So should my signs for my Off Licence read License? Sign company has put them up today as License but it just doesnt look right.
My Oxford pocket wasnt that clear and Cambridge didnt help either.
from Cambridge website:-
"(British) An off-licence (Am and Aus liquor store or Am package store) is a shop that sells mainly alcoholic drinks to be taken away and drunk at home.
In Britain licensing laws are the laws which control when and where alcoholic drinks can be sold.
licensed
adjective [not gradable]
a licensed pilot
a licensed (=allowed to sell alcohol) restaurant"
Is it the case that any other building is Licensed but Off Licences are that Off Licence.
Perhaps it’s just me but you’re last sentence left me with a headache. Still coudn’t work out what you meant.
But if a place has a license it’s allowed to seerve alcohol for consumption on the premises. An off license can only sell alcoholic drinks to be taken away.
Else you could visit my local kebab shop which has no license and drink till all hours in the back room.
Your choice.
I hope that helped.
My point is should the spelling by Off Licence or Off License? It not a licensing issue just a spelling one.
If you took your own beer to the kebab shop you could drink out the back all day/night.
Footnote did you know there are 4 gropus of people you cant serve in an Off Licence.
- Policeman in Uniform
- A prostitute
- Under 18
- Someone who is drunk.
My Chambers English Dictionary spells it “Off-licence”. It says that the noun is spelt with a 2nd c in Britain, but with an s in the US. The verb is usually, but not exclusively, spelt with an s.
Aaah! Sorry, should have read more carefully. Still don’t quite understand that last sentence though!
No mind. The British use ‘licence’, Whereas the Americans only use ‘license’. However, the British ALSO use ‘license’.
Let me elaborate: the Oxford English Dictionary has an entry for both ‘licence’ and ‘license’, supporting my above point and the two definitions are deliberately seperated:
licence: (US: license) permit from government etc. to own or do something or carry on some trade; leave or permission; excessive liberty of action; disregard of law or customs; writer’s or artist’s transgression of established rules for effect (poetic licence)
license: grant licence to (person); authorize use of (premises) for certain purpose, esp. sale of alcoholic liquor; authorize publication of (book etc.) or performance of (play).
So it seems that ‘license’ is the correct use when it comes to alcohol licensing, however the authorities are still granting a licence.
Perhaps many licences displayed are just produced by printers who mistakenly(?) use the traditional British spelling. Interestingly, OED still only use the spelling: ‘off-licence’.
To be honest with you, I think I’ve created more questions than answers. Can anyone help, 'cos I don’t think I have?
And I’m giving myself a headache now.
So if a young-looking girl wearing a WPC outfit staggers into your offie and offers you a BJ in return for a bottle of cider, the answer would have to be a “no” then? 
Your sign company got it wrong. In my experience, writing signs for a living is no qualification for being able to spell – even everyday words. Quite depressing when you think about it.