It's also the trouble with 'Z'. Canada is on the fence in terms of its spellings. I have adopted a strategy of randomness when I write, because as far as I can tell, so has the rest of the country. Sometimes they go American, sometimes British. At work I belong to a research group called 'Team Optimize', but I wrote a 'cheque' for a charity contribution. I have described previously the sign at our doctor's office saying 'Medical Centre' which has next door to it one reading 'Travel Center'. (Actually the travel center has since closed down, going the way of cheques/checks.)
Yesterday my daughter texted me from middle school to ask who had made her lunch. I did, I replied. Usually it's her father, but for his birthday, I had wanted to be nice and give him a break. "I don't like it," daughter complained of my cheese, jam, and matzo concoction (it's Passover). "It tastes like farts in my mouth."
I reported this to my husband, also by text. He asked, "Is that bad?" I replied, "Well, it's not a Ben and Jerry's flavor." Red underline. I tried again. "Flavour." Just for fun, I cut-and-pasted into email. This time 'flavor' won.
Canada. Please.
Lynne Murphy at the University of Sussex writes a tremendously entertaining and informative blog that I've mentioned before (I mention it a lot) called 'Separated by a Common Language' http://separatedbyacommonlanguage.blogspot.ca/ which discusses the Atlantic division of English. However her blog focuses on linguistic differences between the UK and the US. Canada, as in so many other domains, is left hanging, like a Floridian chad, though a lot colder. High of 7C today, by the way, at the end of April. I'm not bitter, no sir, not me. I have been channelling my inner Scarlet O'Hara: "I shall never be frozen again." Until next winter.
But I digress. And now I make my egress.
No comments:
Post a Comment