Those aren’t Mistakes. I’m just British.
I beg your pardon!
As a Brit writing in a largely American-dominated pool (not just the Americans themselves, but all those who practise the American English dialect, might I add), I can often feel like a teabag in a coffee pot, a scone among doughnuts (or donuts), a top hat in a cowboy’s wardrobe (or closet), if you will…
Yes, as you may have guessed, I’m talking about UK versus American English.
But what’s the big deal? We understand each other well enough, right? Save for the odd mishap over the definition of “biscuit” or how to say aluminium, data, or herb.
We speak the same language, after all.
English dialects: An untold struggle
Oh, but in the wonderful world of writing, as usual, there’s so much more to it than that! And I, like many other Brits in the writing community I imagine, often have a hard time deciding whether to be our true authentic British selves and write in the language we know and trust, or to avoid the risk of being misunderstood – or worse still, being mistaken for a bad speller (the horror!).
I am honestly on the fence on this one. It’s perhaps not ideal, but I tend to bounce between the two — sticking with one per article of course (except this one…)— largely depending on my mood. Do I want to conform and be easily understood today, or do I want to be my true politely stubborn British self?
So here’s a little rundown of the differences between UK and US English that you may not have noticed before – as well as a little request, yet in quintessentially British awkward fashion – to pretty please resist writing us off (sorry) as bad writers if we choose to write in – let’s be honest here – the original form of our beloved Germano-Latin hybrid of a vernacular.
Splendid! Let’s begin.
It’s all in the Ending
This is perhaps the first difference to come to mind. Most words that end in “-ize” or “-ization” in American English become “-ise” “-isation” in British English. Just as many words that end in “-or” in American English end in “our” in British English.
Many words that originally had the rather cumbersome “ough” sound have since been shortened to “o” or “ow” in American English. And there are various examples of words where their original silent endings have been sliced off in an outrageously efficient way.
Fine. But don’t punish us for clinging to those unnecessary letters like pieces of what’s left of our national pride after a rough few years… We just like things to be thorough (a word I believe even American simplification couldn’t beat into submission…), okay?
So strategize, minimized, and realization become strategise, minimised, and realisation.
Color, honor, neighbor, and flavor become colour, honour, neighbour, and flavour.
(And yet size, prize, poor, for, and or stay just the same…)
Meanwhile, your donut and plow are still doughnut and plough to us. Just as your catalog, monolog, and program are still catalogue, monologue, and programme.
And then there’s practise and practice — both of which are used by us Brits. The difference is that “practise” is the verb. In other words— “I practise the violin every day.” Whereas “Practice” is the noun form of the word — i.e. “I went to band practice last night.” In American English, however, you stick with “practice” regardless of its use.
Memories from words’ passed
Here’s another that is well-known and yet often misunderstood. It’s widely acknowledged that us Brits hang onto a fair few words that have pretty much left the chat across the pond entirely. The thing is, Americans often view us as quaint or old-worldy for our comparatively old-fashioned vocabulary. But the exact words that we use a lot are often misunderstood.
Words like marvellous and splendid are words here, for sure. But unless you’re hanging out with a 60-odd-year old piano teacher from West London, you most likely won’t hear them pop up unironically in common discourse.
Words like quite, whilst, rather, brilliant, and lovely, however, – depending on the region and specific dialect, of course, are still pretty commonplace.
And others such as indeed, henceforth, and thus are still pretty popular among the writing community (again, hugely depending on the user’s style and the given context)– even if not so often spoken out loud these days by us common folk.
Slay that slang
There’s of course the issue of slang. The thing is, since North American culture is so dominant throughout global media, with many exceptions I’m sure, your average Brit will not only know but often unconsciously incorporate much of your slang words into their own speech. This is just how language works – once we hear something enough times, we start to say it too.
The issue is that our little island, noisy as it may be, doesn’t stand much of a chance against this North American jock of the class. And since we are still living in the birthplace of our language, the original regional differences have survived and evolved to such an extent that there is different slang even between two neighbouring towns. So if none of us over here even know all the latest lingo – how can we expect our friends across the pond to?!
As a result, when writing for a global audience us Brits must have a little more of a stricter filter than I believe some American writers do — who may use words like awesome, slay, swag, chill, or hang out in their informal pieces without much hesitation, trusting that these terms are pretty commonly known.
However, even when I write in the English my mother gave me, you won’t usually catch me talking about how chuffed or gutted I feel when talking about something mint or dodgy, or just plain daft something may be.
Gaps in our grammar
Finally, here’s a little less commonly known dialectical variation. Did you know that even grammar actually differs slightly between American and British English?
We see this reflected in the difference we see between the dialects on their respective social media login pages. We all have our forgetful moments. But in the space where you’re supposed to enter your credentials, does yours say “forgot your password?” Or “forgotten your password?”
Although both are considered correct in both dialects, the former reflects the past tense form preferred by Americans – the “preterite” or “past simple” tense. Meanwhile, the latter depicts us Brits’ past tense of choice – the “perfect.” As such, an American is more likely to say “I forgot my password” whereas a Brit will usually opt for “I’ve forgotten my password.”
In British English, we use the preterite tense too, but only to talk about a specific action in the past. For instance, “I went over there yesterday,” as opposed to “I’ve been over there once but can’t remember when.”
Here are some more examples of the two tenses so you can wrap your head around which one is more likely to roll off your own tongue:
US: I lost my phone.
UK: I’ve lost my phone.
US: I went to France before.
UK: I’ve been to France before.
US: She always wondered what that meant.
UK: She has always wondered what that meant.
The Bottom Line
Please — readers, editors, everyone – you don’t have to change your own dialect or start using cringeworthy British slang. However, next time you read something and a certain spelling, word use, or sentence construction doesn’t sit quite right with you, before calling out the writer in the comments (because yes, it happens from time to time), first question whether they are actually wrong — or simply writing in a dialect other than your own.
I recognise that this issue is even more of a kerfuffle (British slang. Look it up.) when your dialect is even less globally used than standard British. Scots, Nigerian, Jamaican, Indian English, or African American English, for example. And this issue of English homegenisation applies to all of those to an even greater extent.
Dialects aren’t the same as slang — they are correct forms of a language in their own right. And perhaps we should all be a little more mindful about that in our next “how do you say that where you’re from?” war.
And even if it turns out what they wrote is wrong in all dialects, maybe be nice and still don’t publically shame them in the comments..? Just a thought.
For more strong opinions:
Roxanna is a half British- half Iranian content writer and advocacy consultant specialized in human rights, identities, health, and welfare. With a languages degree from King’s College London, a Master’s in European Studies from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a background in political PR and human rights advocacy, she strives to increase visibility and encourage debate around ethical and sociocultural issues around the world.
Twitter: @roxannayasmin
