While English continues to develop as the world's most important language and most common lingua franca, long-standing preferences and differences remain among its several varieties (see 21.7), and in particular between the two most widespread varieties considered here: British English and US English.
Note that there are some differences in the terminology of marks of punctuation between dialects. The British terms are used in the discussion below, but it is important to be aware of the following differences: the full point is called a period in US English; the exclamation mark may be called an exclamation point; the em rule and en rule are called an em dash and en dash; curly brackets (braces) are sometimes called wavy brackets; the solidus is called a slash. The term inverted commas is not used in US English for quotation marks, and round brackets is not used of parentheses.
See 4.3 for guidance that is pertinent to both dialects. US style is to insert a comma after the phrases for example and that is, whenever they occur and are not followed by stronger punctuation, such as a colon. US style also prefers commas after the common abbreviations of these phrases, e.g. and i.e., even though this results in double punctuation. See 10.6.
US style places commas inside closing quotation marks. See 9.2.3.
As noted at 11.3, US style is to separate the hours and minutes in numerical representations of time with a colon, e.g. 5:23 am. British style often uses a full point: 5.23 am. In US style the first word of a sentence after a colon is often capitalized, but is lower case in British.
US style places full points inside closing quotation marks. See 9.2.3.
There is some variation within and between the dialects in the use of full points with abbreviations. This subject is covered in 21.4.4.
See 4.11 for the main discussion of UK usage. En rules (dashes) in US usage are used to join open elements into compounds (for example, the post–Civil War armistice), and a hyphen rather than an en rule is used to create a compound derived from two names (Marxist-Leninist theory).
See 4.14 for the main discussion. Changing the style and placement of quotation marks and their accompanying punctuation for correct localization of text can be a tedious exercise because of the stylistic variations between British and US English.
For readers of non-technical documents (including journalism) in US English, the following units are the norm:
Linear measurement: imperial system (inches, feet, yards, miles)
Area measurement: imperial system (square inches, square feet, acres, square miles)
Cubic measurement: cubic inches and feet
Liquid and dry volume: pints, quarts, gallons, bushels
Units of mass: ounces, pounds, tons
Temperature: Fahrenheit scale
In US style, recipes use the imperial units of volume noted above and also the cup: equal to half a US pint, or eight ounces. There are numerous resources online for conversion to these from metric units by typing, for example
convert 450 ml to cups
in a search engine. This service works for any sort of conversion in commonly used units and is readily available in the absence of extensive tables that list the conversions.
For British readers use the metric system for linear, area, and volumetric measurements and the Celsius scale for temperature. Note that the phrase below zero in British text normally means below freezing. In US English, it normally means below zero in the Fahrenheit scale, or about –18º C.
In some non-technical contexts British readers may still prefer imperial units: distances in miles, for example, rather than in kilometres. The stone (plural stone, and equal to 14 pounds), with any fractional part reported in pounds, is often expected for reporting a person's weight, rather than kilograms.
The British and US imperial units of volume larger than the ounce are not precise equivalents; the British pint contains 20 ounces, the US pint only 16. There are few contexts in which these differences are pertinent because the larger imperial units (quart and gallon) are not commonly used in the UK today. Most readers of English in any dialect are familiar with the British use of pint in relation to beverages and no further explication is necessary. However, any measurements involving cookery in which pints are used should be carefully converted to an appropriate equivalent.
See the note at the end of 11.1.5 concerning some variation in the use of trillion and billion between British and US English. This difference is now mainly historical.
The word nought is not used in US English to stand for zero. For technical contexts, zero is used; for scores in sports, nothing is used.
In all of the US and Canada, numbers for landline telephones or mobile phones contain 10 digits. The first three are called the area code. The two most popular styles for showing telephone numbers are:
(nnn) nnn-nnnn
nnn-nnn-nnnn
Occasionally a 1 appears at the beginning of a full number; this is required on most landline telephones when they are calling a number outside the local area code:
1-nnn-nnn-nnnn
UK telephone numbers vary in length and typically consist of two parts. The first part, most usually designating a geographical area or a particular grouping of mobile telephone numbers, may be set off in brackets:
(0nnnn) nnnnnn
Other styles may eliminate the brackets, or show a division in the non-geographical part of the number:
0nnnn nnnnnn
0nnn nnn nnnn
It is common in Britain and elsewhere, and increasingly so in the US, to prefix a country code with a + sign at the beginning of a foreign telephone number. In this case the leading zero is dropped:
+31 20 347 1111.
