Written on August 27th, 2007 at 06:08 am by Darren Rowse
Do You Use American English, British English or do you Swing like the Canadians?
Here’s a question that I get asked a lot – particularly by non US bloggers who find themselves writing primarily for US audiences:
“I am English so of course spell words such as ‘colour’ the English way. However, I also know that my largest audience is likely to come from America.
My question is this – would I be better off using English or American spelling on my site? My first instinct is to ‘be myself’ and use English spelling, but I was wondering if I would be better off from an SEO and audience point of view using American spelling.” Submitted by Pete
This is a problem that I face constantly in my own blogging. I find that no matter which I go with I tend to get ‘corrected’ by readers. If I use the Australian spelling I find US readers tell me that I’m wrong, but if I use the US spelling I get picked up by Aussies, the English and readers from other countries.
Colour is just one example:
In Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the UK it’s spelt ‘colour’. In the US it’s color and in Canada it’s both (they tend to swing quite a bit over there).
Another common one that I get picked up on are any words with ‘ise’ or ‘ize’ at the end. Recognise or Recognize? Analyse or Analyze?
Center or Centre, Gray or Grey, Catalogue or Catalog, Defence or Defense, Aluminum or Aluminium? The list goes on….
And of course the most confusing one:
- it’s fulfil in ‘English’ and fulfill in ‘American’
- but – fulfilling in ‘English’ and fulfiling in ‘American’
- and to further confuse it – it’s fulfilment in ‘English’ and fulfillment in ‘American’
My spell checker doesn’t know what to do with this post!
What spelling do I use?
To be perfectly honest I don’t have a policy on it. If anything I probably take the Canadian route and swing back and forth (after-all I’m a cofounder of a Canadian company and pay income tax over there – so I figure I’m entitled to).
What spelling do you use?
I’d be interested to hear how different bloggers approach this and want to open it up as a reader question. Which spelling do you use? The spelling of your own country, your readers or some combination of both?
132 Responses to “Do You Use American English, British English or do you Swing like the Canadians?” - Add Yours
felix
August 27th, 2007 6:19 am
I see the rest of the world isn’t included in this debate. Those who don’t even have english as a mother tongue, but acquired it over time. Africans for example have range of spellings for various english words, but tend to swing British or American in written form. The irony is that the content of your message still gets understood no matter how you spell it. Its a beautiful world we live in. I dont even consider it when i write. I just write of the bat and let it breathe
felix
August 27th, 2007 6:19 am
I see the rest of the world isn’t included in this debate. Those who don’t even have english as a mother tongue, but acquired it over time. Africans for example have range of spellings for various english words, but tend to swing British or American in written form. The irony is that the content of your message still gets understood no matter how you spell it. Its a beautiful world we live in. I dont even consider it when i write. I just write of the bat and let it breathe
Andy Merrett
August 27th, 2007 6:32 am
I nearly always write in British English regardless of my audience, though the bulk of my work is aimed at a UK audience, and house style dictates it.
I rarely, if ever, find anyone correcting this kind of spelling, which is good. I can only presume that most readers are used to reading both British and American English.
Perhaps more of a problem is when the same word means something completely different in the US to the UK. Fortunately, this doesn’t come up much in the subjects I write about.
FInally, here’s an interesting post about the origins and usage of “-ise” versus “-ize”
Laura
August 27th, 2007 6:35 am
Since I am American I use American English because it is what comes naturally to me. I haven’t had any complaints even though I know that I have readers from all over the world, including in Great Britain.
Interesting question!
S Emerson
August 27th, 2007 6:37 am
Here in Canada, when I went to school anyways, we learned how to spell words the British English way and the American English way. Apparently other countries don’t do this as I have also noticed that people who spell the British English way are corrected by those who learnt the American English way.
I spell the Briish English way.
Tay - Make Money Blogging
August 27th, 2007 6:42 am
I’m American so I use the American spelling. It’s probably the only one I could use, because I’m not too sure on all of the spellings they use in England, etc. For me it doesn’t matter as much anyway, because most of my readers come from the United States. And for those that don’t, I’m sure they know what I mean. I’ve never been corrected on it before. :)
Great post though, I never really gave much thought to this topic before.
Linda Belle
August 27th, 2007 6:45 am
Well, I’m an American from Texas and although I have a pretty harsh Texan/Southern accent I tend to use English grammar and spelling in my writing and blogs. I don’t know why, except that it makes more sense than most of the American rules. I think you should write however your most comfortable. I understand why bloggers want to go the distance for their readers and future readers, and that we want our writing to be easily read; I just think that your writing is an extension of yourself, don’t change that. :) I love your blog.
Simonne
August 27th, 2007 6:49 am
I’m not a native English speaker. I’ve learnt in school the British English. However, taking into consideration that most of my traffic comes from US, I use mainly the American English.
Paquito
August 27th, 2007 6:51 am
Well… That’s a tough one for me as I’m Spanish (but writing in Spanish and into something that wants to be English :-)).
In my particular case, Google Analytics says my audience comes primarily from spanish-speaking countries and a few from the US so I use us-english-alike (as I say, It’s something that wants to be english :-)).
I just want to keep my English working (and also ’cause I have some friends outside Spain and I want them to visit my blog :-)).
So “US-English-alike” would be my answer :-)
Regards from Spain,
Paquito.
http://paquito4ever.blogspot.com
Diego
August 27th, 2007 6:52 am
May be you forgot ‘International English’: It’s the one spoken by people around the world but it’s not their mother tongue. There are a lot of people speaking English daily in their jobs, but we don’t speak english afterwards. Our english is very limited in terms of verbs and vocabulary in general. But we can communicate. It’s very common in technical profiles.
Most of us can read blogs without problems because the articles are normally short and not very complex. Newspapers are harder to understand, normally.
