Quote:
Originally Posted by MolsonExport
I hate "programme" "tonne", "gramme", "behaviour" and "apologise" (I prefer program, ton, gram, behavior and apologize).
I also hate the way Llllloyd Robertson says "Schedule" (Sshhedule). I say "Skedjule"
On the other hand, I prefer entre (vs. Enter), and grey (vs. gray).
My own private dialect: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec_English
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I was taught to use different spellings in different contexts. You listen to a program on the radio, but you buy a programme for a live show. A ton is either 2240 lbs. or 2000 lbs., but a tonne is 1000 kg. "Practice" and "licence" are nouns, while "practise" and "license" are verbs.
I always use the "-our" and "-re" spellings (behaviour, colour, centre, theatre, &c.). I never use the "-ise" ending (organise, apologise, &c.), and I believe they're even starting to fall out of favour with UK publishers. I would almost always use "learnt," "spelt" or "dreamt" casually, while "learned," "spelled" or "dreamed" are more formal.
"Schedule" is always "skedule" - Canadians who say "shedule" come off as either old-fashioned or pretentious. I believe the latter is preferred by the CBC style guide though (which may be where Lloyd Robertson picked it up) along with "HARE-iss-ment" and "PEE-duh-file." I really can't stand "ex-PEER-uh-ment," which I've only ever heard some Americans and Anglo-Montrealers use.
Generally, I prefer to rely on some of the more progressive UK style guides when writing formally (I adore the Guardian's clean and simple style, for example) with standard Canadian spellings and a few American conventions grafted on. Periods after initials (J.R.R. Tolkien or U.S.A.) drive me nuts, and I'm passionately opposed to the Oxford comma in simple lists (outside of scientific writing). But the period or comma almost always falls before the final quotation mark.
Some word choices (i.e. "sneaked" vs. "snuck," "dived" vs. "dove") and pronunciations ("pro-cess" vs. "praw-cess") are entirely context dependent. Whichever sounds/looks right in a given sentence gets used, and that can vary based off of the register I'm using (formal reading voice vs. casual speech, for example).
I'm curious: how many of you were taught the "Hallowe'en" spelling in school? I was taught it was the proper Canadian spelling, but a lot of people seem to have never encountered it before when I use it.