US/UK spellings - yup, that hoary old chestnut again...

[panik]

So I'm working through the beta for my fic (praise be to the betagoddess) and I don't know what to do about the (cue organ chord, wolf howl) spelling...

It's a TS story; the characters are, as we know, Americans; that means no un-American word usage and phraseology - fine, I get that - but spelling? Do two Americans have to be spelled American?

I've done this both ways in the past, but mostly used my own Brit spelling because it's easier and I don't honestly believe we spell as we speak.  But then, I get fb that tells me 'the spelling really took me out of the story' -

And I'm thinking; 'why'? Because I read American spelling in say, Doctor Who fic and all that makes me think is - the author's American. So long as British characters aren't keeping bodies in the trunk, it doesn't matter that that spare that's in the way is spelled tire and, in all honesty, my first reaction is to tell the Americans to suck it up because by far the largest chunk of the English-speaking world spells British anyway and we don't care so why should everyone else have to change to make life easier for you? - or that's to say, the few who bother to send fb complaining about it. (o:

But then, I'm getting that fb and sometimes, I cave. I used US spelling for Wind Whispering - even though it looked weird and wrong and took forever to change.

So, I'm asking an honest question of you all - does it matter, really? And if it does, why  (I thought about making this a poll, but I shan't because I need more than yes or no answers; I need explanations, dammit. (o) If it really, truly, honest-to-god makes a real difference, I shall use your blasted spelling (*G* - even though it looks... really strange and will take me all day) but if it does, I'd really love to know, and why.

ETA: And messing with this all afternoon means I've done NO work - none at all - on the actual story (which was the whole point, wasn't it?) *g*

Comments

[boogieshoes.livejournal.com]

lol. actually, interesting that 'programme' was brought up. i've seen that word used consistently in america - in high-class theater settings. we're talking the ballet, the symphony, events which you wear formal clothes to. very often you get 'programme books', instead of '*program* books'.

for a while during my teen years, i used 'program' specifically as a verb, while 'programme' was a noun. i don't know if this result is language drift over time, or between classes, but some weird things do occur....

-bs

[gillyp.livejournal.com]

That's interesting - I wonder why they do that? Is that the 'official' way programme is spelled in that context? Or an affectation? In the UK 'program' is only used for computer programs and would be confusing in other contexts.

This is all so fascinating. *g*

[boogieshoes.livejournal.com]

i'm not sure that it's the 'official' way to spell it, or if it's a classist affectation. in the majority of contexts, i see 'program', instead of 'programme', whether noun or verb. i'm not sure why that is, either. probably for the same reason we dropped all those pesky u's. except that doesn't explain the use of 'programme' in high-class settings, since the rich don't use 'colour', either...

funky, but i have no answers for you.

-bs