17 March
2007.
[54] According to Merriam-Websters Collegiate Dictionary,
Eleventh Ed.: prise is a chiey Brit var of PRIZE. [80] http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/kidnapped
[64] Websters Third New International Dictionary, copyright [90] Peters, p. 480. Also National Routeing Guide
1993 by Merriam-Webster, Inc.
[91] In American English, swingeing is sometimes spelled
[65] http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/medieval swinging see American Heritage Dictionary entry, and the
reader has to discern from the context which word and
[66] https://ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q= pronunciation is meant.
medieval&submit.x=35&submit.y=30
[92] British National Corpus
[67] https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/medieval
[93] Peters, p. 7
[68] Aronson, Je (26 July 1997). When I use a
[94] Peters, p. 303.
word...:Oe no!". British Medical Journal. 315 (7102).
doi:10.1136/bmj.315.7102.0h. Archived from the orig- [95] Spelling, Abbreviations and Symbols Guide (pdf). Re-
inal on 20 April 2005. trieved 2012-11-15.
[69] New Oxford Dictionary of English. [96] BBC Mundo | Questions about English. Bbc.co.uk. Re-
trieved 2012-03-04.
[70] Oxford English Dictionary, online edition: entry fetus
[97] Merriam-Webster Online. Retrieved 30 December 2007.
[71] Websters Third, p. 23a.
[98] Howarth, Lynne C; others (14 June 1999). ""Executive
[72] Wilson, Kenneth G. (1993). subpoena, subpena (n., v.)".
summary from review of International Standard Bibli-
The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. New
ographic Description for Electronic Resources"". Amer-
York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-06989-
ican Library Association. Archived from the original on
8. Archived from the original on 9 November 2007. Re-
16 April 2007. Retrieved 30 April 2007.
trieved 8 November 2007.
[99] Peters, p. 282.
[73] Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary, airplane.
[100] Chambers | Free English Dictionary. Chambershar-
[74] Peters, p. 20, p. 389. rap.co.uk. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
[75] Peters, p. 338. [101] See Macquarie Dictionary (5th ed.)'s explanation under
-in2 . The dictionary also lists 'inquiry' as the primary
[76] Peters, p. 309.
spelling, with 'enquiry' being a cross-reference to the for-
[77] Cf. Oxford English Dictionary, traveller, traveler. mer (denoting lower prevalence in Australian English).
The British distinction between 'inquiry' and 'enquiry' is
[78] Peters, p. 581 noted.
14 15 NOTES
[102] Peters, p. 285 [124] Added by Symphony on 15 October 2009 (15 October
2009). Things I don't Understand: Part 3 Canada!".
[103] Merriam-Webster Online. . Retrieved 30 December giantbomb. Archived from the original on 23 December
2007. 2009. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
[104] Peters, p. 340. [125] naivety. Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Retrieved 2016-
01-26.
[105] Peters, p. 443.
[126] naivety. Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House.
[106] Bureau International des Poids et Mesures, 2006, p. 124.
Retrieved 2016-01-26.
[107] The Metric Conversion Act of 1985 gives the Secretary [127] Peters, p. 364.
of Commerce of the US the responsibility of interpret-
ing or modifying the SI for use in the US The Secre- [128] Merriam Websters 11th Collegiate Dictionary, navet and
tary of Commerce delegated this authority to the Direc- naivety.
tor of the National Institute of Standards and Technol-
ogy (NIST) (Turner, 2008). In 2008, the NIST published [129] Grammar Oxford Dictionaries Online. Askox-
the US version (Taylor and Thompson, 2008a) of the En- ford.com. Retrieved 2012-03-04.
glish text of the eighth edition of the International Bureau
[130] OED, s.v. 'pyjamas
of Weights and Measures publication Le Systme Interna-
tional d'Units (SI) (BIPM, 2006). In the NIST publica- [131] Oxford English Dictionary, persnickety
tion, the spellings meter, liter, and deka are used
rather than metre, litre, and deca as in the original [132] Peters, p. 487
BIPM English text (Taylor and Thompson, 2008a, p. iii).
