Commonwealth English (question for Canadian, Australian posters & so on)

[Geoffrey Howe]

There are various minor differences between British and American English along the lines of colour/color, maths/math and so on. It seems from what I can tell that the Commonwealth is somewhere in between. For example, Canadian posters always seem to spell Labour correctly, but the Australian party is called Labor.

Could our Canadian and Australian posters (plus the less-represented others) inform me what the customs are in their countries?

(Some examples - found a nice link here)

American/British

o/ou in favour, labour and so on
math/maths
fall/autumn
soccer/football
movie/film
cookie/biscuit
pants/trousers
sneakers/trainers
truck/lorry
gas/petrol
mail/post
candy/sweets
check/bill
faucet/tap
principal/headmaster

Grammar:

use of true perfect (Americans seldom say "I have done;" preferring "I did")
number of collective nouns ("the government is" or "the government are;" latter acceptable here)
take a shower/have a shower
don't need/needn't (latter very rare in America)
first person shall (more common in UK) and questions ("shall I...")
on the weekend/at the weekend
different than/different to (both more colloquial; different from used in both)
gotten/got


Semantics:

momentarily: in a moment/for (the duration of) a moment

[kcguy]

I'll answer, even though I'm American.

There are many Canadian speech stereotypes, but most of these have indistinct boundaries.

One difference that perfectly aligns with the national frontier is the pronunciation of the last letter of the alphabet.  If I understand correctly, Americans uniformly pronounce it "zee", and Canadians uniformly pronounce it "zed".

[Mr. Smith]

American, but I'm answering anyway.

Yeah, we Americans DO use the perfect tenses [your example is the present perfect]...it's just that we tend to prefer using contractions rather than say it longhand. "I've done"/ "I have done".

I do wonder if the preference for present perfect over preterite is an East v. West thing, as that divide seems to exist with Spanish dialects too [I flee to the Spaniards side just because it means fewer conjugations to remember, but I digress], but I'm not sure if Quebecois French vs France French has that difference...and I know the latter also tends to use present perfect more.

Another good one you missed though:

counterclockwise/anticlockwise

[KoopaDaQuick 🇵🇸]

I generally use American grammar rules in more or less all circumstances, except for the past tense of "to spell" being spelt as..."spelt." "Spelled" sounds unnatural for some reason.

[Mr. Smith]

I generally use American grammar rules in more or less all circumstances, except for the past tense of "to spell" being spelt as..."spelt." "Spelled" sounds unnatural for some reason.

Spelt is a type of bread.

[Geoffrey Howe]

Yeah, we Americans DO use the perfect tenses [your example is the present perfect]...it's just that we tend to prefer using contractions rather than say it longhand. "I've done"/ "I have done".

I meant that Americans are less likely to use the present perfect than the aorist (more likely to say "did you see it?" as opposed to "have you seen it?").

[Geoffrey Howe]

I forgot z/s in words like recognise as well as the verb to practise (as opposed to the American to practice).

[GeorgiaModerate]

Isn't "soccer" originally an English term, short for "association football" (as opposed to Rugby)?

I'm American but have an English colleague, and apart from the vocabulary differences the main thing I've noticed is that he uses the verb "do" in places where it would be implicit for an American.  For example, in response to the question "Can someone handle job XYZ?":

American: I will.

Englishman: I will do.

[GoTfan]

Every nickname here has to end in an o.

[Joe Republic]

"Faucet" isn’t universally used.  "Tap", especially when describing the water coming from it, is just as common (if not moreso?).

I’ve noticed the British have a lot more positive adjectives in common usage when reacting to something, either genuinely or sarcastically.  "Brilliant!" "Lovely!" "Fabulous!" "Wonderful!" "Marvelous!"

If Americans use any of those it sounds weird, forced, or just out of place.  So we just stick to "awesome!"… and that’s about it.

[Mr. Smith]

"Faucet" isn’t universally used.  "Tap", especially when describing the water coming from it, is just as common (if not moreso?).

I’ve noticed the British have a lot more positive adjectives in common usage when reacting to something, either genuinely or sarcastically.  "Brilliant!" "Lovely!" "Fabulous!" "Wonderful!" "Marvelous!"

If Americans use any of those it sounds weird, forced, or just out of place.  So we just stick to "awesome!"… and that’s about it.

Actually, besides "awesome" you can almost be assured those same adjectives would be used sarcastically only.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

"Faucet" isn’t universally used.  "Tap", especially when describing the water coming from it, is just as common (if not moreso?).

I’ve noticed the British have a lot more positive adjectives in common usage when reacting to something, either genuinely or sarcastically.  "Brilliant!" "Lovely!" "Fabulous!" "Wonderful!" "Marvelous!"

If Americans use any of those it sounds weird, forced, or just out of place.  So we just stick to "awesome!"… and that’s about it.

British people do use terms like 'Brilliant!' a lot, don't they?

[Lechasseur]

There are various minor differences between British and American English along the lines of colour/color, maths/math and so on. It seems from what I can tell that the Commonwealth is somewhere in between. For example, Canadian posters always seem to spell Labour correctly, but the Australian party is called Labor.

Could our Canadian and Australian posters (plus the less-represented others) inform me what the customs are in their countries?

