Author reflections

Let’s All Use American English Already

It’s time to throw British English into the trashcan

I grew up in Britain, using British English. And for a long time, I believed it to be the right thing to do. That it was the proper way to write and speak English. The best English.

I’ve changed my mind.

Now, I reckon we should all just adopt American English. It would be easier all round, and besides, American English is just better.

I mean, surely it makes more sense to write realize rather than realise, apologize instead of apologise. The words sound like they contain a “z”! It also gives me a chance to tap that generally underused z-key on my keyboard.

American English is more efficient, too.

Think of all the time we would save, for example, by writing color instead of colour, honor instead of honour, and valor instead of valour.

I write a heck of lot of words… perhaps almost a million words a year. Shorter words are quicker to type, and reduce the chance of typos, too! And this would reduce my use of the letter “u” by at least a few dozen per year. I’m sure it all adds up.

Besides, I’m an author…

…wouldn’t it just be easier if I didn’t have to choose whether to write my books for readers who prefer American English or those who are more used to British English?

Frankly, it would be a lot easier if I’d been taught American English from the start. Like, when I was a kid.

And we wouldn’t have to call it American English… it would just be called “English”. So there’s another time saving 😄

Now, don’t get me wrong — I’m not saying that we all need to stop using local phrases and dialects in speech. That’s all part of the richness of language. Canadians can still talk about loonies and toonies, and Scots like me can still say, “I’ll gie ye a skelpit lug!”.

Let’s just write in the way that’s easiest for people to read, y’all.

And while I’m at it, why don’t we universally adopt APA referencing style. What the heck is the point in four (or more) different styles?

What about you — what’s your preference for American or British English?

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