Joanna Young
August 27th, 2007 6:53 am
I use UK English because I can’t bring myself not to! No-one has said anything (yet)…
The SEO point is an interesting one though, as obviously people will be searching for ‘their’ spelling (also by mis-spellings… is it a good idea to include those too?!)
Joanna
citydan
August 27th, 2007 6:57 am
I always try to use British English. As a Canadian, I’m constantly bombarded with Americanised spellings and default American spell-checking programmes. But I don’t speak American. I speak English. In the end, pragmatism will probably win, but I believe we should try to get it right. The simple fact of the matter is that the correct way to speak English is as the English do, full stop.
Yohay
August 27th, 2007 6:57 am
I’m an Israeli, and I grew up for 2 and a half years of my childhood in Canada.
I always prefer American English. It usually has less letters, and it’s more straightforward.
Well, it is somewhat hard for me, because I prefer the British culture (especially music) over the American culture…
Ash Haque
August 27th, 2007 6:59 am
I’m from Canada, so whatever I way I use I rarely get corrected :-)
Rhys
August 27th, 2007 7:00 am
I stick to UK English, partly because the original readers of my blog were mainly UK-ers, but partly because I am too, it just confuses so many people.
Vittorio
August 27th, 2007 7:03 am
I try to switch between British and American spelling. Even within the same post, I’ll write “color” and “colour”. I’ve never received a complaint about this.
I agree with Laura, interesting topic! :-)
Michael Yurechko
August 27th, 2007 7:03 am
To correct you one more time. In Canada we use the english spelling of things. i.e. colour, neighbour, and the list goes on. Just had to correct you once more =D
Rhys
August 27th, 2007 7:04 am
Oh yeah, and Joanna, mispellings are well worth keeping from an SEO point in my opinion. I got a ton of traffic from a James Bond post because I spelt his name “James Bone”:
http://www.gospelrhys.co.uk/2006/12/james-bone-casino-royale-review.html
It’s something like the third highest traffic ever, but look at the google ads, they are all James Bond. I’d love to know how many clickthroughs they achieved.
Mark McManus
August 27th, 2007 7:04 am
LOL, I thought I was the only one with this challenge. Anyway, I’m Irish and so naturally spell the English, English way but tended to swing a lot in blog posts. Recently, though, I have decided to go with the American English because my audience is mostly American. Besides I can’t stand all those red lines under my words, even my spell-checker is American!
brem
August 27th, 2007 7:06 am
I write in British English because, well, I feel like it. English being a second language for me, and since Canada uses a combination of both American and British, I don’t feel I’m wrong.
Traditionally though, Canadians have used the British spelling over the American. I guess during the 20th century, with the advent of new telecom technologies, that shifted a bit.
As an example, how many Americans would know what a chesterfield is? :)
Rich Minx
August 27th, 2007 7:06 am
Well, I am a New Zealander (we use UK English and the odd NZ-ism and Maori word) but I use American English on my blog since about 85% of my readers are US-based. I think of it like fitting my site to the most commonly used browser version.
McGrath Dot Ca
August 27th, 2007 7:12 am
I’m French-Canadian but blog in English. Maybe I get some slack because I at least try/practice my English. :D I use Google when I’m not sure about a word. If it gets many search results, I pick that one. Also, I use Firefox to correct me(like now). I never realize of the many small difference in the English language.
But in my mind, it’s the content that is the king and you can’t make everybody happy and people should not that be picky when a blog is international. I could understand if it’s for a specific local market.
Darren: In your case, it’s the Canadian-English that you should take. Hey! You pay you taxes here too. Btw, thank you for those ;)
Steve
Andrew
August 27th, 2007 7:16 am
Another New Zealander – and I do the opposite :)
I just spell things ‘correctly’* (ie, according to the way I was taught). Anything else would feel like I was trying to hide something, or being less true to myself (in a very, very small way).
Then again, unlike Rich Minx, I’m on a .nz domain, and while my audience is global, I’m blogging to enhance my personal brand within NZ.
[* Well, I try to - sometimes I fail]
Terra Andersen
August 27th, 2007 7:21 am
I’m from the U.S., so it’s a given for us that we spell “color” with absolutely no “U”. .. and our English is basically out there all by itself.
*=)
-Terra
http://www.BetterForBusiness.com
Ryan Paul
August 27th, 2007 7:25 am
I try my hardest to use English English although I do slip up using some Yank-ized version of some words. There shouldn’t be any such thing as ‘American English’. It’s our damn language. The Yanks only changed it as one of many petty little things they felt they needed to change to be rid of all ‘Englishness’ after the War of Independence.
British English rules… all the others are petty attempts at trying to establish a culture different to the British.
Mark
August 27th, 2007 7:26 am
I use American English on my blog but I like both American and British versions. This is an interesting post, Darren. I just might have to take it up on my blog later……
Thomas
August 27th, 2007 7:33 am
I’m a Norwegian that is thought British English in school, but after getting the spell checker in Firefox I believe I use more and more American English.
Jon - FreelanceFolder
August 27th, 2007 7:34 am
We Canadians swing? ;)
Sachana
August 27th, 2007 7:37 am
Till I was studying I used British English but now I think m using more of American English coz my Word Doc is set up that way and it gives me error, when I use ‘flavour’ instead of ‘flavor’ . So now I think I’m using more of American English, to keep my write-ups on word doc, less of those red/green marks.
Simon
August 27th, 2007 7:43 am
I’m definately a swinger. The problem for me is the damned spell checker. I try as best as I can to write in British English, since I am British. However, I’m not the worlds best speller and my FireFox spell checker only supports American English (it’s a custom build, which I could get to work with the British English dictionary but it would take a lot of fiddling). So when I’m writing posts in FireFox it keeps correcting me which, in turn, causes me to question my spelling and almost always go with the spell checker. I hate myself for it, I really do!
Russ
August 27th, 2007 7:44 am
I created a website called ‘My Favourite Beer.’ Based on the Australian spelling of it.
