09-01-2010, 07:41 PM | #1 |
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How do Americans feel about UK spelling?
As an Australian author, I've been wondering whether I ought to use Australian (which is basically UK) spelling in my novels.
On the one hand, I'm thinking two-thirds of my audience are American. On the other hand, I would prefer to use the language as it was (before you all went and changed it). Are Americans used to seeing UK spelling in books? Will it put them off reading? Will some think I've spelt the words incorrectly? |
09-01-2010, 08:07 PM | #2 |
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Doesn't bother me. Can't speak for others.
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09-01-2010, 08:10 PM | #3 | |
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09-01-2010, 08:13 PM | #4 |
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I am an American living in Canada where we bounce back and forth in terms of UK vs American spelling. Spelling never bothered me, but when words are just different--for example, jumper for sweater--it interrupts my flow.
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09-01-2010, 08:31 PM | #5 |
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Let me suggest that it depends where the story is set.
If the locale is Melbourne, American readers will think it's an Australian novel, and the Australian spelling won't bother them. If the locale is Texas, it better be spelled the way the Texans spell it! |
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09-01-2010, 08:33 PM | #6 |
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Personally, UK spelling does not bother me. Phrases and idioms that are very "British" can really throw me off though. Sometimes when I read a Robert Rankin book I have to reread some of the paragraphs or sentences several times because I have no clue what it is saying, lol!
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09-02-2010, 02:05 AM | #7 |
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Here in the UK some of us have started calling it American, Australian and Canadian, as opposed to English, although this has yet to get mainstream use, but it helps differentiate what are in effect different languages.
I think it depends on how big your distribution is going to be. Most mainstream novels are "translated" between variations of English. I have read Tom Clancy here in the UK where Colour is spelt Colour not Color, and the like although that does not appear to be happening in ebooks as much. If like me your distribution is going to be small, and you feel you can write in "American" which is your target audience then maybe you should. I cannot write in American , so I write in English. |
09-02-2010, 03:17 AM | #8 |
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I would echo the sentiment that the spelling should be appropriate to the setting of the book. If the book is set in Australia, then it would be silly to put American English into the mouths of Australians.
I have no problems reading American English; I don't see why the reverse should be any different. |
09-02-2010, 03:52 AM | #9 |
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Often is is the British English version of a word that is "newer" than the American English version. For example, many of the words ending in "...ise" in British English but "...ize" in American English used to be spelled "...ize" in British English as well. So guess I would go with the general advice here - where is the narrator from? The spellings should reflect their language background.
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09-02-2010, 03:56 AM | #10 | |
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I'd like to know whether this is true or not. The use of American terms - trunk for boot, pacifier for dummy, fall for autumn, would obviously be silly in a novel set in Australia. I wonder how long it will be before the Englishes merge into one standard. I suppose that's inevitable. As a child I was taught to spell program, programme, but the Australian English has now dropped the older spelling. The most recent thing, which is annoying me, is the appearance of the word "anyways" instead of "anyway". |
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09-02-2010, 03:59 AM | #11 |
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Personally, as long as the idiom and spellings are appropriate to the setting then I have no problem with whatever is used.
The one thing that does annoy me is where idiom is used inappropriately. For example, I read a book fairly recently where a British character in London said something like "Walk for two blocks then take a left" when asked for directions. The concept of 'blocks' is entirely foreign to us in the UK and nobody would ever say something like that. |
09-02-2010, 07:15 AM | #12 | |
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I should at this point mention again that wonderful Dialecticon website. http://www.chaucery.com/fun/dialecticon/ And it seems that (unsurprisingly) you're right about Australian usage. Checking Dialecticon for "television programme" and "television program" shows the program to be used overwhelmingly in US, Canada and Australia, but programme still the norm in the UK. Canada, Australia and UK still use theatre instead of theater, and checking for "theatre programme" against "theatre program" again shows that only in the UK is programme the norm. (Although I see that that some Australians (21%) still say programme at the theatre.) Not that this says much about what one should do in a book. I prefer to read books with the words chosen by the author, but I don't mind the spellings changed to my preference (British English). So if it's a novel by an American , I don't want faucet changed to tap, or sidewalk to pavement, but I don't mind if color is changed to colour. This is what publishers should be doing to keep their markets in ebooks. Not with legal restrictions, but with editing choices. Unless, of course, they think that readers might not want to buy books advertised as "localised edition", and would rather buy the original words as the author wrote them? |
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09-02-2010, 07:44 AM | #13 | |
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09-02-2010, 07:55 AM | #14 |
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As a lifelong scifi reader and American, I am quite accustomed to strange words and pronunciations in books. I prefer books without strange vowel-starved alien words, but my mind quickly adapts to it. UK spelling is easy pezy in comparison. To me, it is the story that matters and not necessarily the spelling.
Which is not to say that I don't hate "oh noes" instead of the normal "oh no". "Oh noes" is weird and intrusive to me. |
09-02-2010, 07:59 AM | #15 |
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