Re: US style in Europe (was Punctuation tips (not that you need t hem!))

Subject: Re: US style in Europe (was Punctuation tips (not that you need t hem!))
From: Chris Kowalchuk <chris -at- BDK -dot- NET>
Date: Mon, 7 Jun 1999 11:02:52 -0400

and I wonder what the Canadians prefer
Well, we have our own hybrid compromise that falls somewhere between the British and the American. We certainly do not spell "tire" as "tyre", but most of us like to keep the "u" in "colour", and then there is that whole question of doubling the consonants when adding endings onto words that end in "liquids" or whatever your "n"s and "l"s are called. Typically, we leave that optional, as long as the text, or writing style for an organization is consistent. Our vocabulary, for the most part, is far more (northern) American than it is British. But you get some very interesting variants on the East Coast and in certain rural areas--again, some of that "old" language that in some cases hearkens back to language that the "mother country" has almost forgotten about.

However, since we are used to this muddled state of affairs, most of us are pretty flexible about writing in the style our audience prefers. Certainly, when writing for the US, I use US standards--the Chicago Manual of Style is an excellent reference, I don't care where you come from... When writing for Canadians, I choose a version of Canadian standards, and use that.

Anyway, one could write volumes, but I'm sure this isn't the forum, and others have no doubt already done it better than I.

Chris Kowalchuk


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