thismaz | Question about language.

Or, about British v American spelling, to be more precise.

It goes like this - one day I was musing and that happened to coincide with me seeing a comment on a community post.

And that got me thinking.

And that hurt, so I stopped.

But I was still confused, or puzzled, or maybe interested, piqued, intrigued. You get the picture.

After a couple of weeks and another encounter with the question, I thought, 'I'll ask the flist. It's not a big flist, but it's knowledgeable.'

So this is me, asking.

I remember when I first joined the yahoo lists, I used to occasionally see warnings on stories saying "British spelling throughout", like it was something that had to be excused or apologised for and I thought that was weird.

See, the reason I don't understand the need to explain or apologise is because if I go down the High Street, to Waterston's or Borders, and buy a CJ Cherryh, Sara Paretsky or even a Raymond Chandler novel, it'll have been edited to change it to British spelling for the British market. Similarly, an American buying Terry Pratchett or JK Rowling will get American spelling throughout, when they buy their book in America.

I'll admit, I used to download stories and do a spelling conversion, to change them to British spelling, because American spelling jarred on me and threw me out of the flow of reading. But I've got used to it now, so I don't bother anymore. It's a global market on the Internet. If I buy from Amazon.com, instead of Amazon.co.uk, I know I'm likely to get the American edition of the book, complete with American spelling.

I take care to use American words when my American characters speak or I am directly in their heads. When looking at their cars they do say 'hood' instead of 'bonnet', 'trunk' instead of 'boot'. They walk on the sidewalk, not the pavement and they fall on their ass, not their arse. That's important, because our language, the words we use, are part of what defines us, it reflects and shapes the way we think. When the only way a reader can judge a character is through the description given by the writer and the words the writer puts in the character's mouth, using the right words is vital.

But, and here's the 'but', that doesn't mean I also have to change my spelling to American. The 'verse I write in originated as a US TV show but I'm not going to say that Xander realized something, instead of realising it, because that's not a colloquialism and it's not Xander's thoughts, it's me, the narrator describing the action. The way the word is spelt doesn't say anything about the character who is doing the realising.

That's my opinion, my stance, on the question.

Don't tell me I'm wrong, because it is a matter of opinion and mine is as valid as the contrary, but please do feel free to explain why you disagree (or why you agree).

I know this is a subject people get excited about, and I want to understand why the excitement, as much as why the stance.

Realising and realizing are the same word, just spelt differently.

I wouldn't expect an American to anglicise their spelling just because they are writing Torchwood or Doctor Who fic, so why do I occasionally see the expectation of American spelling in BtVS?

I can understand that as members of the only real empire in the western world at the moment, it is easy to assume that the American way is the only right way. Goodness knows, the British, in the days of the British Empire certainly made, lived and imposed the assumption that the British way was superior (or to be more exact, the English way, since it was really just English society that was held up as 'proper' and a small section of English society, at that *g*). Or am I wrong, is this last paragraph totally off track?

Any ideas about why I get this feeling that some people expect me to change my way of spelling?

And if it's true, can anyone explain why?