A US alternative is to show the country code in parenthesis at the beginning of a number:
(31) 20 347 1111.
These are discussed at some length in Chapter 11. It is important to ensure that dates in British format—day/month/year—are not misunderstood when Americanizing to month/day/year, and vice versa. Documents that may have readers in both or in multiple dialects should spell out the name of the month or use its standard abbreviation (see 10.2.6) to prevent confusion.
The level of a building whose floor is at the same level as the ground may be called the ground floor in British or US English; it is also called the first floor in US English. The floor above this is the second floor in US English, the first floor in British English; and so forth.
Orthographic variation constitutes the difference between the major dialects of English that is most obvious to readers. There are hundreds of orthographic variants (that is, differently spelled versions of the same word) between British and US English, and between any other two dialects of English. Fortunately, most of them fall into easily identifiable patterns. There are, however, many individual cases. These cases mostly involve variants in which one dialect uses a single spelling for different meanings while the other dialect uses different spellings to distinguish different meanings of a word.
The main spelling differences between British and US English are detailed in 3.1 and 3.2. Table 21.1 lists some words that do not conform to a single pattern of spelling differences and that may easily slip past editorial notice (though many will be detected with spellchecking software).
Table 21.1
| US | British |
|---|---|
| adz | adze |
| ax | axe |
| behoove | behove |
| caliper | calliper |
| carburetor | carburettor |
| checkered | chequered |
| checkers (game) | chequers |
| chili | chilli |
| gelatin | gelatine |
| glycerin | glycerine |
| granddad | grandad |
| jewelry | jewellery |
| karat | carat |
| licorice | liquorice |
| maneuver | manoeuvre |
| mustache | moustache |
| novitiate | noviciate |
| pajamas | pyjamas |
| peddler | pedlar |
| phony | phoney |
| pita bread | pitta bread |
| plow | plough |
| pudgy | podgy |
| raccoon | racoon |
| tartar sauce | tartare sauce |
Note that the spellings aesthetic, archaeology, caesura, caulk, glamour, ochre, onomatopoeia, paean, and theatre are acceptable in both dialects; these are exceptions to the rules laid out in 3.1.2.
Whisky is the British spelling for all varieties except Irish whiskey; US spelling has whiskey as standard and whisky as a common variant, and does not maintain this geographical distinction.
The US spelling for sulfur (sulfide, sulfate) is also the one recommended by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) and is used in most British English scientific texts but not all. Check with the publisher; in non-technical material, use sulphur in British English.
A few words deserve close scrutiny because different spellings are assigned to different meanings in one dialect while the other dialect uses a single spelling for all meanings. Some examples appear in Table 21.2.
Table 21.2
| Meaning for which one dialect uses a particular spelling | British spelling | US spelling |
|---|---|---|
| an order for a bank to pay a sum | cheque | check |
| current of air; amount swallowed; depth of water; denoting beverages served from a barrel | draught | draft |
| division between walking area and driving area | kerb | curb |
| unit of length in the metric system | metre | meter |
| all meanings except those connected with computing | programme | program |
| level of a building | storey | story |
| metal tool with movable jaws | vice | vise |
It must be kept in mind that a number of spelling variants are in fact acceptable in both British and US English; most of these are discussed in Chapter 3. When this is the case, it should be ascertained whether house style dictates one spelling or another. If this is not the case, internal consistency is the rule, following the preferred spellings in a suitable dictionary.
See 3.3 for general discussion. US English is much readier to use and to accept new compounds spelled solid (that is, with no space and no hyphen) than British English. A number of compound words are spelled open or with a hyphen in British English but solid in the US. These include
An exception is no one, always two words in the US but sometimes spelled no-one in British English. In general, US English is ready to eliminate a hyphen in a word formed by addition of a prefix or suffix except when the hyphen serves to prevent the doubling of a vowel or the tripling of a consonant.
