shuggy's blog
At my Scottish secondary school we called the headteacher/master 'Rector' and that's what he called himself, too. That was pre-comprehensivisation of course! I agree with you about defence, although I always refer to [my] hate-figure Rumsfeld as Secretary of Defense as in that context it follows US practice (which they, Americans that is, would spell 'practise' - which I would use only when using that word as a verb). However, the main purpose of communication is to be understood and if one IS understood then I try not to grind my teeth too loudly at such non British-English usages.
Shuggy, you're wrong about English people calling teachers 'masters'. That only happens in public schools.
I've just remembered, you call state schools 'public schools' north of the b order. My friend's Dad (a Scot)always said he went to Gorbals Public School.
But it's normal for the head honcho to be referred to as the 'headmaster' or 'headmistress', no?
Actually, you're mistaken Bill. Americans spell "practice" the same way as the superior Brits. There are no iron laws in the small letter details (s or c, etc.) English spelling, never have been.
The Rector of my school was occassionally called the Headmaster; I've no memory of "Headteacher" when I was at school (leaving in '64). At University, the boss was Principal, not Vice-Chancellor. "Master" made sense - the teachers were largely MAs.
I think Hitchens pieces use the Yank spelling because they is edited in Yankland by Yank editors for publication in Yank publications. When he writes them I would bet he spells them all proper like when he writes for British publications...
eg Labour
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/
art...2157754,00.html
'Labor' is the correct Latin spelling, of course.
Headmaster has come into usage, so meh.
And I've never heard state schools referred to as 'public schools' in Scotland, just in the US.
Okay, that's my two cents. 
Whatever happened to the old Scootish word for a teacher, "dominie" (from the Latin "dominus"= "master")? Or is that long dead and buried?
Shuggy, didn't you misspell 'stationery' in your last posting?
Not so, Shuggy. Read the post again and you'll see that I spell 'defence' 'defence', just like that. In the update I'm quoting PooterGeek and so have 'Chewbacca defense' in inverted commas. I demand a retraction! 
)
Are you, or have you ever been, a member of that subset of Scots who pronounce "Police" poh-liss? We demand to know!
Well it is fall, pass me a Dr Pepper out the cooler and some candy and we can sort it once my new simesta starts.
'Labor' is the correct Latin spelling, of course.
Fuck the Romans!
A. Pict
Are you, or have you ever been, a member of that subset of Scots who pronounce "Police" poh-liss?
Subset indeed. It's Glasgow venacular so yes.
Shuggy, didn't you misspell 'stationery' in your last posting?
Who, me? Nope
Mortimer:
North Americans apply the following rules to words such as practice/practise
"ice" where the word is serving as a noun as in a doctor's "practice" (which I think is the equivalent of a physician's "surgery" in the UK)
"ise" where the word is serving as a verb, as in "practising medicine" or "practising law" for doctors and lawyers respectively.
What I hate is the s/z thing, as in enterprise/enterprize and capitalise/capitalize. "z" seems to capture the sound of the word better than "s" but maybe that's my Canadian ear at work.
I'll "capitalize" when I see everyone "advertize". Anyway, does anyone share my loathing of "Deal with it" and "Go figure"?
Anyway, does anyone share my loathing of "Deal with it" and "Go figure"?
Like, totally.
I'm getting annoyed with 'no problem'. Bought a sandwich the other day, gave a courteous but perfunctory 'Thank you' and was met with 'No problem'. How could it have been a problem, it's a sandwich shop for fuck's sake. If handing over a sandwich and taking my £1.80 is conceivably a problem, find a less demanding career.
I've been living in the US for eight years now and I'm completely confused.
I can't remember if the migraines I get my-graines or mee-graines. I can't remember if the schedule I stick to is a sh-edule or a sk-edule.
I do know that I feel very strongly that one is correct and the other is a form of degenerate pidgin, spoken only by a people unhealthily obsessed with lowering the bar. But for the life of me, I can never remember which is which.
It's my-grains.
Sh-edule. Sk-edule's an Americanism.
The battle to stop lieutenant being pronounced 'lootenant' is lost, sadly.
'Regular' meaning ordinary or normal is creeping in.
It's American linguistic imperialism, I say - and if anyone says, "No way!", they're making my point for me.
At least they should stop pronouncing Nietzsche as though he were a telly-tubby.
-ize is 'Oxford' spelling:
Oxford spelling is the spelling used in the editorial practice of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) and other English language dictionaries based on the OED, for example the Concise Oxford English Dictionary. It can be marked with the language tag en-GB-oed.
Oxford spelling follows British spelling in combination with the suffix -ize instead of -ise. For instance, organization, privatize and recognizable are used instead of organisation, privatise and recognisable. In the last few decades, the suffix -ise has become very popular in the UK. Therefore, many people incorrectly regard -ize as an Americanism, although the form -ize has been in use in English since the 16th century. [1] The use of -ize instead of -ise does not affect the spelling of words ending in -yse, which are spelt analyse, paralyse and catalyse in line with standard British usage.
Today, all major newspapers and magazines in the UK use -ise. The Times had been using -ize until the early 1980s, when it decided to switch to the -ise spelling. The Times Literary Supplement, Britain's most influential literary review has continued to use Oxford spelling. Oxford spelling is also used in academic publications; the London-based scientific journal Nature uses Oxford spelling, for example. Even though British dictionaries generally give -ize variants first, the British government prefers -ise.
I've met the Cambridge spelling "connexion". I asked what funxion it served.
And please can we smear in raspberry jam and expose to the wasps people who say "check it out".
Thank you for the reminders, I can now resume my indignation.
The Australian somewhat more left party is spelled Labor. I always find that disconcerting.
The reason for the spelling 'Labor' is explained here.
What the probelm with gotten? It's gotten to be a habit with me!
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