So far, in every blog post about it, the bloggers have corrected the spelling and offered some explaination of why it is different.
One thought I must have been drunk when I bought it, another claimed I must be French.
I did not even think about the spelling at the beginning, but I wish I had!
tejvan
August 27th, 2007 7:44 am
English – English.
Occasionally I get corrected, I even slip into American english every now and then. I doubt it affects search engines that much.
Regula
August 27th, 2007 7:47 am
I blog both in English and German, English being my second language.
I prefer British English but often chat on line with American friends so sometimes I ’swing’ (… does that make me Canadian?).
I have never had a problem with either spelling – and actually some of my English-speaking readers enjoy ‘unraveling’ the German parts of my blog.
Bryce
August 27th, 2007 7:58 am
I use British English, I’m too lazy to remember to change my posts.
MMM - Subzero Blue
August 27th, 2007 7:59 am
Personally, I go the Canadian way, mixing up the British English and American English, depending on my mood and the spelling that comes to mind at that very instant.
Sometimes I do find myself looking at a word like “colour”, “favourite” or “center” and trying to decide which spelling to go for and whether I should be consistent in my choices or not; in the end I just mix it up and choose inconsistency.
G's Cottage
August 27th, 2007 8:00 am
Being a US blogger I use American spellings but I hope my readers feel free to comment with whatever spelling is typical for them. Having traveled a bit I just go with the flow. I’ve never have a blogger correct my spellings or apologize for theirs.
Lee
August 27th, 2007 8:01 am
I make so many spelling mistakes and typos that I don’t think it really matters which version of English I use :D
Dom
August 27th, 2007 8:02 am
I use British English, despite most of our readers being in the US.
One of the reasons we have so many American readers is because of the perceived “Britishness”.
Michael from Pro Blog Design
August 27th, 2007 8:05 am
I’m from the UK, but I realise that most of my readers are from the US, so I usually just go with their version.
Over time though, I’ve watered down my browser’s dictionary though, with both versions of quite a few words, so I’m sure that I still do a lot of words in English.
Chris Garrett
August 27th, 2007 8:05 am
I am a Canadian living in England and use English. I have been “corrected”, quite a lot. Usually on ise/ize. The worst to “correct” me were Digg users although luckily someone else has always stepped in and corrected the attempted correction :)
Dave
August 27th, 2007 8:08 am
I say write the way that you feel comfortable with and the readers will understand. The spelling police tend to be people that like to rip things apart for spelling and grammar rather than actually read the content. I got my start posting in chat rooms and forums and had to learn to just ignore them or otherwise with my bad habits I would have been driven off the internet more than a decade ago.
Woodshed
August 27th, 2007 8:14 am
British English all the way for me too. I think most people are smart enough to work out spelling differences and differences in meaning.
What worries me more is the cultural references. Sometimes I’ll naturally write a reference that will be obvious to UK readers. Then, when I’m in editing mode, I’ll realise/ize that most people reading it won’t have a blind clue what I’m going on about. I don’t want to alienate readers but I feel that these references give identity and personality to the blog. What’s the best way to deal with them?
Lucia
August 27th, 2007 8:14 am
I live in the US. My highschool English teacher went to Oxford and insisted that because we were Americans we were to always stick to US spelling.
Still, on my knitting blog, I intentionally spell some knitting terms both ways to get search engine traffic; I also go out of my ways to mention when other countries use a different term: On a single page, my readers will see “stockinet” and “stockinette” and “stocking stitch”, since all three are used by English speakers in different countries. I even go out of my way to mention the differences (which is partly an excuse to get all spellings in.)
No one has ever complained, some have thanked me for mentioning the differences. ( It can be very confusing when you get a pattern in another “venacular”!)
Kashmiri Nomad
August 27th, 2007 8:23 am
I always try to use British English although that it is at times rather difficult especially when laziness meets an American spell check.
Mark
August 27th, 2007 8:27 am
I write in American English when I blog, but I was raised on UK English. I guess there are more US bloggers, so it Yankee Doodle for me while I blog. But, of course, sometimes old habits creep in and the ize goes back to ise. Color changes back to colour.
Marc Eilbeck
August 27th, 2007 8:30 am
I use british english because I live in england :D
Nathania - Bold Interactive
August 27th, 2007 8:39 am
I say use the English of your home country. Please ignore the people who insist on correcting your spelling. They need to be corrected on their geography.
As for SEO – I’m guessing Google is smarter than some of the complaining commenters. :)
Anthea
August 27th, 2007 8:55 am
I am Australian and use British English. However, I find that I confuse “centre” and “center” quite a lot as a result of learning to code CSS.
wintersweet
August 27th, 2007 9:00 am
I agree that bloggers should just use their natural home spelling. When people comment, point out where you’re from. If they have any sense, they’ll be embarrassed and will apologize.
As you can see from the “apologize,” I’m American, but I still use certain more British spellings as my mother does–travelling, dialogue, grey, etc. (Firefox’s spellcheck underlined all of that!) I don’t know what HER excuse is, because her side of the family has been in the US for 300 years. But I know other Americans who vary as well, so it’s not just the Canadians who are swingin’. ;)
As for the comment that there “shouldn’t” be any such thing as “American English,” give me a break. Languages grow, spread, and change, or they die. It’s not as though a pure and virginal English evolved fully formed in the British Isles, anyway; it’s a combination of international and intercultural influences itself. In fact, there are many World Englishes. And if you won’t take my word for it as an English teacher who’s from the US, I do hope you’ll defer to the Oxford English Dictionary: http://www.askoxford.com/globalenglish/worldenglish/
Andrea >> Become a Consultant
August 27th, 2007 9:01 am
I’m a Canadian freelance writer/editor and marketing consultant. There actually are accepted style guides for Canadian spelling. I don’t know many reputable publications that would accept “color”, though.
