Get it right, write, rite, writ ... SO WRONG!!09:04 Jul 09 2010
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This is something I just read from NLP where a friend of mine teaches. I showed her VR and she was amazed to say the least at ...... well just read on.
King Canute is reputed to have had his throne placed on the beach so he could sit and command the tide not to come in. It did, of course, and he and his throne began to get wet.
The story is often use as an example of somebody trying to do the impossible. It's usually wrongly quoted, incidentally.
In some respects my attempts to maintain a distinction between English and American is as doomed to failure. And provokes occasional comments.
The latest of these came after yesterday's article on Crazy Thinking. It was a very pleasant and courteous email and included a request that I use a spell-checker! I do use one – and it checks against the commonly accepted English as used in England.
Because of the amount of American-produced software, incorporating American spell-checkers, it is becoming almost the norm to spell in American.
Microsoft has played no small part in this. Their software, even when sold in the UK and Ireland, features spell-checkers which seem to have a habit of reverting their default to American even when set to what they call “English (UK)”.
There is a further challenge. A lot of English software now features American spelling, too. Either because it is aimed at the American, and much larger, market or because the people who wrote the software have been using American spell-checkers for so long that they can no longer spell in English.
My sister visited recently and on reading something I had written pointed out that I had incorrectly spelt 'programme'. In her mind it should be spelt 'program'. Where she works computers are workhorses and the staff are not interested in tweaking and customising(!) the programmes. Subtleties like changing the defaults are ignored. As a result she and her colleagues have been using American spell-checkers for so long they think the American way is correct for this part of the world (England and Ireland)!
So, really, a chap has to take a stand somewhere, doesn't he!
I've had a look through some recent newsletters and switched between American and English spellings to get a list of some common differences between the two “languages” (as they are rapidly becoming!) I then used an English dictionary – a real old-fashioned paper one rather than a software one, just in case… And I came up with the following:
English Spelling American Spelling
recognise recognize (sometimes Eng. too)
behaviour behavior
recognising recognizing (sometimes Eng. too)
paralyse paralyze
generalisations generalizations (sometimes Eng. too)
labelling labeling
analyse analyze
programme program
hypoglycaemia hypoglycemia
travelling traveling
revitalise revitalize (sometimes Eng. too)
practise (the verb)
practice (Am. both
verb and noun!)
apologising apologizing (sometimes Eng. too)
defence defense
channelled chanelled
finalised finalized (sometimes Eng. too)
Now for a lovely one…
English American
fulfil fulfill
fulfilling fulfiling
fulfilment fulfillment
fulfiller fulfiler
So we sometimes have two 'l's' in English and one in American...
But, other times, we have one in English and two in American. Got it? Easy isn't it…!
All of which goes to show what a pointless exercise it is becoming to try and get it 'right'!
English is a living and dynamic language – and is becoming the standard on the Web. And there are more Americans using the Web than English, more American products available, and more non-English speakers using American products to learn English.
English as some of us Europeans have known it may not have long to go. Yet I'm sitting here in my chair ranting at the world to stop and do it my way. Rather like King Canute is supposed to have been doing. And as long as I, and others, don't take it too seriously it's a harmless little exercise.
It's like a lot of things in life. As long as we do not lose sight of the big picture that's fine. The big picture is what is really important to me or you at any moment. The big picture of the web site and of the newsletter is to make available a few ideas, tips, and insights that I have come across and have found helpful for myself and when coaching others.
(So what about old Canute? Well, he was not trying to stop the tide from coming in. He was a lot wiser than that. He wanted to demonstrate to his over-demanding subjects that even the king was not omnipotent. That's what he intended. But along the way, over the centuries, people forgot what his big picture was – they missed his point.)
I really enjoy hearing about peoples views on the information in the newsletter and web site. And, especially, their experiences in applying the ideas.
So do kepe your coments roling in, pleeze…
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