Many frequently used abbreviations and contractions differ in punctuation between the two dialects. An important point to check, discussed in 10.2.1, is full points (or elimination of them) at the end of contractions such as Mr, Ms, Dr, St, and the like. Full points are expected in US English, absent in British English.
There is widespread conformity in the presentation of acronyms and abbreviations in US and British English, though see the note about punctuation of these at 10.2.4. British English often uses Aids in a non-technical context, and US English has AIDS for acquired immune deficiency syndrome.
Words and expressions that originated, or that are used exclusively, in one variety of English are often referred to as ‘-isms’ of one kind or another: Canadianisms, Americanisms, Australianisms, and the like. Examples of the hundreds of such word pairs in British and US English, in which the dialects have a different word to designate the same thing, include aubergine/eggplant, braces/suspenders, flat/apartment, lift/elevator, nappy/diaper, torch/flashlight.
A few words have similar, contrasting, or quite different meanings in British and US English but are used in very similar contexts that may make it easy to overlook the fact that the writer intended something different from what the reader in another dialect would interpret. Common examples are set out in Table 21.3.
Table 21.3
| Word | Usual British meaning | Usual US meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Asian noun | someone from India or the countries that border it | someone from China, Japan, Korea, or a neighbouring country |
| bailiff noun | executor of court orders such as eviction and repossession | court officer who maintains order and performs other duties in a courtroom |
| biscuit noun | a flat, somewhat dry, sweet cake (= US cookie) | a savoury quick bread, similar to a roll (like British scone) |
| carnival noun | seasonal celebration that typically precedes Lent | travelling, temporary amusement park (= British funfair) |
| chancellor noun | honorary patron of a university | senior administrative official of a university |
| chips noun | strips of potato fried in fat (= US fries) | dry, crisp snack food made from potato, cornmeal, or other vegetables (= British crisps when made from potatoes) |
| cider noun | fermented apple juice (= US hard cider) | unfiltered apple juice |
| corn noun | any cereal crop | Zea maize, as a human food, food crop, or industrial crop |
| crèche noun | day nursery; child care centre | representation of the Nativity |
| CV noun | summary of education, qualifications, employment (= US résumé) | similar to UK meaning, but typically used only in academia, medicine, and law |
| entrée noun | dish before the main course | the main course |
| football noun | association football (= US soccer) | American football |
| government noun | the government currently in power; roughly equivalent to US administration | the institution and its components at the state or national level that persists through changes of leadership |
| homely adjective | simply furnished and comfortable (= US homey) | plain and unattractive (of a person) |
| judicial review noun | a procedure by which a court can review an administrative action by a public body and secure a declaration, order, or award. | review by a higher court or by the Supreme Court of the constitutional validity of a legislative act |
| lemonade noun | clear fizzy drink with lemon flavour | still drink made from lemon juice, water, sugar |
| lime (tree) noun | a tree of the genus Tilia (= US linden) | a tree that produces limes, Citrus aurantifolia |
| mad adjective | insane | angry |
| mean adjective | selfish | cruel |
| momentarily adverb | for a moment | in a moment |
| moot adjective | subject to debate | having no significance |
| osteopath noun | health practitioner who does spine and joint adjustments (like US chiropractor) | medical doctor with additional qualification in spine manipulation |
| ouster noun | eviction from a property | removal from public office |
| pants noun | underpants | trousers |
| paraffin noun | liquid combustible fuel (= US kerosene) | inert waxlike substance obtained from petroleum |
| pavement noun | walkway beside a road (= US sidewalk) | roadway made of asphalt or concrete |
| pound sign noun | the symbol £ | the symbol # |
| quite adverb | to some extent | very, really (see also 21.6) |
| smart adjective | fashionable | intelligent |
| solicitor noun | a lawyer who handles routine legal matters (= US lawyer or attorney) | a government lawyer, or in some contexts, a salesperson (e.g. on a sign that says ‘No solicitors’) |
| subway noun | walkway under a road | underground train or rail system |
| sycamore noun | Acer pseudoplatanus, the sycamore maple | Any tree of the genus Platanus (= British plane tree) |
| table verb | bring forward for discussion | remove from consideration |
| through predicate adjective | having successfully passed to the next stage of a competition | finished |
| trunk noun | luggage or storage container with hinged lid | storage compartment in the rear of a vehicle (= British boot) |
A number of verbs show different behaviour between British and US English. Those that are merely spelling variants are discussed above in 21.4.1. Some other verbs have forms that are used exclusively or preferentially in only one dialect. A few verbs (some mentioned in 3.2.1) have a participle form ending in -t that is not used in US English when the verb appears as part of a finite verb phrase. These forms—burnt, leant, learnt, smelt, spelt, spilt, and spoilt—are not used in US English and should be replaced by their -ed equivalents when Americanizing text. Burnt is occasionally used in US English as an adjective.