Miles
August 27th, 2007 9:05 am
“Fulfilling” is how it’s spelled in American English. Perhaps you’re thinking of the British “travelling” vs. the American “traveling” or something similar.
James Moore
August 27th, 2007 9:18 am
As long as it’s literate, I don’t care how it’s spelled, though for the record it IS spelled, not spelt :-)
Chris
August 27th, 2007 9:23 am
I write Windows tips and the like. My blog is in English(Australian),. I come across all sorts of problems when it comes to an article about syncing favourites, as whenever I refer to “IE Favorites” I need to use American spelling as that is the way Windows spells it… The articles switch between US and AU accordng to if it is general blog conversation or reference to a button labeled “Favorites”.
Jeri
August 27th, 2007 9:23 am
American blogger – American English here.. but I really enjoy reading the writing of British or Australian English bloggers. The differences in spelling, and in idiom, are just enough to add charm without detracting from meaning. I lived in the UK for two years and it helped me to understand the breadth of the slang issue.
As a note – another difference is the addition of a ‘t’ to make a past tense in British-speak – spelt vs. spelled, learnt vs. learned. I’ve also seen UK or Aussie bloggers use “whilst” rather than the “while” I would choose.
Fascinating subject!
HART (1-800-HART)
August 27th, 2007 9:35 am
Well, I’m Canadian and all I have to add to the conversation is… “SPELL CHECKER”? Wut dat?
Weiran Zhang
August 27th, 2007 9:39 am
I use British English as much as possible, but sometimes I really don’t know which is which (from your examples, defence/defense and fulfil are ones that I’m never sure of). Theres such a cross contamination of American and British culture over here in the UK, and the fact I do most of my reading on the internet, so mainly US English, which makes it even more difficult!
Kelvin
August 27th, 2007 9:40 am
I am from the United States so I spell most things the “American” way… except it’s always been “theatre” instead of “theater” for me. I don’t know why. Actually, for me, the art is called “theatre” for me but the place is called “theater”. I know nobody uses that distinction but that’s the way it is in my mind. Strange.
Ken Y-N
August 27th, 2007 9:41 am
Funnily enough, this weekend I found a minor complaint about my blog in the comments of another blog that linked to me.
I use the word “wee” quite often, which she seemed to find strange and funny as she thinks of the toilet-related word every time she sees it!
As for SEO issues, it’s not just spelling but also phrases that are important, I think – I often write about mobile phones, or should that be cell phones? I’ve recently tried to ensure that I use both expressions in each post.
Steven
August 27th, 2007 9:49 am
I have been trying to avoid using these words for the longest time. The list is probably tremendously long and I always thought it is best to avoid using these word as they may bring up controversy when other words could be use in their place, words that are just as effective if not better. However some times whether it’s because I can’t think of any other words to use or because I am unconsciously unaware of it, I occasionally use those controversial words and naturally I use the version I was taught by default, not because of choice. It just sort of naturally comes out that way.
Since I am raised in the US, I am American and therefore I write that way. For SEO purposes, I figure since Google, Yahoo, and MSN (the 3 largest search engines among all existing search engines are also US base), they should follow the American style more (this is pure speculation and I have no idea if this is true or not). I would hope that they would adopt all forms of spelling but we know that can’t always be the case.
Clay Carson
August 27th, 2007 10:24 am
I just write the way I was taught in school and the way I was raised (”American”). I don’t feel that it is a major issue. If you have a personal blog, write how you would write anything. That is your style and your blog should follow it.
Darren Rowse
August 27th, 2007 10:24 am
For a list of some of the different spellings of words check out this page on wikipedia
And for the different spellings on the variations of fulfil/fulfill checkout this post on the topic (scroll down it a bit)
Sharon Hurley Hall
August 27th, 2007 10:24 am
I’m a Brit and I naturally gravitate towards British English. In my job as a freelance writer, I use both, as I write equally for the UK and US markets. However, most of my blog readers are in the US (aren’t stats packages wonderful?), so I sometimes mix it up, especially if I’ve been doing a writing job that calls for US English.
Bozdemir
August 27th, 2007 10:26 am
I use whatever I want to, American or British , both okay to me and to my writers, I don’t understand will it be a problem for readers if you use colour instead of color and vice versa.
I am just trying to give meaningful ideas, I don’t get stuck on spelling. Interesting point you got here, Problogger.
Thank you.
micsaund
August 27th, 2007 10:32 am
I guess I tend to swap a bit even though I’m an American.
I use “color” but prefer “theatre”.
Kathleen
August 27th, 2007 10:42 am
Hey!
The spellings don’t bother me. It’s words like learnt, and spelt that first stood out to me in Darren’s blog. At first is sounded like an “uneducated country boy”, until I educated myself and found out it was proper English for others. Use the words and spellings that are right for your native English. Celebrate our differences! The computer has created another language. My spell checker always says the word “blog” should be “bog”.
Oh well!
Million Dollar Homeboy
August 27th, 2007 10:44 am
Interesting topic and relevant to a degree I guess. The words, colour, analyse, recognise, etc really don’t seem to rank too high though for SEO purposes. My personal opinion is to spell the words as you spell them in the country where you live. If I am reading a blog from OZ or the UK, then when I see words like colour, I really don’t notice the spelling so much because I know the blogger is using the English form of the word, the word sounds the same so I really just ignore the spelling. If you were selling items strictly to people in OZ and you are an American company, I would definitely use the English version of the words then.
Mark – AKA, The Million Dollar Homeboy
Brennan
August 27th, 2007 11:29 am
Being an American, I use American English. However, I have no problem reading “colour” as “color”. I say type in your own English. In regards to SEO, I don’t know.
Adrian
August 27th, 2007 11:34 am
As a Canadian citizen, I’m definitely a swinger with my blog, and any other projects that require writing.
