Quote:
Originally Posted by Lukusaukko
I've always thought it was clear-cut, with one style being consistently used in the UK and the other in the US, and that also seems to be what many online style guides claim - which is why this particular case stood out. With dashes (and ellipses) it seems the recommendations are more lenient, as long as you choose one style and stick to it consistently throughout.
Interesting tidbits, and makes sense - there are very few things people or countries can agree on and be consistent about...
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No, it's down to what a publisher decides and they change.
As graycyn writes, sometimes UK uses USA style for asides, though they almost always use em dash for cut-off dialogue.
USA spelling and punctuation is more prescriptive. There are more valid alternate spelling in English in Ireland & UK. The OED reflects usage. The original USA dictionary by Webster even ignored usage and promoted his own ideas.
Consistency in a work (novel, paper etc) is important. Thus for writing I have deleted alternate valid spellings to have just our preferred spelling (e.g. nosey and nosy are both correct, some words can be -ize or -ise in British English).
There are also plenty of words where USA versus most of the rest of the world has a different meaning for the same word, not just using a different word for the same thing.