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American Spellings
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American Spellings |
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Marshalzu  
since 2001-02-15
Posts 2681Lurking 
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Why do English spellings differ from American spellings, it's annoying, it's had me checking a dictionary for the last hour (wondering why my spell checker couldn't spell) and then I had some person criticising my spelling of a word which was perfectly correct in English but which was spelt incorrectly in American. Andrew Mister Zu: |
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Skyfire
since 2000-12-27
Posts 3381Riding |
Colour Favourite (That's all I can think of for now. I'll be back with more). That's the English way of spelling them, right? My second home is Ryan's place... just don't tell him that, eh? |
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bsquirrel
since 2000-01-03
Posts 7855 |
Oh, there's plenty more besides that. What words are being found lacklustre? |
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Kielo Senior Member
since 2002-02-11
Posts 1109 |
I think Canadian and English are the same. It's just those Americans who insist on being special. I really don't know why. That's a good question. Kielo |
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Kit McCallum
Administrator
Member Laureate
since 2000-04-30
Posts 14774Ontario, Canada |
LOL ... I understand the frustration Andrew. I'm in a business where I have to have 2 separate template proposals done up, and 2 separate contracts ... one for when I deal with my American clients, and one for my Canadian clients, and all because of the word "checks/cheques", lol. I never know which spellchecker I should invoke in Word either as I work across the border, back and forth ... some American spellings look foreign to me ... while other renditions make more sense ... it is definately confusing for the typist!  |
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brian madden Member Elite
since 2000-05-06
Posts 4374ireland |
Americans seem to have a thing about the letter "u" in words with an "or" ending colour honour odour but what is worse is petrol/gas the different pronouncations of vehicle it is VE HIC LE not VEH ICle calling chips french fries and calling crisps potato chips. Don't get me started on the steering wheel thing and side of the road they drive on. El riesgo vive siempre! |
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Skyfire
since 2000-12-27
Posts 3381Riding |
*waves her hand* Just so the Non-Canadian or American people in here know, there is actually a very good reason why we drive on the right hand side of the road. My second home is Ryan's place... just don't tell him that, eh? |
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Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354Listening to every heart |
You all may feel free to write me in any ol' language...but do feel free, from some countries, to send along a link for a translation dictionary... I enjoy words SO much, that I do not really care if you write check or cheque...just make sure it gets in the mail! It can be frustrating, but for some irritating reason, I grasp on to the different spellings, because they are so uniquely special to the country from whence they originate! |
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Severn Member Rara Avis
since 1999-07-17
Posts 7704 |
hehehehehe... You know who you can blame for most of it? That nasty man Webster and his nasty Webster's American dictionary. He decided that centre should become center for Americans. And that theatre should become theater. And most likely he decided that the letter 'u' just wasn't appropriate in words like colour, favour, mould, odour etc... and then there's the whole z vs s thing. Personally I think that realise looks so much nicer than realize. Zu - look up Webster in a search engine and you'll likely find the less simplistic version of events... But I have a confession, since spending so much time here - I now spell realise as realize and centre as center as often as not... What *I* want to know is - why do Americans call a tap a faucet?? Oh...yeah - and when is America going to catch up with the rest of the world (oh yes, America needs to catch up for once hahaha) and switch to the metric system? Hah, these are such old discussions - ones I've been having with various USers for the past three years.... Sigh..this makes me miss the States..it was so cool driving around and seeing speed signs for like 35 miles...and picking up a great big whopping gallon of milk (our biggest ones are half the size).. Not to mention driving on the wrong side of the road - way cool!  K[This message has been edited by Severn (10-03-2002 07:15 AM).] |
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Nan
Administrator
Member Seraphic
since 1999-05-20
Posts 21191Cape Cod Massachusetts USA |
Tap?? Why would one call a faucet a "tap"?.. I could stand there and tap it all day long and nothing would come out... I have to open the faucet to get any water... Of course, there IS the case of brew "On Tap"... Is that why I got fired from that job... I kept tapping the darned thing and got no answer..!!!..  |