Great post on an interesting topic – eh.
icedragon
August 27th, 2007 11:51 am
I think that you should go with the majority, and that’s spanish, how about a PROblogueador blog ?? ja ja, only joking around, I say US-english . . .
Lulu
August 27th, 2007 11:54 am
I was raised with the British spelling but since I have been in the US for the last seven years I use the American spelling on my blog. I know that the majority of my readers are American…so when in Rome and all that.
I switched my spell checker over to American so that it picks up the words that I am just itching to use the British spelling for like ‘cheque’ (for the Americans it is that thing you write to take money out of your bank account. :-)
Gillian
August 27th, 2007 12:28 pm
I’m Australian and use Australian English mostly. Sometimes, though when I’m writing about an American theme, different constructs will creep in. My spelling is British 99% of the time, but my vocabulary is purely Aussie. Not Strine, though, except when I feel mischievous. I tend to use the international version of Australian English.
For the record, my readers are more curious to know what specific words and phrases mean than to change my English into theirs.
redwall_hp
August 27th, 2007 12:33 pm
I’m American, and I just write as I’m used to.
pablopabla
August 27th, 2007 12:36 pm
The Queen’s English for me, thank you :D
PJ
August 27th, 2007 1:43 pm
Hello,
English is not my mother tongue and I grew up learning (American) English as a second language. Now I live in the UK so I use British spelling most of the time, including the first few months after I started my blog.
Then I noticed that the majority of my readers are in the US, so I have since used America spelling for blogging. It is what I grew up with so it’s not a conscious effort. (But it is a very conscious decision, since I do write a lot about colors/colours in my blog.)
Like what Andy Merrett said above, I guess most people are used to reading both kinds of spellings.
Albert | UrbanMonk dot Net
August 27th, 2007 1:50 pm
I’m in Australia, and I have troubles with the same thing. I just let it flow, sometimes ize, sometimes ise, and no one’s complained yet, so I guess it doesn’t really matter.
In my last post, I used both ise and ize haha!
http://www.urbanmonk.net/125/5-weeks-to-developing-the-magic-of-visualisation/
David / Homeopathy Zone
August 27th, 2007 2:07 pm
I use Canadian English which is the most adaptable!
An interesting aside is that there are two spellings of the topic of my blog: homoeopathy (original spelling still used in England, India, etc.) and homeopathy (modern spelling used in North America and increasingly being adopted elsewhere).
So in order to attract searchers of both spellings (the British spelling is used about 20% of the time so it cannot be ignored), I opt for the British spelling in some of my articles.
Steven
August 27th, 2007 2:08 pm
Hey Darren,
Base on your link provided above…
wikipedia, I don’t understand why they even bother putting dialogue down seeing as how they’re all the same for every country listed… I would understand if they at least list dialog in there somewhere but it’s not even on that list.
Darren Rowse
August 27th, 2007 2:31 pm
yep – weird that one Steven.
gaman
August 27th, 2007 3:06 pm
We use British English in Malaysia but sometimes I wonder if I should use American English because my blog attracts a sizable audience from the US
Sicarii
August 27th, 2007 4:19 pm
Here in Singapore we flip-flop like Canadians too. Our education is in British English, but business English is mostly American.
For me it’s American English on my primary blog and while I fly the British English flag on my football blog which is about Liverpool Football Club and the Barclays Premier League.
So I guess I write primarily in the English that most of my audience is comfortable with.
Myf
August 27th, 2007 4:19 pm
It seems to me you should be yourself. Write the way you write. For me, that’s British English. I follow a guideline of putting my own personality across in my posts, so whyever would I go against everything I learned at school?
Just two caveats, though: if I am aware that a word (like biro, felt-tip or rubber, all words I have been picked up on on my drawing blog) may be misconstrued or simply not understood by readers outside the UK, I will add an explanation. And I have to admit that, spending so much time reading the blogs of a global nature, with many in the US, I do find myself subconsciously picking up Americanisms. I use them like you use seasoning – for a bit of flavour… well, I hope so, anyway.
Lis
August 27th, 2007 4:38 pm
Here in Singapore, we’re taught British English in school so that’s what I write and spell in. There’s quite a bit of Americanisms thrown in though as a lot of us grow up watching American TV shows on the local channels.
Matt
August 27th, 2007 5:02 pm
I’m Canadian and I live in Canada, so I spell things the Canadian way. With a few exceptions, I spell it “center”, not “centre”.
With the “less known” ones, I don’t really care.
Either way, the reader will most likely understand you, as long as they can read English.
Nir Tober
August 27th, 2007 5:06 pm
Darren hello,
My name is Nir, and I’m a graphic designer. The fire typography photo that illustrates this blog entry, is mine. The photo, witch you have taken from my flickr page, is NOT a free/CC photo. it is clearly marked as “All rights reserved”, witch means that you can’t do anything with it. I don’t like the fact that you are “making a living from this new and dynamic medium” by ripping my own creative (hard) work, and i thought that as a problogger you would know better then infringing copyright laws.
however, since it is already on your blog, please add a credit line beneath it, with my full name linked back to photo page on flickr. if your not interested in that, please remove it immediately.
In the future, please contact me before, and will be glad to give my approval.
Nir.
Sarah Tan
August 27th, 2007 5:11 pm
During an English Language class on Varieties of English Language, we discussed the possibility of cultural imperialism by the Americans through Microsoft spell check in terms of language, and that was more than 8 years ago.
For the record, British examiners for GCE papers accept both British and American spelling, so long the candidates are consistent. I think for many people, consistency is an issue because they do not know which is the correct version of each variety.
I come from Singapore, and I prefer to use British English since that is what I’ve been taught since young. I like later versions of Microsoft for offering Singapore English as one of the options, though I’ve yet to see the difference between British spelling and Singapore spelling.
I do some editing offline, and usually I prefer to use ‘organise’ rather than ‘organize’ even though both are correct, just for consistency.
