back to article How I made a Chrome extension for converting Reg articles to UK spelling

The Register began life in London in 1994 and today has journalists and other staff all over the world, which is to say San Francisco, Sydney, Singapore, Berlin, and beyond. It used to be that our vultures wrote in their local style: Americans used US spellings, the British relied on UK spellings, the Australians were pretty …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The King's English

    Isn't the King of Bastard Viking Descent?

    1. UCAP Silver badge

      Re: The King's English

      That line died out long ago. The current monarchy is largely Germanic/Greek descent with other connections to almost all of the rest of Europe.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: The King's English

        There's a direct line of descent back through the usurper Henry Tudor of a bastard line of John of Gaunt.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: The King's English

          We need to be careful with all this talk of bastards. We might summon Sean Bean.

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tE8d-uGmIWk

          See there for consequences.

          1. Graham Dawson Silver badge

            Re: The King's English

            Ah yes, the old Bean, breaking everyone's understanding of English pronunciation for the last 63 years.

            You know why Sean Bean was so eager to working alongside Matt Damon in The Martian? Because he'd seen Bourne.

            1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

              Re: The King's English

              >Isn't the King of Bastard Viking Descent?

              Bring back the Danelaw. Northern independence under Cnut's descendants and allied to Denmark

              1. Mrs Spartacus

                Re: The King's English

                Ah yes, all those Danish dyslexics spelling it "Cnut"....

              2. Anonymous Coward
                Coat

                Re: The King's English

                Then America can try and buy you like they did Greenland.

            2. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: The King's English

              I would say that Sean Bean pronounces bastard the only true way to do so. It sounds so limp in a Southern accent.

              Barrrrrsturd. <--- rubbish

              BAH-STOD. <--- perfection

              Every expletive sounds better in a Northern accent...except for Scouse. Manc / Yorkie being the best.

              I was raised in a mixed Northern family (Manc, Yorkie, Geordie, Lanc and Linc) and the swearing was sublime, also with having to cope with that many dialects, I'm basically the Rosetta stone of Northern dialects.. If that mixture of accents were a dish in a bistro, it'd get three Michelin stars.

              I've lived daahn saahf now for decades now and the swearing just doesn't cut it. It's so limp and weak.

              When I was a kid, and I spilt something and my Manc dad decided to swear...it'd feel like the world coming to an end over something trivial.

              Better yet, just launching extremely heavy insults over basically nothing was absolutely awesome.

              Grandad: Fucking hell fire, I've lost me bastard keys again.

              Dad: For fuck sake, you daft old bastard. I'm going to nail those cunts to you so as you don't lose the fucking things. Fuck!

              Nana: They're over here in your cap you dumb bastard next to yer fags. 'ell fire.

              Me: Fucking keys!

              Grandad, Nana, Dad: Ey! No fucking swearing, I'll wash your mouth out wi soap! Where does he get it from? It's not me!

      2. Mrs Spartacus

        Re: The King's English

        Where do you get the Greek lineage from? Phil "The Greek" had no Greek blood in him - he was Danish/German/Russian I seem to recall.

        1. jake Silver badge

          Re: The King's English

          His paternal Grandad was the King of Greece for half a century or so. Close enough?

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Windows

            Re: The King's English

            "King of Greece for half a century or so. Close enough?"

            Being King of Greece doesn't actually make you Greek (OK: of Greek descent). He may have been but maybe not - no idea and I can't be bothered to look it up because it isn't important: I know how European Royalty works. When you run out of Royals, you get an obscure Germanic mini state to send over someone.

            Capital G on granddad? Are you sure you aren't German? Proper nouns and certain honorifics only please! Mind you I'm a granddad ... should I demand a capital G? I'll ignore the d vs dd bit ... 8)

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: The King's English

              Royal-as-a-Service, now there's an idea. Better yet, combine with Redundant Assortment of Indistinguishable Dunderheads, Head(-of-State) in The Cloud.

              (Yes, it's moanday, and I'm not fully caffeinated yet.)

              1. Kane
                Thumb Up

                Re: The King's English

                "Royal-as-a-Service, now there's an idea. Better yet, combine with Redundant Assortment of Indistinguishable Dunderheads, Head(-of-State) in The Cloud."

                At the height of General Tacticus' renown, the royal family of Genua died out and Genua requested that Ankh-Morpork nominate a suitable new duke. They rewarded Tacticus with the selection; his first act after assuming the throne was to declare war on their biggest rival: Ankh-Morpork.

              2. Anonymous Coward
                Anonymous Coward

                Re: The King's English

                Yeah, I'm up for that. We can pay Chuckie by the minute when we need him for ceremonial stuff. Everyone wins. Spin him down when it's not busy.

            2. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: The King's English

              Alright grandad, here sit by the fire and I'll go to the bar. Behave. No keep your money it's fine.

          2. Mrs Spartacus

            Re: The King's English

            No, not even close at all. He was Danish, with no Greek blood, parachuted onto the Greek throne. He did not marry any Greeks, and Philip had no Greek blood at all - as he himself once told an ingratiating Greek visitor who claimed they had common ancestry.

            Clear enough for you? I could cut & paste the whole story for you, but then that would deprive you of the pleasure of actually doing some proper rewarding research.

            1. nobody who matters

              Re: The King's English

              So, by your definition, almost none of the population of the USA can regard themselves as 'American' due to having no indigenous blood and being almost entirely descended from immigrants from other continents and descendants of those immigrants.

