Making words work better
On Saturday 20 May 2017, the well-known British word buff (orig. U.S.) Susie Dent presented an excellent and engaging program(me) on BBC Radio 4 about Americanisms…
There are one or two loose ends to tie up from the previous blog on this topic, before I move on. 1.1 which or…
Can you use which in defining (or restrictive) relative clauses? For example... "In 1957 work began, under the editorship of R. W. Burchfield, on the…
“There is no such thing as the Queen’s English. The property has gone into the hands of a joint stock company and we own the…
-ize verbs are 'like lavatory fittings, useful in their proper place but not to be multiplied beyond what is necessary for practical purposes.’ Some people…
Continue reading → -ise or -ize? (3/3) In praise of monetize, diarize, etc.
Summary Inspector Morse was a snob and a pedant -- but you probably knew that already. The -ize spelling is exclusively US = MYTH. The…
Continue reading → -ise or -ize? Is -ize American? (2/3) Damn your -ize, Morse!
In brief... The -ize spelling is exclusively US = MYTH For words with an -ise/-ize or -yse/-yze alternation, the -ize spelling is used in British…