My blog is more local in nature, so I don’t need to worry about switching between American and British spelling.
markowe
August 27th, 2007 5:15 pm
It is an interesting question, one that I pondered in a blog post a while back (http://future-phobia.blogspot.com/2007/03/internet-affecting-color-of-english.html)
One question that remains unanswered for me is how exactly search engines like Google deal with alternative spellings of the same word – they seem to recognise, or recognize, that “color” and “colour” are the same word, but still seem to rank the results differently.
I wonder if in time this SEO force will influence our spelling to the extent that we end up with a unifying “internet” English…
Kidino
August 27th, 2007 5:36 pm
Here’s what I know … almost ALL non-English speaking countries learn British English at school, in some form or another. The main reason is that the British were all over the place back in the 1500 – 1800. So those countries (also known as Commonwealth countries) adopt British English.
Now, I mean no offense … You only get corrected when you use British English by people who were brought up with American English. Those who were brought up with British English are aware of the differences between American English and British English. So they don’t mind reading either one.
But those who are only familiar with American English, they think that’s the only English there is.
Poor David Beckham in the States, getting corrected so many times for saying football instead of soccer.
xlt
August 27th, 2007 5:37 pm
I do not have special language policy. I swing. Except if i use spell-checker – then i use American spelling.
figele
August 27th, 2007 5:51 pm
Well, as for the ppl from non-English countries: from my own experience – we usually just try not to make basic mistakes, leave alone dialect intricacies;)
Hazel
August 27th, 2007 6:32 pm
The correct version of the language is, of course, the stiff-upper-lipped British version of the language. Take a large pinch of salt here because most of us Brits have got used to different spellings when reading. What really gets to most of us is the difference in punctuation — and those bloggers who don’t understand that punctuating correctly is far more important than whether the color is a favorite or not.
I must admit that in my written work I use exclusively British spelling even to the point of changing “ize” to “ise” in abstracts.
Kaila Colbin
August 27th, 2007 8:24 pm
I’m an American blogging in New Zealand for a technology company with a primarily US audience. So I write in American English. But I also write for a Kiwi automotive magazine, and boy howdy you should see me wield a ‘colour’ or a ‘centre’ when I know that’s what my audience expects!
Just tonight we were watching a TV show called ‘Spooks’. British show. MI5 had hacked into the American ambassador’s computer and was pretending to transmit on behalf of the White House. ‘Which weapons should we prioritise?’ was the message. I thought that would be the clue that tipped off the ambassador to the fact that he was being spied on by the Brits. Instead, he responded, ‘Prioritise the chemicals.’ Bogus!
Pete Williams
August 27th, 2007 8:28 pm
Hi Darren, first of all thanks for answering my question. I’m amazed at the response it’s received.
I think the comments above confirm my initial thoughts – that I should write in the language that comes naturally to me, and I’m sure my audience are intelligent enough to figure out the difference in certain spellings.
As Markowe says above, the SEO question seems a little harder to answer, but my best guess is that Google, Yahoo and MSN probably have some pretty smart algorithms that know that the words ‘color’ and ‘colour’ are the same. Whether they rank them the same is another matter, but I suspect it’s one we can only speculate on!
Pete Williams – http://www.amateursnapper.com
CabSav
August 27th, 2007 9:24 pm
I’m an Aussie, and a swinger. I try to stick to British English (or Aussie English) where I can. I use the Macquarie Dictionariy as my spell checker and definitely ‘ise’ instead ‘ize’, but I do swing. Working on the web you have to use words like ‘center’ and ‘color’ in CSS, and if you’re describing the ‘favourites’ menu that’s how you spell it because that’s what people see it written as.
Shankar Ganesh
August 27th, 2007 10:57 pm
Well, I stick with British English since I’m an Indian.. but sometimes without my own knowledge, american spellings come and pollute my writings :D
Martin Neumann
August 27th, 2007 11:19 pm
I swing but being an Aussie I tend towards the British way.
center, color and “ise/ize” are what get me (frustrate me) the most.
But as of last week I’ve decided I’m going to write in my natural tongue, the way I was taught growing up.
Writing’s hard enough without having to continually correct the American bastardisation of the English language. ;-)
Andreas Gohr
August 28th, 2007 12:00 am
I’m German and learned British English in school, so that’s what I tend to write in. But my American English Firefox spellchecker then corrects me and I tend to agree to its suggestions just to make the red lines go away ;-)
Dr Shock
August 28th, 2007 12:12 am
Well I am dutch, writing a medblog in English. Recently discovered the difference between a movie and a film in English. Not so fluent yet to bother with US or UK English, would like feed back on my English. Writing a blog is also practicing English writing as well as fun. Love the spelling correction in blogger.
I gues I am writing as a Canadian.
Danielle, Celebrity Baby Blog
August 28th, 2007 12:15 am
Most of my staff is American so we use US English but two of my writers are Australian so they use AUS English. Readers don’t say anything. I think they are smart enough to know that English words are spelled differently in different countries.
I don’t mind reading different version of English, in fact, I think it’s kind of charming, kind of like accents.
Lord Matt
August 28th, 2007 1:15 am
I have a real hard time with spelling – I’m talking need some help hard time for reasons that are hard to spell. So while I try to use British English (being British) I sometimes just go with whatever the spell checker comes up with. Sometimes the en-us library is default or the only option. In open office, for example, the en-gb dictionary was miles behind and simply not ready the last time I downloaded it.
wintersweet
August 28th, 2007 1:31 am
>>Here’s what I know … almost ALL non-English speaking countries learn British English at school, in some form or another.
This is no longer true, as former Commonwealth countries are no longer the major source of English language learners. East Asia, in particular, is increasingly favoring American English. (Not that this is a good or bad trend, in particular. Just pointing it out.)
Sephyroth
August 28th, 2007 1:44 am
Although I’m an American, I tend to swing more towards the Commonwealth spellings and uses (for example using learnt instead of learned). However, I’m not terribly consistent and do tend to do the Canadian Swing from time to time.
