The two English-language newspapers here use “harbour” and other British spellings no matter what for US places. That doesn’t really bother me, but what DOES bother me is when they alter direct quotes to reflect British usage. For instance, Britney Spears was recently quoted using the word “Mum” to refer to her mother. A direct quote, in quotation marks, not just reported speech. A letter-writer (not I) was quick to complain that he looked it up on the Web, and she had indeed referred to her mother as “Mom.”
I will point out, though, that not too long ago, I rceived a “thank you” from a fellow American for pointing out the “braces” referred to in an earlier post were what we refer to as “suspenders.” He thought, as I feared might happen, that the poster had meant those things teenagers wear on their teeth.
Of course, if he’d referred to “suspenders”, we Brits would think of the garments women use to hold up their stockings 
That makes perfect sense, thank you.
DrDeth writes:
> “You have to”? This isn’t France, we have no official Board of American English.
> My big fat Webster’s unabridged lists both as common usages and acceptable
> spellings, although it does add “Chiefly Brit.” to “colour.” Note that “Chiefly”
> not “Limited to” or “always”.
You’re being ridiculous. As I said before, I was referring to works that are being submitted to an English teacher or a copy editor. They wll insist on consistency in the spelling conventions that you use. Indeed, they will insist that you use their conventions. Obviously, if no one else is correcting your writing, you can do anything you want, including misspelling everything and using bad grammar all over the place.
There are several exceptions to the rule that consistency is necessary. One is in the use of proper names, which often conform to the local usage at the location of the place. Another is when quoting the word in explaining the usage in some other place.
Slight hijack. What do you Brits call the metal bands placed on teeth to straighten them?
I love this place.
Oh, we call those braces too. The only real chance of confusion is in the case of, say, an American, who may not know the word has another meaning.
The real fun begins when Australians use the word “thong” in front of Americans: “so two elderly Catholic priests were walking along the beach in thongs…” 
Surely they would say “Mirandize.”
I don’t mind Americans doing that sort of stuff. There are plenty of obscure country-specific threads, and so if one country happens to be not so obscure, and also happens to host the site, then I’ll put up with it. What is a little irking sometimes is when the threads are written like nowhere else exists (and even this is probably innocently done): “What are my legal rights regarding…?”
Please just make a note of where you are - even if we can likely guess. If I said, “Can I get a green slip for my ute after I go to the RTA”, I’d understand that would be barely English to 99% of the board, so I’d add a country-specific note, and maybe even a “pardon me for a moment” one to everyone else.
Well, “Rome”, “Cologne”, and “Munich” are the same as French, but Vienna in French is “Vienne”. Curiously, London, England in French is “Londres”, but London, Ontario is “London” (at least in Quebec; probably very few French have ever heard of it).
While not really germane to the current arguement, back when I was trolling Goth Boards and such, I was always slightly annoyed by seeing kids from the US using “colour” and “petrol” and such.
Rather like Madonna’s fake faux-English, at least to my eyes.
I have a friend who uses British spelling in his Live Journal posts, and it always irks me just a bit, but then he’s a bit pretentious about that sort of thing. He views Europe and the UK specifically as just a little bit better than the US.
Yeah, I know what you mean. I used to cross my 7’s Continental-style too, because I thought it looked cool. Then again, I was 13.
Or when Brits say, “Pass me a rubber” when they want to erase some pencil markings.
Edit: I cross my 7s. Started it when studying German back in university in Texas, but I’ve noticed other Americans do it, too. I do not, however, make my 1s like the Germans do.
It would depend on the age of the listener. The article of clothing is relatively new. I grew up in the American Midwest when thong meant only a type of sandal.
Another is simply writing in that strange mishmash that combines both British and American spelling, known commonly as “Canadian”:
The leaves in Toronto were changing colour as I pulled up to the curb outside the theatre. After I wrote a cheque for the tickets, I had planned to hear for the shopping centre, but when I returned to my car, I found that my tires were flat.
Of course, consistency matters within Canadian writing: it would never be “kerb” or “tyres,” as in British spelling; similarly, it would not be “check” or “center,” as in American. But the above example would be, to a Canadian copy editor, perfectly spelled. And assuming the piece was longer, these spellings would remain consistent.
Better than calling it “gas” though. What’s up with that? Even in America it’s a liquid, isn’t it? :dubious:
You can install a Canadian dictionary, then colour, theatre, etc. won’t be underlined (but color and theater will ).
Used to be a type of sandal up here too. Made for some confusing jokes when the meaning changed without anyone telling me.
Gas, of course, is short for Gasoline. We love to shorten things, if it’s at all possible (and sometimes when it isn’t).
And oddly, I cross my 7’s as well. It was suggested to me by my 6th grade teacher, who suggested I do so as my writing was terrible, and I might not get docked points for writing 17’s that looked like 11’s and such. I didn’t think anything of it, and no teacher has ever called me on it.
Which is good, I’m 33 now and I’m not sure I could stop. Hehe…