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It was used in the recent budget documents. > Canadian English has been the standard in government communications for decades. But eagle-eyed linguists and edi
by CanuckThrowAway 10mo ago
It was used in the recent budget documents.
> Canadian English has been the standard in government communications for decades. But eagle-eyed linguists and editors have spotted British spellings — like "globalisation" and "catalyse" — in documents from the Carney government, including the budget.
- mikestorrent 10mo agoThe entire world has already wasted enough calories on caring about this.
- thomassmith65 10mo agoI should clarify. My assumption is that any instances of British spelling in the document(s) were accidental. The petition, otoh, implies that Carney's office has adopted a policy of using British spelling. The 'new policy' explanation is more surprising than mine. It makes a difference. If the conventional explanation is the right one, then this fuss is over a few minor spelling mistakes, as opposed to Carney exercising poor judgment.
- jamincan 10mo agoApparently it was acceptable to use s or z in words like catalyse or analyze in British English until Microsoft Word came out with a British English spellchecker that picked the s spelling as its standard. Whether this is just myth or fact seems to be a point of controversy.
- gbil 10mo agoI learned British English starting in the 80s and using s whereas z was used in American English, together with tre instead of ter (eg. theatre), was a big difference. And I can tell you that MS Word back then was just not there so this sounds like an urban legend but let the British people in HN chime in.
- nephihaha 10mo agoBoth -ise and -ize are UK spelling. One is favoured by Oxford and the other by Cambridge.
- roryirvine 10mo agoMost academic and technical writing in the UK still uses the z form, and the OED and Collins dictionaries tend to prefer it, too: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford_spelling https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford_spelling In popular writing, the s forms dominate - I've not heard the MS Word explanation before, but the most popular UK-produced word processors and spellcheckers in the 1980s (eg. Locoscript/Locospell, Protext/Prospell, 1st Word) tended to come from companies in the Cambridge area or which were founded by Cambridge grads, so would naturally have used the s spellings by default.
- xnorswap 10mo ago> Most academic and technical writing in the UK still uses the z form 'z' forms are generally used for writing for an international audience, it hasn't really caught on more generally than that.
- mhandley 10mo agoI'm British, but when submitting papers for blind review, always use American spelling for obvious reasons. I suppose I could change it after acceptance, but that would just be pretentious.
- gnufx 10mo agoNo, see (even the new) Fowler's Modern English Usage. British usage is -yse, but right-and-proper Oxford spelling uses -ize, not -ise, for words with a Greek root.
- IAmBroom 10mo agoMy pearls, they are clutched!
- triceratops 10mo agoSo "colour" and "centre" are ok but "catalyse" is where the line is drawn?
- criddell 10mo agoThe line is drawn where ever the public puts it. Generally, the correct spelling of a word is determined by those that use it. Canadians have used 'colour' for a long time. If enough people start using 'color', that will eventually be the correct spelling in Canada.
- retrac 10mo agoIt's not a line that's crossed. It's just the standard in Canada. In Britain, aeroplanes are made of aluminium and they have tyres. The Ministry of Defence sends them out on manoeuvres in theatres of combat, where the pilots have generally excelled due to regular practice. In America, airplanes are made of aluminum and they have tires. The Department of Defense sends them out on maneuvers in theaters of combat, where the pilots have generally exceled due to regular practise. In Canada, airplanes are made of aluminum and they have tires. The Department of National Defence sends them out on manoeuvres in theatres of combat, where the pilots have generally excelled due to regular practice.
- wrs 10mo agoSmall correction: In UK English, practice is a noun and practise is a verb. In America, practice is both and we don't have practise.
- kzrdude 10mo agoSame difference as licence vs license (vs licence)
- rottencupcakes 10mo agoThanks for clarifying. I'm American and I had never heard of practise in my life.
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- JumpCrisscross 10mo agoWhat are the most notable differences between Canadian and American English?
- ChoGGi 10mo agoMore u, and mixing around tre. You set the thermometer in C (usually), and cook in F. You can measure in cm or inches.
- JumpCrisscross 10mo ago> More u, and mixing around tre Oh! Didn't know! Is there regional variation in that? I was forced to unlearn centre when we moved to America in my second grade. But everyone–from Virginia to New Jersey to California–was cool with me keeping analyse and defence.
- tonyarkles 10mo agoHeh, it’s -11C here right now and my thermostat is set to drop to 65F overnight. Also, with respect to the metric/imperial systems of measurement… officially the government is all metric, but due to the history of it all there will be a bunch of regulations that say things like “the toilet must be at least 228.6mm away from the wall” because the pre-metric standard was 9 inches. And a final one for the prairies: in the 1800s there was the Dominion Land Survey, which carved us up into 1 mile x 1 mile squares. They did a truly impressive job of it. However, the edges of these squares is where the road allowances are, which means that despite the speed limit being in km/h, you are almost certainly going to be travelling N miles down the highway to get to your destination.