As far as the SEO question, I would have thought that they’d weigh American/Commonwealth spelling differences equally, but if you look at results for neighbor – “neighbour” doesn’t even appear in the first 100 results as an alternate to the American spelling.
Sephyroth
http://www.sephyroth.net
Zach Everson
August 28th, 2007 2:55 am
As an American, I use American English on my blog. I’m a full-time freelance writer and editor, however, and have had to use British English on jobs. It’s a tough transition between the two, but I did enjoy that project more because of the extra challenge.
Ajey
August 28th, 2007 3:01 am
This is interesting conversation. I tend to use the default dictionary that comes bundled with word processors. Never bothered to change it. Again, until now- I’ve never given so much thought to “what kind of written English” I use. Now I can barely type ;P
Sonia Simone
August 28th, 2007 3:07 am
Interesting conversation. From a marketing standpoint, as _Call to Action_ says, you should talk “to the heart of the dog, about what matters to the dog, in the language of the dog.” So if you’re trying to sell something and your customers are American, it makes sense to use American spellings–they create a little less distance between you and your customer.
But a blog isn’t (purely, anyway) a marketing vehicle, it’s a vehicle for expression. Transparency and authenticity are essential.
For SEO, I’d at least consider including both spellings in tags.
So I guess I vote for your own spelling on a blog, and your customers’ spelling on a squeeze or commercial page.
Kelly Rusk
August 28th, 2007 4:20 am
I’m a Canadian writing a blog for a mostly American audience and this debate goes through my head every time I post!
Generally I follow American rules, since that’s our audience, and I do know the rules. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if a “neighbour” or “cheque” gets by me occasionally, as that is my instinct.
Grey
August 28th, 2007 4:21 am
As an American blogging in London, I use American English, but the longer I’m here, the harder it is not to slip into British.
Jason
August 28th, 2007 4:44 am
Since when is the American version fulfiling? That’s an error in spelling from any source that I’m aware of. The American version is consistent:
fulfill
fulfilling
fulfillment
Firefox spell-checker has your version underlined right now (meaning it’s detected it as an error).
Hope you don’t take this as nitpicking… but your main example (as far as visual emphasis goes) is faulty.
christopher
August 28th, 2007 5:56 am
I use American English spelling unless I’m specifically teaching the British English version of some topic.
American English spelling is simplified in several ways….although I’d say it hasn’t been simplified enough. English is a difficult language for second language speakers to write.
I agree with most who say that you should write in whichever is best for you personally.
I don’t see why you’d want to use -ise endings since British English accepts -ize. -ize is more international.
Vero Pepperrell
August 28th, 2007 7:14 am
As a French-Canadian taught English as a second language UK-style, and now living in the UK, I tend to opt for British spelling.
Where the confusion comes is where the French version, UK-English and American English versions start mixing together in my head – That’s the point where blog posts might swing a little.
But generally, UK English it is for me where I make a conscious choice. In perspective, as long as the content is of high quality, I’m sure readers can deal with either, as it doesn’t (generally) change the meaning of the copy!
Darren Rowse
August 28th, 2007 7:32 am
Jason – I got that spelling from a number of sources – but perhaps they are wrong, out of date?
Nir – thanks for letting me know about the pic – have removed it at your request.
James
August 28th, 2007 8:10 am
Being terrible at spelling in the first place, it really doesn’t matter much. I just hope I have it spelled right in any form of English.
What really matters is that the message is fully understood. After that, worry about professionalism.
Nathan Chapman
August 28th, 2007 5:53 pm
I am down here in Australia, and I do write with “Australian”-English. However, i dont actually find it to be a turn-off for others, it is just another “Spelling Mistake” to them. It is the same when i am reading some American sites.
plonkee
August 28th, 2007 9:15 pm
I use British English spellings, because otherwise it looks wrong. Some of my choices of expressions and so on are a bit Americanised because I read a lot of US based blogs and I tend to absorb them and lose my natural voice.
I’ve found that most of my readers that comment on it are aware that British English spells things differently to American English. I’ve even had people deliberately comment using British spellings.
Brad V.
August 29th, 2007 8:59 am
Hi Darren! You bring up an interesting point in this post. Personally, I use American English, but only because I was born and raised in the US.
With that said, I studied English Literature in college, write a good amount of fiction and a little poetry, and maintain a blog about literature/writing. I don’t think what type of English you use really matters. Each “version” is unique and colorful in its own way. The only problems arise when one uses “local jargon” that is usually only understood within his/her own locality.
A good example is the British word “fag”. For Britons, this simply means a cigarette. But here in the US, someone who doesn’t know any better might interpret it totally different.
Other than that, whether you spell “color” as “colour” matters very little.
Jen / domestika
August 29th, 2007 10:41 am
Just another Canadian swinger here…
I used to try to spell the American way, to avoid getting nagged by ScribeFire’s spellchecker – and I had been told (incorrectly, I now believe) that search engines would slap my wrists for non-American spelling. But it all just felt so contrived…
Now I just color / colour it up whichever way my fingers feel like typing, and let the chips fall where they may.
Erica
August 30th, 2007 7:10 am
As a Canadian I was taught primarily the English spellings and I’ll use them no matter how much a spell checker may yell at me. Colour, honour, valour, personally I find the -or ending quite unattractive, -our seems more “grown-up”.
It’s also always centre, grey, cheque (banking).
I find as far as -ze vs. -se if the ending starts with an “i” it’s -ize otherwise -se. So with the examples it would be recognize but analyse.
