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If I work for a US multi-national and based out of London, and work with team members in both USA and UK, which language should I use for my emails?
by zkmon 10mo ago
If I work for a US multi-national and based out of London, and work with team members in both USA and UK, which language should I use for my emails?
- shiroiuma 10mo agoIf you're Canadian, working in Canada, just use Canadian English. The Americans probably won't even notice, and if the Brits complain, then just point out that you're using the proper English for the country you're in now. This assumes your company doesn't have an official policy on the matter.
- omnicognate 10mo agoI am also based in London. When I work for American companies I attempt to use American spellings in code and documentation, because consistency matters. For general communication I use British English because I won't get American English right, humans and search mechanisms can cope with the difference and I can express myself most effectively that way. Incidentally, isn't "based out of" mostly an American idiom? I usually use "based on" or "based in" and find "based out of" and "based off" conjure images of poorly constructed buildings. (Don't get me started on "based off of".)
- zkmon 10mo agoNice catch! It never made sense to me either, to say "out of" when actually it is "in", quite the opposite. I guess I worked mostly with American companies, while educated in British English. I think "based out of" refers to the work communication going "out of" where the person is "based in". But still, it is far cry from the natural "in".
- ascorbic 10mo agoI'm in the same situation. I use American spellings for code comments, documentation and internal documents, but British spelling for chat and email.
- Tiktaalik 10mo agoI write color when I'm talking to my American colleagues and colour when I'm talking to my Canadian ones lol.
- tchalla 10mo agoIf you are multi-national, use where you are based in i.e. London.
- deleted 10mo ago[deleted]