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Ron
Administrator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-05-19
Posts 8669Michigan, US |
While we're in the process of stamping out diversity, I also think everyone should have blue eyes. And dress in only red. Kamla, as someone interested in the sciences, I was on the bandwagon for a US metric system for a long time. I changed my mind one day when, on a long drive from LA to Vegas, I started counting those speed limit signs you so enjoyed. America has more roads than any other country of similar size and I suspect there must be a gazillion of those signs - ALL of which would have to be changed. Talk about a waste of taxes! That was recently reinforced, too, when I drove north to visit Kit in Canada. Obviously I wanted to avoid the complications of an out-of-country speeding ticket, so I was a bit more careful than I might have been on this side of the border. But, geesh, I felt like I could get out of the car and push it faster than 80 KPH. |
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bsquirrel
since 2000-01-03
Posts 7855 |
One thing that the U.S. does need changing is our ways of telling temperature. Celcius is so easy. Water boils at 100, freezes at 0. Then in Fahrenheit it's 112 and 32? What kind of random mumbo-jumbo is that? Absolute zero is -273 C (or O K). What the heck would that be in F? Who cares. |
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bsquirrel
since 2000-01-03
Posts 7855 |
Oh wait, no, water boils at 212. See how confusing this is? Oh, one more thing I like: We say Z others say Zed. |
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Ron
Administrator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-05-19
Posts 8669Michigan, US |
Mike, Gabriel Fahrenheit set his points of the scale at 0 degrees as the freezing point of brine (sea water) and at 100 degrees as the temperature of the human body. He, uh, was off on the latter by a few degrees. I agree the Centigrade scale makes a lot more sense, but would personally prefer going to the Kelvin scale. We would never have to worry about negative values, and even Michigan in February would at least sound balmy at well over 200 degrees K. |
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Christopher
Moderator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-08-02
Posts 8296Purgatorial Incarceration |
quote:AMEN! I got pulled over for speeding my first night driving in New Zealand. I, uh, was only going like 75MPH... on a freeway at that.  as for the changing of names - we americans aren't the only culprits, i think. after all, there are plenty of things that originated here that have different nomenclature over "there."(personally, i like the added "u," though it took me some time to grow accustomed to it) [This message has been edited by Christopher (10-03-2002 05:21 PM).] |
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Ron
Administrator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-05-19
Posts 8669Michigan, US |
LOL. If you're doing less than 75 mph on a California freeway, they call it a traffic jam. Unfortunately, the Midwest doesn't have freeways. We call them highways. Since almost none of them are elevated, I can only assume the term is meant to describe the drivers and not the road. The East Coast, of course, has neither freeways nor highways. They have toll roads, which strikes me as a very unique idea. You get to go 80 or 90 mph for a few miles, then you sit in line for ten to twenty minutes awaiting your chance to throw change into a big metal basket, just so you can go 80 or 90 mph for another few miles. |
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cherish Senior Member
since 2001-03-25
Posts 1639swimming in fairy floss........... |
LOL @ nan They're TAPS!  faucet it too long to spell and hard to say hehe....here's more : Ketchup- Tomato sauce Tomatoe/Potatoe - Tomato/Potato (what's with the e on the end?) Mom- MUM Cell Phones - Mobiles (how on earth did those two come about? )Bills - Notes Elementry - Primary There's another nifty little thing we have to change around here on the 'puters to be able to print correctly- we have to change the paper size from Letter to A4 That's so annoying. Are you scared? BOO! Are you now? [This message has been edited by cherish (10-04-2002 12:52 AM).] |
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Christopher
Moderator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-08-02
Posts 8296Purgatorial Incarceration |
quote:yeah - then there are the other things you have to change - one, for example, is the electrical cord. why they not only change the plug configuration but the voltage as well is beyond me. i did notice while i was over in NZ - the phone plugs for the modem: the portion leading from the modem out is the same plug config as we have here in the US... but requires an adapter to fit into the strange, skinny plug they use over there. (and they wonder at us changing a few measly letters???)  |
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Kit McCallum
Administrator
Member Laureate
since 2000-04-30
Posts 14774Ontario, Canada |