Pete
September 1st, 2007 5:21 am
I’m an Australian living in Canada. The Australians have developed their own mix of spellings. The Canadians swing between the British and US spellings. I tend to vary my spelling according to the intended audience, and pretty much anything goes, it seems. In 7 years in Canada, not a single person has even commented on my choices of -ize versus -ise or aluminium versus aluminum. In truth, the general level of spelling in most written documents I see (whether e-mail, newspapers, technical documents or, sadly, even some books) is so poor that minor differences between fulfill and fullfil or gray and grey are insignificant. As for punctuation….
j7labs
September 1st, 2007 10:43 pm
I’m an Australian living in Melbourne, Australia. In normal writing I unconsciously switch between U.S and Australian spelling – I don’t know why. I think I used Microsoft Word with U.S spellcheck on since primary school.
However, when I’m blogging or writing for a website, I always use U.S spelling for international sites, and Australian spelling for local sites. E.g. instead of bonnet, I’d write hood and vice versa. (as in the hood of the car)
It makes sense.
CatherineL
September 4th, 2007 4:20 pm
I’m from the Uk. Most of the time I’ll use UK English, but often I just use whatever comes out.
Since I started using the Internet a lot my spelling has got pretty bad anyway. And I’m always making typos.
Eric Giguere
September 5th, 2007 3:06 am
I’m a little late with this thread, but as I point out in How to write like a Canadian, eh?, there’s a great resource that lists the primary differences between Canadian English and other varieties of English: Cornerstone’s Canadian English Page.
Talia Mana, Centre for Emotional Well-Be
September 5th, 2007 9:49 am
I spell in British English. It’s a bigger issue for me as I have named my organisation Centre for Emotional Well-Being, which probably looks like a typo to the US-based audience
britgirl
September 5th, 2007 12:04 pm
I’m British and I live in Canada. I’m glad I don’t have to spell “colour” as “color” as that would make it very uncomfortable for me to blog. My audience though mostly American has always had a sizeable amount of British readers. Since I introduce myself as a Brit who lives in Canada I think people know what to expect. I blog in UK English, which is my mother tongue and I blog conversationally. I will though often provide American eqivalents alongside English words, such as films/movies, lift/elevator, pavement/sidewalk, trousers/pants, cinema/theatre… etc. Most Americans are quite savvy about what I’m talking about so I don’t feel it’s a “must”
I also use British expressions from time to time, which my American readers also seem to enjoy… like naff.. or gobsmacked :)
Linda R. Moore
September 7th, 2007 10:49 pm
I’m a Brit living in the USA. I blog in American English, simply because the blog stands behind a book I published which is also written in AE, and because I live in the USA. Therefore, AE spellings and idiom, after ten years, now seem more familiar.
I still apparently throw in an Anglicism from time to time. ;)
biofuelsimon
October 4th, 2007 10:31 pm
English is the new Latin
Eric Collinson
October 15th, 2007 11:49 pm
I am sure American English is right for our American cousins but a British English spellchecker option would be welcome as I am trying to improve my spelling and American spelling adds to my confusion.
Schmendrick
December 10th, 2007 1:22 pm
I am an American living in the United States, but I spell like an Englishman. I have always thought British orthography to be more proper (more aesthetically pleasing as well) and taught myself to use it as an adolescent. It became natural after a while.
Paul
March 23rd, 2008 3:08 am
As an Australian I’ve always used standard British spelling forms and usage for the most part, both at home and overseas. However Australians, like Canadians, do use some American terms in preference to British terms, some examples are: ’station wagon’ instead of ‘estate car’, ’sedan’ instead of .’saloon’, ‘billboard’ for ‘hoarding’, ‘hardware store’ for ‘ironmongers’, ‘kerosene’ for ‘paraffin’. In many instances, too, both the British and American term are used interchangeably in Australia, for example: ‘CV’ or ‘curriculum vitae’ and ‘resume’, ‘lift’ and ‘elevator’, ‘flat’ and ‘apartment’. Personally, given a choice between British and American terms, I would mostly opt for the British term as being the more familiar as I am older; many American terms that are now used in Australia have only been current here over the last 20 to 25 years and are usually used by Australians that are considerably younger than me.
Carl
April 10th, 2008 4:03 am
I’m from Buffalo, NY which is literally right next to Canada.. It’s like Canada 2 over here because half the people that are in the area everyday are Canadian. We also get all the major Toronto based radio, TV stations, and newspapers too. I also visit Canada a lot, so I tend to find myself using both. I will normally use American spelling but tend to slip every now and then and use the British way. I’m a flip flopper. ;)
Steve
June 19th, 2008 3:22 am
The British spelling of words don’t really trip up Americans who are reading one’s work. I really don’t think it matters much :P What catches one’s eye are the grammatical differences between American English and British English such as the ones on the following webpage http://www.perfectyourenglish.com/writing/american-and-british.htm
stopitknow
October 6th, 2008 9:41 am
I’m afraid to say American English does not exist; it’s either English or English spelt incorrectly, I can’t suddenly go to France and then spell the word Bonjour a different way, i.e. Bonjor and then say that’s the right way because it’s English French.
Americans speak English, there is no such thing as the American language.
rainmakerrain
December 13th, 2008 6:23 pm
I disagree with many of the comments. The most logical approach to this problem is to master one of the styles – American English or British English, and to use it consistently in your writing (and of course speech).
Stylistically, it is not correct or logical to mix these two styles.
If you know well enough the differences, you have to consider your audience and subject.
rainmakerrain
December 13th, 2008 6:50 pm
Just to make it clear. There’s only one language called English language, and two main written styles of this language: British (not English) English and American English.
The two writing styles differ mainly in
idiomatic expressions (ticked off Br E; hacked off Am E),
words used (lorry Br E; truck Am E),
usage (holiday means vacation in Br E and )
grammar (group is used with plural verb in Br E, singular in Am E)
spelling (travelling Br E; traveling Am E)
Don’t mix those two styles – pick one and make the web more comprehensible.
Comments will be closed off on this post 90 days after it is published. Apologies to those this impacts but it's a regrettable and temporary measure to combat a growing comment spam problem. See our most recent posts where you can comment here.