On 6/10/06, Steve Summit scs@eskimo.com wrote:
There seem to be lots of American editors who think that British English is *wrong*, and likewise British editors who think that American English is *wrong*. (They rarely come out and say this
I think you're mischaracterising it. There are a number of Americans in general who have had very little contact with British spelling, and find it *wrong*. Most British-spellers have had contact with American spelling, and those that object, find it *bad*. They generally accept it as a valid choice, they just don't like it.
So, generalising a lot, Am->Br is usually done out of ignorance, Br->Am out of bloody-mindedness.
explicitly, but the vigor with which they debate a change from one to the other suggests that's how thy really feel, deep down.) But, of course, it's not that one or the other is Right or Wrong; they're just different.
AmE in an article about cricket is "wrong".
(The problem's just as bad over on Wiktionary, where there are stubbornly, defiantly distinct pages for `color' and `colour'. Huge, repetitive, internecine arguments regularly erupt, whenever anyone has the temerity to suggest that the two entries be merged somehow since they're "obviously" just two spelling variants for "the same" word.)
Eep.
Steve