Special attention should be given to the participles got and gotten, since British English does not use the latter as a past participle of get. When Briticizing text, all instances of gotten can simply be changed to got. When Americanizing, it is necessary to distinguish the various senses of get. US English uses got in verb phrases where the verb means ‘possess’ (I've got a beach house in Florida) and ‘have as an obligation’ (I’ve got to go to Chicago next week). Gotten is the preferred form when the verb means ‘obtain’ (Have you gotten your results yet?) and ‘become’ (She hasn’t gotten any prettier over the years). Gotten is also more usual in US English in a number of idioms and phrasal verbs containing get, such as get used to something, get over something, get through something, get rid of something, get nowhere/anywhere.
Several word pairs in British and US English derive wholly or partly from a common ancestor but have settled on distinct preferred forms in the two dialects. These are laid out in Table 21.4.
Table 21.4
| US English | British English |
|---|---|
| airplane | aeroplane |
| aluminum | aluminium |
| candidacy | candidature |
| centennial | centenary |
| costumer | costumier |
| deviltry | devilry |
| doodad | doodah |
| edgewise | edgeways |
| elasticized | elasticated |
| expiration | expiry |
| furor | furore |
| hauler | haulier |
| hodge-podge | hotch-potch |
| hydroplane | aquaplane |
| math | maths |
| normalcy | normality |
| orient (verb) | orientate |
| polyethylene | polythene |
| raise (in pay) | rise |
| sailboat | sailing boat |
| sequester | sequestrate |
| snicker | snigger |
| specialty | specialism |
| tidbit | titbit |
Although it rarely gives rise to a misunderstanding, there are several minor differences between British and US English in the choice of function words such as prepositions, conjunctions, and articles. The main points to be aware of are:
Language that may be offensive to some readers, or regarded as insensitive to its intended audience, is largely the same among varieties of English and careful writers avoid it. Words in Table 21.5 are differently perceived and used by Britons and Americans and so should be scrutinized carefully when editing text from the opposite dialect.
Humorous puns in informal writing that play on the ambiguity of slang and informal terms with variable meanings in different dialects—such as dick, fag, faggot, knock-up, randy, rear-ender, rubber, shag, willie—should probably be left alone in localizing text unless it is suspected that an offensive misunderstanding may result.
Table 21.5
| Word | Use in British English | Use in US English |
|---|---|---|
| fit noun | a sudden attack of convulsions | (regarded as offensive when used with reference to epilepsy; use seizure instead) |
| fanny noun | vulgar term for female genitalia | informal or humorous term for the buttocks |
| spunk noun | vulgar term for semen | pluck; spirit; mettle |
The subtlest area of variation between US and British English involves text that contains no spellings or words that would be unfamiliar or unclear to readers who are fluent in a different English variation, but that nonetheless contains a usage common in one dialect but not the other. Putting these right depends mainly on the ‘ear’ of the editor to recognize usages that don't quite sound right. Examples of these include:
Although there is considerable variation in specific vocabulary among varieties of English other than US and British, nearly all varieties of English tend to follow one or the other closely with regard to orthography, grammar, and syntax. Countries that are former British colonies and members of the Commonwealth tend to follow British English, as is also the case for English used within the European Union. Former US colonies (notably the Philippines), Latin America, and other countries with strong cultural or trade relations with the US tend to follow US English. Two main varieties—Canadian and Australian—deserve mention because they both follow British English in some respects and US English in others. When localizing to either of these dialects, it is essential to have specific guidance in the form of a dictionary and a style document to ensure consistency.