The Director of the NIST ocially acknowledged this [133] In Websters New World College Dictionary, scalawag is
publication, together with Taylor and Thompson (2008b), lemmatized without alternative, while scallawag and scal-
as the legal interpretation of the SI for the United States lywag are dened by cross-reference to it. All of them are
(Turner, 2008). marked as originally American.
[108] etymonline.com. etymonline.com. Retrieved 2012-03- [134] See the respective denitions in the American Heritage
04. Dictionary.
[118] OED, shivaree [145] Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary. Retrieved 2009-
4-19.
[119] Oxford English Dictionary, furore.
[146] Merriam-Webster Online. . Retrieved 1 January 2008.
[120] Peters, p. 221.
[147] draught. Concise OED. Retrieved 1 April 2007.
[121] Oxford English Dictionary, Grotty; Grody
[148] Oxford English Dictionary 2nd Edition, draught; draft (the
[122] Peters, p. 242 latter being used in an international marine context) .
[123] Oxford English Dictionary, mom and mam [149] Peters, p. 165.
15
[157] Oxford English Dictionary, online edition: entry grey | [182] Berube, Margery S.; Pickett, Joseph P.; Leonesio,
gray Christopher (28 September 2005). slew / slough / slue.
A Guide to Contemporary Usage & Style. Houghton Mif-
[158] customcargrills.com. Custom Car & Truck Grills Billet in Harcourt. p. 435. ISBN 9780618604999. Retrieved
& Mesh Grill Inserts. customcargrills.com. Retrieved 8 November 2012.
2012-11-13.
[183] "''A Concise Dictionary of Middle English''". Pbm.com.
[159] Williams, Brian (3 June 2011). Kookaburra survives Retrieved 2012-03-04.
700km trip after being stuck in cars grille | thetele-
[184] Peters, Pam (2002). storey or story. The Cambridge
graph.com.au. Dailytelegraph.com.au. Retrieved 2012-
Guide to English Usage. Cambridge, England: Cambridge
11-13.
University Press. p. 517. ISBN 0-521-62181-X.
[160] Cat survives 35km wedged in car grille National NZ
[185] Oxford English Dictionary, online edition: entry story |
Herald News. Nzherald.co.nz. 11 June 2012. Retrieved
storey
2012-11-13.
[186] Royal Society of Chemistry 1992 policy change.
[161] Google Ngram Viewer. books.google.com.
Rsc.org. 1 January 1992. Retrieved 2012-03-04.
"grill:eng_us_2012/grille:eng_us_2012,grill:
eng_gb_2012/grille:eng_gb_2012". Retrieved 2015-10- [187] Action over non-English spellings. BBC News. 24
29. November 2000. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
[162] Online Etymology Dictionary: hearken [188] The spelling sulfur predominates in United States tech-
nical usage, while both sulfur and sulphur are common
[163] Oxford English Dictionary, online edition: entry jail | in general usage. British usage tends to favor sulphur for
gaol all applications. The same pattern is seen in most of the
words derived from sulfur. Usage note, Merriam-Webster
[164] tiscali.reference. Retrieved on 10 March 2007.
Online. . Retrieved 1 January 2008.
[165] OED entry and British Journal of Applied Physics Volume
[189] The contrasting spellings of the chemical elements Al and
13 page 456
S mean that the American spelling aluminum sulde be-
[166] Online Etymology Dictionary: licorice. Etymon- comes aluminum sulphide in Canada, and as aluminium
line.com. Retrieved 2012-03-04. sulphide in older British usage.
[167] Ernout, Alfred; Meillet, Antoine (2001). Dictionnaire ety- [190] Oxford English Dictionary, online edition: entry sulphur
mologique de la langue latine. Paris: Klincksieck. p. 362. | sulfur
ISBN 2-252-03359-2.