LOL @ toll roads! When we switched from "miles" to "kilometers" up here years ago, I was so used to thinking "60 miles to go - be there in about an hour", or "30 miles to go - be there in a half an hour" that I was really mixed up in terms of timing, let alone speed, when we switched to kilometers. Here's a little trick for converting kilometers to miles on the fly … I still use it. If you're looking at a speed sign or "mileage marker" that's listed in kilometers, and want to know the approximate miles, drop the last digit and multiply the remainder by "6" … 20 km (2 x 6) = approx 12 mi 50 km (5 x 6) = approx 30 mi 80 km (8 x 6) = approx 48 mi 100 km (10 x 6) = approx 60 mi 250 km (25 x 6) = approx 150 mi |
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Christopher
Moderator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-08-02
Posts 8296Purgatorial Incarceration |
"60 miles - be there in an hour"? wow - as Ron alluded, here, that would translate to about fifteen minutes. |
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Ron
Administrator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-05-19
Posts 8669Michigan, US |
Kit, that's a cool trick, based on the fact that 1 kilometer equals .6 miles. Much easier than what I've always done. I multiply the kilometers by .5, which is obviously easy, and then by .1, which isn't much harder. Add those two results together for the miles. So, 80K equals 40 plus 8 miles, and 84K equals 42 plus 8.4 miles. I'm curious, Kit, if you've ever learned to "think" in kilometers? Chris, one of the more subtle differences between Southern California and the rest of the world is the measurement of distance. Miles are almost useless in California, because twenty miles on the Ventura (LA congestion) is quite different than twenty miles on the 15 (mostly dessert). I didn't realize it until I returned to Michigan, but I was very much in the habit of describing distance in terms of time. I lived twenty minutes from Disneyland and about forty minutes from LAX. (Another subtle difference? In California, we prelude our freeway designations with unnecessary articles. I got stuck on the 405? The first time I did that in Michigan I went through a week of ribbing where everyone at the University was calling me "The Ron." I got their point.) I keep waiting for Serenity or someone else in the US South to jump in here, because you really don't have to leave America to get confused over word usage. I remember the first time I went into a small store in Louisiana, made a few purchases, and the clerk asked me if I'd like a poke. She was cute, too, but I somehow managed to avoid making a fool out of myself. Ever hear that very old phrase about buying a pig in a poke? Turns out a poke is a paper bag for carrying home your purchases, and not a flirtatious prelude to that fabled southern hospitality.  |
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Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354Listening to every heart |
Well ok then, I can jump in...geez Ron, you were in Disneyland's backyard if it only took you 15 minutes....! A transplanted Californian, I had to grow adept to a lot of verbiage changes coming to the midwest. "Up" in California meant skyward...Up in Illinois meant North. I also had to learn that in the midwest, one did not turn left or right, you went east or west. Don't try this at high noon. My FIRST trip to Kansas was to arrive by plane in Wichita, grab a rental and head "north" to Salina for a visit. You can imagine my surprise, Ron, at seeing virtually NO vehicles for some 90 miles on a weekday once we got out of Wichita. It's improved some since, but I still remember the CA traffic, the Chicago traffic, and a few other places... we are just NOW seeing smog in some of our larger urban areas, more's the shame.... and to my dietary dictionary and abilities, I've learned to prepare brain and fried green tomatoes.... |
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bsquirrel
since 2000-01-03
Posts 7855 |
I took the 101 to work this morning. It's only 3 miles to work, passing about 4 exits -- it takes 12 minutes to get there. And yet, when I visit my friend in West Los Angeles, from White Oak to the 101 to 405 S to exit at Pico ... it only takes 20 minutes! California doesn't believe in math or logic -- or Kelvin. |
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Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354Listening to every heart |
I love the opportunities I could take to drive 101...I enjoyed the forays between Solvang and Santa Barbara...beautiful countryside...I enjoyed leaving Santa Maria and driving up the coast line and if you can get over to 1, better yet... because in all reality, what is time, or miles, when driving along that stretch of God's country?  |
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Christopher
Moderator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-08-02
Posts 8296Purgatorial Incarceration |
ah, but my 101 is different from that one... lol - it runs smack through san fran to san jose, on and on... you can do well on this one if you hit it between the hours of noon and two pm... or after nine at night... any other time, it turns into a parking lot. |