(Some examples - found a nice link here)

American/British

o/ou in favour, labour and so on
math/maths
fall/autumn
soccer/football
movie/film
cookie/biscuit
pants/trousers
sneakers/trainers
truck/lorry
gas/petrol
mail/post
candy/sweets
check/bill
faucet/tap
principal/headmaster

Grammar:

use of true perfect (Americans seldom say "I have done;" preferring "I did")
number of collective nouns ("the government is" or "the government are;" latter acceptable here)
take a shower/have a shower
don't need/needn't (latter very rare in America)
first person shall (more common in UK) and questions ("shall I...")
on the weekend/at the weekend
different than/different to (both more colloquial; different from used in both)
gotten/got


Semantics:

momentarily: in a moment/for (the duration of) a moment

I write words like favour or labour with ou rather than u, like Britain and Canada but unlike the US

In terms of vocabulary, I always use the American mail and the British bill, but for the other words there it depends on the context (if I'm speaking to British or American people basically)

I'll use the "has/have+verb" construct, but not in the "I have done" context (can't think of any examples of where I use it right now)

I generally use collective nouns the British way (for example if speaking about football, I'd say "Arsenal are" rather than "Arsenal is")

I say take a shower like an American

I'd be more inclined to say "don't need", but what I usually say when speaking is "don't have to"

I'll use first person shall

For the weekend I'm more inclined to say "on the weekend" but it depends on context

Different from is what I say, but I'd be more inclined to say "different than" rather than "different to"

I say gotten

Then for the momentarily one, "in a moment" means something will happen in a moment, while "for a moment" means how long something lasted/will last

[Cassius]

Labor is a bit of an outlier within Australian English as per my understanding - the only reason why it's spelled that way is due to the influence of pro-spelling reform elements within the then Labour party in the early 20th century, such as the American born King O'Malley. As far as I'm aware, the rest of Australian English spelling hews relatively closely to British English, so for example whilst the party is called Labor, the union movement is still referred to as 'labour'. Of course, colloquialisms are a different story.

[AustralianSwingVoter]

American/British Australian use bolded
o/ou in favour, labour and so on
math/maths
fall/autumn
soccer/football
movie/film
cookie/biscuit
pants/trousers
sneakers/trainers
truck/lorry
gas/petrol
mail/post
candy/sweets (lollies)
check/bill
faucet/tap
principal/headmaster

And some unique Australian differences:

Verandah is spelled with an H
Program instead of Programme
Footpath instead of Pavement or Sidewalk
Capsicum instead of Pepper/Bell Pepper
Lollies instead of Sweets of Candy
Overseas instead of Abroad
Paddock instead of Meadow and Field
Bush instead of Woods

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

So I just watched this video from this British youtuber and she used the phrase "subscription box" to describe what an American youtuber would surely call the "subscribe button". Could someone please walk me through this Britishism?

[Conservatopia]

Apparently it's now standard in the scientific community to spell "sulphur" as "sulfur".  Abominable.

This is outrageous and it's things like this that make me distrust science.  How can I take what they say about global warming seriously if they can't even spell one of the most common elements?  Truly shocking.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Apparently it's now standard in the scientific community to spell "sulphur" as "sulfur".  Abominable.

This is outrageous and it's things like this that make me distrust science.  How can I take what they say about global warming seriously if they can't even spell one of the most common elements?  Truly shocking.

Go take your sulfphurous opinions about how to spell the elements and go wrap them up in aluminium foil.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

I forgot z/s in words like recognise...

This is a misconception, but a very common one. A preference for 'ize' over 'ise' is not American in origin, even if it is universal in America and the minority option in Britain. It is a somewhat older form and the one traditionally preferred by those with an Oxford education.

[Geoffrey Howe]

I forgot z/s in words like recognise...

This is a misconception, but a very common one. A preference for 'ize' over 'ise' is not American in origin, even if it is universal in America and the minority option in Britain. It is a somewhat older form and the one traditionally preferred by those with an Oxford education.

I never claimed anything about origin; only usage. (Though that is a nice factoid.)

[Filuwaúrdjan]

And some unique Australian differences:

Verandah is spelled with an H
Program instead of Programme
Footpath instead of Pavement or Sidewalk
Capsicum instead of Pepper/Bell Pepper
Lollies instead of Sweets of Candy
Overseas instead of Abroad
Paddock instead of Meadow and Field
Bush instead of Woods

Literally none of these are unique to Australia.

[parochial boy]

Apparently it's now standard in the scientific community to spell "sulphur" as "sulfur".  Abominable.

This is outrageous and it's things like this that make me distrust science.  How can I take what they say about global warming seriously if they can't even spell one of the most common elements?  Truly shocking.

Sulfur is objectively more sensible that sulphur because English is germanic language, not Greek, goddamit...

Having said that, aluminum just sounds like you have a speech impediment

I still mostly use British English because American English just sounds weirdly awkward and staccato. Just my perception.

[Mr. Smith]

Apparently it's now standard in the scientific community to spell "sulphur" as "sulfur".  Abominable.

This is outrageous and it's things like this that make me distrust science.  How can I take what they say about global warming seriously if they can't even spell one of the most common elements?  Truly shocking.

Sulfur is objectively more sensible that sulphur because English is germanic language, not Greek, goddamit...

Having said that, aluminum just sounds like you have a speech impediment

I still mostly use British English because American English just sounds weirdly awkward and staccato. Just my perception.

Says the dude with Swiss German instead of Hochdeutsch and the infamously staccato Italian.

[Shaula🏳️‍⚧️]

American/British

o/ou in favour, labour and so on
math/maths
fall/autumn
soccer/football
movie/film
cookie/biscuit
pants/trousers
sneakers/trainers
truck/lorry
gas/petrol
mail/post
candy/sweets
check/bill
faucet/tap
principal/headmaster[/center]

I'm Australian, this is what I use.

[Хahar 🤔]

The primary grammatical difference I observe between American and British English is that British writers seem to be allergic to the subjunctive and will go to great (and, to an American eye, often ungrammatical) lengths to avoid using it.