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Post by zevie on May 21, 2007 14:01:22 GMT -5
I use Canadian and have no intention of stopping. I see no reason to discriminate against "u"s since it's right by Canada's standards.  That it's set in America means nothing to me, but I don't know the practice in actual publishing. The English language is weird anyway - I can't see why a couple of spellings would make a difference. American and British spellings sit just fine with me when reading. Lately, however, I've taken to using US spellings because my spell-checker is exculsively American. It irks me to write that way though. |
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Post by printandpolish on May 21, 2007 15:59:32 GMT -5
Doesn't bug me at all. But it does identify you -- I remember reading one of Mars' first stories and getting to "colour" and I thought, "Ah-hah!"  |
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Post by These Trick Questions on May 21, 2007 16:02:22 GMT -5
I don't mind Canadian/British spellings. For the longest time I spelled color "colour" and gray "grey", and I still spell gray with an "e" sometimes, because I like it better that way. : ) But I started spelling them the American way, because, well, I live in America. Honestly, I don't even notice the different spellings.
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Post by Tensleep on May 21, 2007 19:13:00 GMT -5
You know, when I started writing I'd get reviews saying "You don't spell that with a 'u'. " I used to shake my head and finally just changed my spell check over to American for simplicity. What really shocked me was when my grade eight teacher started taking off marks for Canadian spellings and he was born and raised in Manitoba, I do believe. Seriously, Favourite got me .5 off a perfect essay. I was not impressed.
I adamantly refuse to spell centre any other way, though. I just leave it standing out in glaring red on my page.
Another popular debate is fence vs. fense. You always know which side of the border the writer is on when you look at that one ('c' being American and 's' being British). And as I am sure, most of you have noticed the spell check on this forum is also American.
Want to really throw people off, start using French words. Clique, chic, foyer...oh so much fun when I got comments on those...
See ya in the funny papers!!!
Tens
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Post by zevie on May 22, 2007 0:20:35 GMT -5
Urk. I would have SO landed in detention with that teach. Fudge him. "Re" kicks "er" a - er, behind. I thought those French words were a given? I am not up on my US culture. (By the way, I've always pronounced "clique" as "cleeque" - is that wrong?)
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Post by Tensleep on May 22, 2007 17:15:40 GMT -5
Zevie, man...Believe me, I did land in detention with that man. We were a band class - believe it or not - and Mr. Smith ended up crying in his office at least twice a week because of Jhon and a few of our friends. Now, his office had windows into the band room, so he really wasn't all that smart in my estimation. Anyways, we went to band camp - I know, bad imagery thanks to American Pie - and tied him to a chair, gave him a make over and then Jhon and some of our buddies turfed him in a pool.
Believe me, he pulled his hair out, gave the whole group detention and quit that year. We ran into him next year with a full head of hair and he cried when he saw us waving...
But on topic...
Yeah, that bilingual thing is really interesting. I grew up spelling a awful lot in French since I forgot how to in English. Our teachers used to account for that, which was nice. Activity was one and I think I just completely lost all compression on how to spell Bureaucrat without thinking of a desk first.
Funny what another language will do to you.
See ya in the funny papers!!!
Tens
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Post by zevie on May 22, 2007 17:50:03 GMT -5
AhahAHHahhahhHA!!!!
Amazing.
I went to band camp too! Yeesh, our camp was so chaste, the girls and boys weren't allowed to eat lunch together. We were corralled seperately in and out of a half an hour "dance" that boasted a disco ball and ABBA. American Pie? Not a chance. (And that oboe thing in the latest of the series was completely bogus. It wouldn't fit. It just wouldn't.)
And I totally get what you mean about bilingualism. Until high school I had millions of extra "e"s in English spellings and couldn't for the life of me remember the word "hyphen." What a weird word. The lack of a plural "you" in English still drives me up the wall sometimes, although I guess it really makes life easier.
p.s. I do actually respect teachers. The good ones only, though. MAN have I had some bad ones - I wish I'd thrown some of them in a pool. Quitting was probably very healthy for him.
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Post by Tensleep on May 23, 2007 14:24:14 GMT -5
Y'all...man, I always think of a cowboy when I hear that word.
As for made up words, man, come on over to Alberta. We've got "Junct", "Whoop up", "Prong Horn", "Sat-night", and that's before you leave the University campus.
See ya in the funny papers!!!
Tens
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Post by zevie on May 23, 2007 17:00:28 GMT -5
This is why I love English. I think it must be the easiest language ever to learn to speak, because, in spite of it's ridiculous grammar rules, you really can just say whatever the heck you want and often people will know what you mean. I had a guy friend back in grade school who tested this theory by speaking solely in grunts. A teenage guy who speaks in grunts... needless to say, hardly anyone noticed the change. This is, after all, a language where "meh" is widely used, "to google" is a real verb and "d'oh" is in the dictionary.
I know what "crick" means! Saskatchewan heritage, lol. In Toronto people just refuse to say whole words, or pronounce them minus vowels. Example: "Toronto" is pronounced "Trana."
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Post by fairlane on May 25, 2007 4:12:07 GMT -5
I have the same thing as in NZ we use British spelling, I put my spell check on American spelling.
The plural of you is -you's- I think thats even worse than ya'll.
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Post by Tensleep on May 25, 2007 14:42:36 GMT -5
You know, I've been to Toronto. I was turned upside down. No mountains to tell you which way is which...But I know what you mean, Zevie. Trana...Bram't'n...Niag' falls... I think I'll buy a dictionary next time I visit 
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Post by Masquerade on May 31, 2007 17:27:00 GMT -5
Heeheehee. I find this so funny, personally. I live near Toronto and the interesting thing is, I have never met anyone who pronounces it "Trana." Bram't'n...admittedly, yes, for Brampton. But I don't say "Niag" Falls. Hmm. Maybe I'm the weird Canadian here! And I love being able to tell what country people live in by their spellings! Haha. |
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Post by zevie on May 31, 2007 18:56:28 GMT -5
I don't say Niag Falls either, but if I talked about Niagara Falls a lot I definitely would. It's just easier. Why work harder than you have to?
Yay, a fellow Ontarian! Do you really pronounce it Toronto? With the second "t" and everything?? Lol, I so rarely hear it pronounced that way that when I do hear it (usually on an American TV show) it startles me. Typical "smart" city kid, I am, heh. How close to T.O. do you live? GTA? (Sorry, I'm excited, heh. For some reason, I always assume that nobody on the internet lives in the same place that I do.)
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Post by zevie on May 31, 2007 19:06:51 GMT -5
Hogtown?! What's up with that?! ...That better have some sort of sports relation. Grrr...
Hahaha, I just looked it up on wikipedia (ahhh, research) and there is a whole list of ways to pronounce Toronto. Or mispronounce it. Hilarious.
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Post by Tensleep on May 31, 2007 22:02:13 GMT -5
Could be worse; I'm from Cowtown or Stampedeville.
Keep in mind, while I was in Ontario I stayed with people who referred to their area as The Boonies and had 13 cats, 7 dogs and no concept of how to clean.
See ya in the funny papers!!!
Tens
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That it's set in America means nothing to me, but I don't know the practice in actual publishing. The English language is weird anyway - I can't see why a couple of spellings would make a difference. American and British spellings sit just fine with me when reading.
