Spelling...

Yep, and I'd be willing to bet it's the same in the States- I'm sure you'd be looked at askance if you tried to use British spellings in an American workplace (and not just workplaces actually- I know that when I moved over here to study I was expected to use British spelling in academic papers, for example!)  When in Rome, and all that...

I know it is. Been there, done the tour, got the T-shirt. "You're here, spell the words our way. Got that?". So anybody bellyaching about it happening here doesn't get any sympathy from me, I'm afraid.

the BBC cannot even cope with it's articles being riddled with simple spelling errors and elementary grammatical mistakes

Like "it's" when you mean "its" ?

No, I mean like "it's" as in the articles are the possession of the pronoun "it" which refers back to the noun of the "BBC" earlier in the sentence.

No, I mean like "it's" as in the articles are the possession of the pronoun "it" which refers back to the noun of the "BBC" earlier in the sentence.

I thought you did; unfortunately you've got it wrong. The words  it's  and  its  are commonly confused: the apostrophe of omission (it's) is confused with the possessive (its).  It's always means it is  or  it has, and is never to be used in place of the possessive its.

I'd say US vs UK spelling doesn't matter so much in random work emails and informal correspondence, but if you're expected to write official work documents such as reports, publications or minutes of meetings, you should absolutely be using British spelling for those (and once you're using it for some things, it's just easier to use it for everything!)

That's a fair point.  I occasionally do graphics for TV in the UK, and there it's important to use the UK spellings.  Happily, I generally have a UK citizen producer in the room to double-check everything.  

Aside from work-related reasons, though, nobody has ever seemed to notice or care if I use American spellings.

I stand corrected (and owned), but then again I'm not charged with the sort of career where I get paid to make sure I've not made such a small mistake.  

However, I think the argument of British va. American spellings doesn't work because it's a slippery slope.  After all, why expect someone to spell it "colour" and not "color" but then not expect people to say "herb" instead of "(h silent)-erb."  But then why end there?  Why not force those of us still saying "restroom" to start using "toilet"?  

Of course, these are just my opinions. I could be wrong.

IMHO, I would take that as discrimination.  I wouldnt work for a company who was of the mentality that typing "tire" instead of "tyre" is somehow in direct proportion to my intelligence.

I was really annoyed about it, but more about the nasty comments that I overheard about both my resume and being American than about the spelling issue.

And after I was done being annoyed, I changed my resume to British English spelling. After all, I needed a job more than I needed to prove a point to anyone!   

I stand corrected (and owned), but then again I'm not charged with the sort of career where I get paid to make sure I've not made such a small mistake.  

However, I think the argument of British va. American spellings doesn't work because it's a slippery slope.  After all, why expect someone to spell it "colour" and not "color" but then not expect people to say "herb" instead of "(h silent)-erb."  But then why end there?  Why not force those of us still saying "restroom" to start using "toilet"?  

If I ran a herb shop, and somebody I paid to answer the phone kept saying "Tremula's World Of Erbs", I might possibly ask them to say it my way. I might not if lots of people came in to buy packets of thyme and rosemary because of that cute American clerk who made them feel so welcome. But I'd be within my rights. And if that surly American clerk kept correcting their pronunciation of "oregano" and my takings were down since I hired her, then some kind of review might be in order.

I don't buy your slippery slope theory, as I think you might have guessed.

Well ok, my intention was not to cause an argument over British vs. American spelling.  I just simply wanted to know what the differences were so I could remember to use them, and train myself.  This went south quickly didnt it, lol.   

This went south quickly didnt it, lol.   

 

I was really annoyed about it, but more about the nasty comments that I overheard about both my resume and being American than about the spelling issue.

And after I was done being annoyed, I changed my resume to British English spelling. After all, I needed a job more than I needed to prove a point to anyone!   

Indeed, and if someone at my workplace said to me "Nicky, you WILL start using our spellings with our sprinkled U's everywhere else you'll be fired" let's face it, I'd do it.  Having a job is a huge motivator when it comes to alot of things.

Tremula.... I wouldn't dream of correcting someone's pronounciations of words that are said a certain way because of their national background. To use your example, oregano.  However to the same degree, I would never expect to be corrected on the spelling of words from my national background.


Not so much an argument... more healthy debate.

Back on topic LOL


Stand your ground on the ize ending. In most cases, it's the preferred spelling in the OED

Oh, and don't take any guff over saying Fall for Autumn. That's also a British English word that's fallen out of common usage LOL

Good information, I know the links that Geeta pasted were very helpful in showing the differences between our two countries.  It will probably take me awhile to get completely on track, but I plan on trying my hardest.  For profressionals reasons only though  , cause if I am writing an email to a friend its back to my American ways! 

I wouldn't dream of correcting someone's pronounciations of words that are said a certain way because of their national background. To use your example, oregano.  However to the same degree, I would never expect to be corrected on the spelling of words from my national background.

This.  I don't understand why people get worked up about spelling the British vs American way, particularly when it doesn't matter for understanding (-ise vs -ize or -ou vs -o).

I work at a British organisation but our clients are primarily American.  I have one colleague in particular that proofs all of our company mail out type docs and will froth at the mouth if American spellings are used.  Dude, it is going to Americans, hardly something to worry about -- particularly when some things are lost in translation (cheques vs check being a frequent one, if you can believe). Who cares when you are dealing with a mixed nationality client base?

Or like me, you could be a UKC working for the UK arm of a US company and having to constantly spell things in the American way and changing your spell checker from UK English to US English whenever you do an official document.

It's swings and blooming roundabouts (or crossroads ) , most people have enough intelligence to garner when they need to alter their spelling and when they don't need to worry about it, Springhaze's official document rule would work well in nearly all cases, I would say with a resume you should change your spelling, not because you have to, but because it shows some understanding of British Culture, a willingness to learn and awareness of your surroundings, but on the other hand I'd never even consider blackballing a candidate for using US spellings.

We're a mixed bag of USC and UKC at my workplace and there's never been an issue, aside from the need for consistency, in any document, pick a side and stay on it!