Reading Jane Galt/Megan McArdle's "This will drive the environmentalists crazy," my eyes stuck to the following words she wrote:
- privatised,
- neighbourhoods,
- compartmentalisation and
- favour.
My eyes stuck because at the beginning of her piece she stated that she grew up on Manhattan's Upper West Side. I lived there at a time that probably coincided with part of her childhood, and I distinctly recall that the locals up there utilized standard American spelling.
Maybe she picked up the spelling while attending school in Britain? Her FAQ lists the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Chicago, both institutions that, I have it on good authority, follow standard American spelling.
Maybe while working for The Economist magazine, a British publication, she's internalized their style guide to such an extent that it now seeps into all her writing. In fact, now that I think of it, I'll bet that's the most likely explanation.
When I see British spelling like this, I always assume the writer is British. So when I learn that the writer is American, I wonder why the writer would consciously choose to disregard American spelling rules. What's the attraction of adding an extra "u" after the "o" or shifting the "ze" to "se?" Is it the sort of pretentious affectation that requires proud parents of the bride to request the "honour" of your presence at the wedding? Or is it absorbed unconsciously by those who've spent lifetimes immersed in the great works of English literature? Or is it rooted in a belief that the London- and Oxbridge-approved spelling conventions are inherently superior, with American spelling a deviant bastardization of the Mother Tongue?
It's a free country, of course, and one can do what one pleases. I'm just a tolerant man who's puzzled.
By the way, just to be clear, don't let my tolerance on the spelling issue lead you to believe I afford any tolerance to those who adopt British pronunciations. Americans who say "SHED-ule" instead of "SKED-ule" should be deported.
And, just to be unclear, I think it's perfectly appropriate to borrow idioms from our English-speaking cousins if the idioms are particularly useful or funny. Just so long as you don't borrow the pronunciation or the spelling.
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