# Color vs Colour
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/color-vs-colour/416882
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [August 25, 2007, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/color-vs-colour/416882 "2007-08-25T12:12:02Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Faud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Faud)
#### Post date: [August 25, 2007, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/color-vs-colour/416882/1 "2007-08-25T12:12:02Z")
Is there any place that color and colour cannot be interchanged in a sentenance ?
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### Author:  [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)
#### Post date: [August 25, 2007, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/color-vs-colour/416882/2 "2007-08-25T12:14:02Z")
When one of the two constitute a part of a proper noun, perhaps. For instance, the name of a company or a trademark.
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### Author:  [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)
#### Post date: [August 25, 2007, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/color-vs-colour/416882/3 "2007-08-25T12:24:41Z")
The UK. Over here, if you write ‘_color_’ then you have spelt it wrongly. I take it, then, that either spelling is acceptable over there?
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### Author:  [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)
#### Post date: [August 25, 2007, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/color-vs-colour/416882/4 "2007-08-25T12:29:14Z")
[QUOTE=Dominic Mulligan]
When one of the two constitute a part of a proper noun, perhaps. For instance, the name of a company or a trademark.
[/QUOTE]
Yes. I still love and defend my beloved Commonwealth English. Though, thanks primarily to this fine American board, I defend it now with a bit of whimsy and I realise that there is no _right_ version of this fine language. However, it annoys me when proper nouns are abused. It is “Sydney Harbour” and “Pearl Harbor” whether you’re writing for the _Sydney Morning Herald_ or the _New York Times_. Same for “Railway” and “railroad” and others.
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### Author:  [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)
#### Post date: [August 25, 2007, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/color-vs-colour/416882/5 "2007-08-25T12:31:37Z")
[QUOTE=Peter Morris]
The UK. Over here, if you write ‘_color_’ then you have spelt it wrongly. I take it, then, that either spelling is acceptable over there?
[/QUOTE]
Colour is also the correct spelling in Canada.
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### Author:  [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)
#### Post date: [August 25, 2007, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/color-vs-colour/416882/6 "2007-08-25T12:33:29Z")
No, you have to be consistent in your spelling. If you’re using American spelling, you have to use “color” everywhere it appears in a piece of writing (unless it’s part of a proper name). In fact, if you use American spelling, you have to use American spelling in all your words (unless it’s part of a proper name). If you’re using British spelling, you have to use “colour” everywhere it appears in a piece of writing (unless it’s part of a proper name). Again, if you use British spelling, you have to use British spelling in all your words (unless it’s part of a proper name).
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### Author:  [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)
#### Post date: [August 25, 2007, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/color-vs-colour/416882/7 "2007-08-25T12:36:37Z")
[QUOTE=Wendell Wagner]
No, you have to be consistent in your spelling. If you’re using American spelling, you have to use “color” everywhere it appears in a piece of writing (unless it’s part of a proper name). In fact, if you use American spelling, you have to use American spelling in all your words (unless it’s part of a proper name). If you’re using British spelling, you have to use “colour” everywhere it appears in a piece of writing (unless it’s part of a proper name). Again, if you use British spelling, you have to use British spelling in all your words (unless it’s part of a proper name).
[/QUOTE]
Yes, except for the fact that there are such things as Australian spelling, New Zealand spelling, Canadian spelling, South African spelling, and so on. These usually tend either towards Commonwealth or US spelling, but they are all free to spell “color/colour” as “Throatwarbler Mangrove” if they choose.
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### Author:  [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)
#### Post date: [August 25, 2007, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/color-vs-colour/416882/8 "2007-08-25T12:37:23Z")
Here’s a list of American and British spelling differences:
> **[American and British English spelling differences](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_and_British_English_spelling_differences)**
>
> Despite the various English dialects spoken from country to country and within different regions of the same country, there are only slight regional variations in English orthography, the two most notable variations being British and American spelling. Many of the differences between American and British/Commonwealth English date back to a time before spelling standards were developed. For instance, some spellings seen as "American" today were once commonly used in Britain, and some spellings s...
I’m confused about Canada, where it appears that a mixture of American and British spellings are used.
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### Author:  [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)
#### Post date: [August 25, 2007, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/color-vs-colour/416882/9 "2007-08-25T12:40:10Z")
My post was about the differences between American and British spelling. I admit I don’t understand Canadian, Australian, New Zealand, South African spelling, which works under other rules that I don’t know about.
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### Author:  [@Will\_Repair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Will_Repair)
#### Post date: [August 25, 2007, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/color-vs-colour/416882/10 "2007-08-25T12:47:32Z")
The question has been pretty much answered so I’ll interject a reference to the use of color vs colour.
When the Harry Potter books first came out with the uproar in the US about promoting witchcraft Lake Woebegone did a skit about it. A lady complains about the Harry Potter books and how they were corrupting American youth. “The next thing you know they’re be spelling color with a u and saying crisps instead of chips.”
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### Author:  [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)
#### Post date: [August 25, 2007, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/color-vs-colour/416882/11 "2007-08-25T12:53:37Z")
[QUOTE=Wendell Wagner]
No, you have to be consistent in your spelling. If you’re using American spelling, you have to use “color” everywhere it appears in a piece of writing (unless it’s part of a proper name). In fact, if you use American spelling, you have to use American spelling in all your words (unless it’s part of a proper name). If you’re using British spelling, you have to use “colour” everywhere it appears in a piece of writing (unless it’s part of a proper name). Again, if you use British spelling, you have to use British spelling in all your words (unless it’s part of a proper name).