[191] Browse 1913 => Word Thru :: Search the 1913 Noah
[168] Peters, p. 321. Websters Dictionary of the English Language (Free)".
1913.mshaer.com. 16 October 2009. Retrieved 2012-
[169] The Century Dictionary Online 03-04.
[170] Denition for MIDRIF Websters 1844 dictionary. [192] Peters, p. 553.
Emily Dickinson Lexicon. Brigham Young University.
[193] Peters, p. 566.
[171] Oxford English Dictionary, online edition: entry mould |
[194] US Code of Federal Regulations Title 27: Alcohol,
mold
Tobacco Products and Firearms, Section 5.22: Standards
[172] Peters, p. 360 of Identity for Distilled Spirits (PDF). Retrieved 25 July
2014.
[173] Peters, p. 392.
[195] Peters, p. 587. Yogourt is an accepted variant in French
[174] Oxford English Dictionary: plough, plow. of the more normal Standard French yaourt.
16 17 EXTERNAL LINKS
[196] Merriam-Webster Online Yogurt entry. Clark, Joe (2009). Organizing Our Marvellous
Mw1.merriam-webster.com. Retrieved 2012-03-04. Neighbours: How to Feel Good About Canadian En-
glish (e-book, version 1.1). ISBN 978-0-9809525-
[197] Peters, p. 258
0-6.
[198] Peters, p. 41. Fowler, Henry; Winchester, Simon (introduction)
[199] Bunton, David. Common English Errors in Hong Kong. (2003 reprint). A Dictionary of Modern English
Hong Kong: Longman. p. 6. ISBN 0-582-99914-6. Usage (Oxford Language Classics Series). Oxford
Press. ISBN 0-19-860506-4.
[200] Oxford English Dictionary, for ever.
Hargraves, Orin (2003). Mighty Fine Words and
[201] AskOxford: forever. Retrieved 24 June 2008. Cf. Peters, Smashing Expressions. Oxford: Oxford University
p. 214. Press. ISBN 0-19-515704-4
[202] For example, The Times, The Guardian, The Economist. Mencken, H. L. (1921). Chapter 8. American
Retrieved 24 June 2008. Spelling > 1. The Two Orthographies. The Amer-
ican language: An inquiry into the development of
[203] The Columbia Guide to Standard American English
English in the United States, (2nd ed., rev. and enl.
[204] Marsh, David (14 July 2004). The Guardian Stylebook. ed.). New York: A.A. Knopf. ISBN 1-58734-087-
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acronyms: take initial cap: Aids, Isa, Mori, Nato Nicholson, Margaret; (1957). A Dictionary of
American-English Usage Based on Fowlers Mod-
[205] See for example Pc bitten on face in Tube attack. BBC. ern English Usage. Signet, by arrangement with
31 March 2007. Retrieved 9 April 2007. Oxford University Press.
[206] Units outside the SI. Essentials of the SI. NIST. Oxford English Dictionary, 20 vols. (1989) Oxford
Archived from the original on 31 October 2009. Re- University Press.
trieved 22 October 2009. although both l and L are in-
ternationally accepted symbols for the liter, to avoid this Peters, Pam (2004). The Cambridge Guide to En-
risk the preferred symbol for use in the United States is L glish Usage. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press. ISBN 0-521-62181-X.
[207] Core learning in mathematics: Year 4 (PDF). Review of
the 1999 Framework. DCSF. 2006. p. 4. Retrieved 22 Websters Third New International Dictionary (1961;
October 2009. Use, read and write standard metric units repr. 2002) Merriam-Webster, Inc.
(km, m, cm, mm, kg, g, l, ml), including their abbrevia-
tions
16 References
Chambers, J.K. (1998). Canadian English: 250
Years in the Making, in The Canadian Oxford Dic-
tionary, 2nd ed., p xi.
17
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