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Kit McCallum
Administrator
Member Laureate
since 2000-04-30
Posts 14774Ontario, Canada |
LOL @ Chris & 15 minutes! And Ron? I can honestly say that I have not learned to "think" in kilometers, and I don't think many of us from that era will. We were too immersed in "miles" when the change took place in the 70's, both from a schooling and life-experience standpoint ... so the quick math above keeps us grounded (and out of jail for speeding, lol).  Interesting point though ... on the switchover from Farenheight to Celcius ... I did a little better there. I do "think" in celcius now. It took a while, but it's much easier to feel the effects I think. If it's 32 degrees celcius ... it's sweltering hot ... if it's 25 degrees it's perfect ... if it's zero degrees, I'm watching the roads for black ice ... if it's -10 ... I've got my mittens out for sure. That was a lot easier to make the "mental changeover" ... Mileage though? Nope ... I'll be converting in my mind until they take my license away due to old age. [This message has been edited by Kit McCallum (10-04-2002 07:49 PM).] |
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Severn Member Rara Avis
since 1999-07-17
Posts 7704 |
Miles are just confusing...and Kit - it's kilometres not kilometers rotf... Um, are you sure 1km is 6 miles? I'm sure it's much less than that...more like...1.7k's per mile??? (approx) Interestingly...we used to have farenheight on many of our appliances..in fact, I grew up with an antiquated farenheight oven and *I* found it hard to learn celcius thanks to that...but I have to agree with Mikey - celcius just makes more sense...(so do km's really. 1, 10, 100, 1000...). Oh and C - you were doing 140km on the motorway (as opposed to freeway) - that's just...god. You're lucky they caught you at 122 km...heh. 140 and they'd be tempted to put you behind bars for the night rotf... I have to say that was one thing that made an impression while in the States - all those roads. Those I 40's and I 75's and I this and that...flying from LA to Atlanta - and seeing these long, straight roads that seemed to go on and on, literally forever. There is something almost terrifying in that. Anyone in NZ can reach a beach on both sides of the country in 2 hours maximum, no matter where they are. Our roads are babies - yours are monsters...our longest are the ones that run from one end of the two main islands to the other... I've always wanted to just choose a road in a large country (preferably America I must confess) and drive on it...making a photographic record along the way. You know your trucks are bigger too...simply because of the access to those long, straight roads. All of ours, without exception, travel through winding hilly roads - heh, remember that logging truck on the bridge C? We're lucky to be alive heh...so yes, our trucks don't have the capacity for weight and size that American ones do... well..that was a tangent wasn't it... Oh - another thing that's so different...beverages. I asked for a lemonade in North Carolina and got exactly that - instead of the sprite I was expecting. Not to mention tea - which I drink hot and with sugar and milk..and you lot somehow manage to drink COLD (omg) with NO milk...(I'm assuming it's like that in Canada too??) I pay homage to the strong of constitution  Not to mention the lack of kettles and plug sockets with switches... K |
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Kit McCallum
Administrator
Member Laureate
since 2000-04-30
Posts 14774Ontario, Canada |
LOL ... meters, metres ... see how confused I am Kamla? The conversion trick doesn't work as well under 2 digits, but if you're driving that slow or don't have that far to go ... it doesn't matter, lol. Here's a chart with real conversion figures though, and the trick does translate pretty well. http://www.teaching-english-in-japan.net/conversion/kilometers And tea? Oh boy ... I'm with you K ... hot and with sugar and milk. I never drink ice tea, and I found out the hard way on my business trips, that even for breakfast, I have to request "hot" tea or I wind up with ice tea along with my scrambled eggs, lol. |
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Kielo Senior Member
since 2002-02-11
Posts 1109 |
Iced tea is ok, however, generally, my tea is warm, and with milk and sugar. I can't remember what else I was going to say. Oh, drive the TransCanada. Its long. Although I suppose it might not be straight through the mountains, you would get great pictures. They let you drive faster in the prairies, so you can get out quicker, too. You can watch a dog go for 50 kilometres, in some parts of the prairies.Kielo I need to change my signature. :D |
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Midnitesun
since 2001-05-18
Posts 28647Gaia |
LOL at some of the replies in this thread. Some newspaper mogul no doubt dropped 'u' from colour and all the other colourful words, because shorter words take up less space, use less letters, etc. Then came all the LOL's, ROTFL's, and now we all talk in bizarre abbreviates...I guess we are word deviates? Ron? I grew up near THE 405, and THE 5. And I had a really good laugh years ago when an Englishman said "I'll knock you up in the morning" Of course it was a phone call he meant, not the fun stuff. God, I love diversity, and rainbows! |