[/QUOTE]
Meh. English is not my native language. I learned British english first, as a kid. Then I lived in the US for many years. Most of my reading nowadays is British english. My current spelling is a mess of British and American.
I spell “colour” and “neighbour” and “behaviour”, but I am sure I let out one or more other words ending in “-or” every once in a while. I spell “tyres”, but I talk about railroads not railways.
If it matters, I use a spell checker to straighten everything to British or American english as needed, but I am sure there are still plenty of inconsistencies that escape through.
Still, as I think it is the point of the OP’s question, I don’t think there are circumstances where using one form instead of the other could lead to a misunderstanding.
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### Author:  [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)
#### Post date: [August 25, 2007, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/color-vs-colour/416882/12 "2007-08-25T12:57:17Z")
[QUOTE=Wendell Wagner]
No, you have to be consistent in your spelling. If you’re using American spelling, you have to use “color” everywhere it appears in a piece of writing (unless it’s part of a proper name).
[/QUOTE]
Then surely your answer to the OP is Yes, rather than No? ;). It was a poorly worded OP, though.
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### Author:  [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)
#### Post date: [August 25, 2007, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/color-vs-colour/416882/13 "2007-08-25T13:19:12Z")
When I said “No,” I was replying to Peter Morris, who had asked if both spellings were acceptable in the U.S.
Sapo writes:
\> If it matters, I use a spell checker to straighten everything to British or American
\> english as needed, but I am sure there are still plenty of inconsistencies that
\> escape through.
If no one else controls your writing, obviously you can use any spelling you want. You can even not bother capitalizing “English.” I assumed that we were talking about writing that you have to give to an English teacher or a copy editor.
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### Author:  [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)
#### Post date: [August 25, 2007, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/color-vs-colour/416882/14 "2007-08-25T13:38:10Z")
And of course, I can’t leave this thread without offering a big THANK YOU to the American Dopers. This place is a rare haven on the internet where I don’t have to translate for Americans. I can say “cheque”, “colour”, etc, and I _know_ you all will read and understand it without batting an eyelid. It’s hard to do that in most places online, and is one of the reasons I cherish the Dope.
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### Author:  [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)
#### Post date: [August 25, 2007, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/color-vs-colour/416882/15 "2007-08-25T13:40:09Z")
[QUOTE=Wendell Wagner]
I assumed that we were talking about writing that you have to give to an English teacher or a copy editor.
[/QUOTE]
A fair enough assumption. Style is an issue then. I thought the OP meant if they would ever mean something different, create confusion, etc. I don’t think that is ever the case, is it? How about other US/UK spelling differences other than color/colour?
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### Author:  [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)
#### Post date: [August 25, 2007, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/color-vs-colour/416882/16 "2007-08-25T13:43:27Z")
Canadians use whatever spelling they like. For the record, I will say that “colour” is simply wrong in the US. Either is acceptable in Canada, but consistency is required.
The unprouncable sentence: “Do you say Either or eIther? EIther.”
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### Author:  [@tbdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tbdi)
#### Post date: [August 25, 2007, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/color-vs-colour/416882/17 "2007-08-25T13:51:31Z")
[QUOTE=Sapo]
I thought the OP meant if they would ever mean something different, create confusion, etc. I don’t think that is ever the case, is it? How about other US/UK spelling differences other than color/colour?
[/QUOTE]
“Tyres” might cause some confusion and “gaol” looks more like a misspelling of “goal” than a different spelling for “jail”. For the most part spelling would be less confusing than the cases where the same word has a different meaning like “vest”, “bonnet”, and “pavement”.
One of my favorite irreverent looks at the common language that divides us is at [http://english2american.com/index.html](http://english2american.com/index.html)
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### Author:  [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)
#### Post date: [August 25, 2007, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/color-vs-colour/416882/18 "2007-08-25T13:55:24Z")
[QUOTE=Sapo]
A fair enough assumption. Style is an issue then. I thought the OP meant if they would ever mean something different, create confusion, etc. I don’t think that is ever the case, is it? How about other US/UK spelling differences other than color/colour?
[/QUOTE]
I suppose you could confuse a Brit by saying something like “it’s in the trunk”. A literal-minded Brit might start looking for a storage chest, except that we all know about Americanisms like “trunk” (we call that part of a car the “boot”).
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### Author:  [@Faud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Faud)
#### Post date: [August 25, 2007, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/color-vs-colour/416882/19 "2007-08-25T14:13:58Z")
[QUOTE=Usram]
Then surely your answer to the OP is Yes, rather than No? ;). It was a poorly worded OP, though.
[/QUOTE]
Sorry about the poor wording, first post here and I will try and do better next time.
The full story is that it is my first time working for a company with offices all over the world. I submitted something spelled colour and was told I was incorrect, however when I put “color” into the spell checker it wanted to use colour. I then hit [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/colour](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/colour) and became even more confused.
I have learned a lot reading everyone’s post though and they are much appreciated.
Faud
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### Author:  [@zelie\_zelerton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zelie_zelerton)
#### Post date: [August 25, 2007, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/color-vs-colour/416882/20 "2007-08-25T14:36:45Z")
OK colour me confused now. What is this alternate meaning to ‘tyres’ that you are all speaking about? I’ve never heard the American meaning. Can someone enlighten me please?
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