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Ron
Administrator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-05-19
Posts 8669Michigan, US |
quote: No, Kamla. A kilometer is point six, or six/tenths of a mile. Not all of the freeways/highways/toll roads/motorways in the US are long and straight. Many, once you leave the plains states and the deserts, are long and winding. The best ones aren't limited access (no on- and off-ramps), and probably the most famous is Route 66 (of television fame, circa 1960). California's 101, mentioned earlier in this thread, winds along nearly 1,000 miles of coast and is probably the most beautiful drive in the country. Sadly, many of those older roads are in poor repair these days - largely because of those huge 18-wheelers you mentioned. Iced tea? In America, iced tea is served like coffee, i.e., plain. In Canada, at least the part I visited, they serve it pre-sweetened. Not only does it taste terrible, but that first gulp is a truly massive surprise. I didn't "quite" spit it across the room, but it was close. |
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Christopher
Moderator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-08-02
Posts 8296Purgatorial Incarceration |
that's what i said K - 75MPH. that logging truck... wow. that was indeed close... driving along the road (the wrong side i still say), just minding our own business when we come to this one lane bridge. good thing the rental car had excellent brakes, 'cause that truck was NOT stopping. ROFL i can handle the differences in tea and lemonade - but PLEASE - if i ask for bacon, do not give me a slice of ham... just not right. |
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bsquirrel
since 2000-01-03
Posts 7855 |
Lori actually thinks me a bit femme for all the tea I drink. And yes, it's piping hot with milk (no sugar, though). One horrible surprise: I ordered a Cherry Coke in Calgary... It was grenadine and water! I felt nauseous after a few sips... Oh, and what's with Calgary having Subway Sauce instead of oil and vinegar? Strange country. Hope I can move there soon.  |
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Anvrill Senior Member
since 2002-06-21
Posts 710in the interzone now |
My opinion: Colour isn't colour without the u. It feels hollow and empty and soulless. As with all the other Brit/Canadian vs. American words. It's awkward reading American writing, and it used to dictate my spelling when I was a kid; I also used to say zee, not zed, because Sesame Street didn't acknowledge the we Canadians like keeping French in our culture. I don't understand why there are gaps in culture like these spellings/pronunciations and the whole measuring system issue over one tiny little line. All the Americans I've met have been exactly like Canadians, only I think we Canadians know American geography better. It's so strange... And I don't see things changing down on the south end of the border, either, because they won their freedom from evil ol' Britain, and they cut out all the u's to prove it. It's late at night right now. I've always favoured Britain to the States, since that's my heritage. If I come off as snarky, I'm not tryin' t' be! your tongue's like poison |
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Anvrill Senior Member
since 2002-06-21
Posts 710in the interzone now |
And Mikhail, sub sauce exists in almost every sub shop in CANADA, not just the Subways in Calgary. It was recalled fr a bit, replace by oil and vinegar, because of an MSG scare, but it came back about a month before you visited. your tongue's like poison |
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bsquirrel
since 2000-01-03
Posts 7855 |
My heritage is Polish. Someone get me kielbasa. Spelling shmelling! |
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Anvrill Senior Member
since 2002-06-21
Posts 710in the interzone now |
OH! And Cherry Coke finally exists in Canada again. Passed all the FCC regs, or whatever.your tongue's like poison |
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bsquirrel
since 2000-01-03
Posts 7855 |
WHAAAAAT????????? |
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Anvrill Senior Member
since 2002-06-21
Posts 710in the interzone now |
What to which? your tongue's like poison |
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bsquirrel
since 2000-01-03
Posts 7855 |
To both! I can't believe I arrived in Calgary just in time for sauce and grenadine. :p Oh well, it was worth it for our adventures on C-trains and in hotel rooms. I love you. Now let's stop hijacking this thread. It didn't do anything to us!!! |
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Anvrill Senior Member
since 2002-06-21
Posts 710in the interzone now |
I love you too. And sub sauce is good; it's just Italian salad dressing or something. And Cherry Coke can bite my butt. I have never been a fan.Now I'll sneak away quietly. Shh! I'm sneaking! your tongue's like poison |
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bsquirrel
since 2000-01-03
Posts 7855 |
*exeunt* |
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