              And all those in the UK who have no 'white British' blood cannot regard themselves as 'British'.

              Or does the rule only apply where one has a prejudice against monarchy?

    2. captain veg Silver badge

      Re: The King's English

      He was William the Bastard, but his friends called him Norman. And they were all called Norman too. They were the Normans.

      -A.

  2. Tams

    How does using standard American English make your content more accessible to people? And in return, you abandon your roots.

    And your answer is a foist an extension on us?

    I'm disappointed, to say the least. But hey, mountains and mole hills and all that.

    1. heyrick Silver badge

      I think the broken corporate logic is that there are about seventy million people who know how to spell words in English, and about three hundred odd million that don't. Therefore they'll make the site broken by design. Rather like HTML and bloody "color" and "center".

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Angel

        Th' rochand'ſ Saxọ̄̆nlī

        Until the extension can translate The Kings English into Medieval English (see title), I'll hold off.

        Besides, it's a Chrome extension. How have you benighted commenters missed this?

        1. deadlockvictim

          Re: Th' rochand'ſ Saxọ̄̆nlī

          Thanks for the extension but it's for a Google product, alas.

          You have given me the choice between US English and Google.

          I hate Google more so I'll stick with the US-icated site.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Because most people who learn English as a second language learn the American spellings

      1. Charlie Clark Silver badge
        FAIL

        Been to India or anglophone Africa recently, have you?

        1. katrinab Silver badge

          Or South East Asia, where it seems they mostly learn Australian English.

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Not probably the majority of El Reg's readership....

      2. Dan 55 Silver badge
        Joke

        You're definitely not a real USAian or someone who learnt US English, you used "learn" instead of "learnings".

        1. heyrick Silver badge
          Happy

          I'm surprised "learnerized" isn't a word.

          1. Mrs Spartacus

            I'm sure it already is, in Kaliphornia

            1. jake Silver badge

              Where is Kaliphornia?

              Or is that a British mispleling of California?

              Hypocrite much?

              1. Tim 49

                Kaliphornia

                Who is this mispleling of whom you write?

                1. Anonymous Coward
                  Windows

                  Re: Kaliphornia

                  Get a grip. He's taking the piss, just as you would.

                  I can't be arsed to type ... whoosh.

                  ... oh well.

                  1. My-Handle

                    Re: Kaliphornia

                    "I can't be arsed to type ... whoosh."

                    It's ok, we were all thinking it.

                  2. that one in the corner Silver badge

                    Re: Kaliphornia

                    Bag, just taking the piss wouldn't need the "hypocrite" jibe.

          2. jake Silver badge

            But it IS a word!

            What? He didn't say leatherized? Bloody accents ...

            1. nobody who matters

              jake must be American. He doesn't seem to comprehend sarcsm ;)

      3. jmch Silver badge

        "Because most people who learn English as a second language learn the American spellings"

        No, it's because most people who learn English as a FIRST language learn the American spellings.

        I grew up with and use British English, but it's not a matter to create a big fuss about if El Reg uses US English. If I can understand it, then it serves the purpose.

        Also, off topic but for what it's worth.... English has absorbed and bastardised words from so many other languages that both the spelling and pronunciation of many words make little sense or have no consistency to similair words. It's fine when you know them all having been brought up with them, but it must be a pain for people learning it late in life!

        1. captain veg Silver badge

          Re: off topic

          Actually the main reason for the chaotic spelling in English is that it is mostly a snapshot of what happened to be current at the time printing became widespread, whereas pronunciation continued to evolve.

          -A.

          1. Zippy´s Sausage Factory

            Re: off topic

            I always thought it was because Webster decided that English spelling was broken and needed fixing, and he did that very thing with his first edition of his dictionary. At least, that's what I was taught in school.

      4. captain veg Silver badge

        Re: most people who learn English as a second language learn the American spellings

        Not here in France, they don't.

        -A.

      5. Wapiya

        Hmm, last time I looked, our schools still had the Queens/Kings English as basis.

        Even though both sides cannot pronounce "loch" correctly.

        1. My-Handle

          That's because it's spelled "Lough".

          [Speaking as a half-Scot, half-English man living in Northern Ireland...]

      6. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        A number of years ago I attended a very enjoyable training class which was run by an American for a European audience. Just so happened that week there was a large Scandinavian contingent on the class. They spent most of the week correcting the poor guy's English. He'd done a lot of work with exPat Brits so understood the humour of the situation and joined in finding it funny.

        These days I run training classes for people all over the world and it is very clear that in some countries they learn English and in some they learn American. Most words work in most places but occasionally you find ones which don't. The word router is a fun example in some parts of the English speaking world.

      7. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Er...no.

        If anything, a lot of people that learn English as a second language use the BBC World Service channel to help...which results in a really weird posh sounding English with a strange foreign twang.

      8. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        - so they're learning American, then (well, more precisely USAian) , rather than English, no?

        Whilst American English spellings do grate on my nerves a bit, it doesnt really bother me that those in the USA have done their own thing with the language. It's what everyone around the world does , change and adapt the language they speak over time (I can remember seeing the word "show" spelt "shew" when I was a nipper, for instance, and gay was still used to mean happy back then, too, although it had started to acquire the modern meaning to some extent).

        However, along with that goes some cultural baggage too. Depending on the topic, when I see American spelling, it either doesn't matter a damn to me, or it can raise a warning flag "Uh-oh, this is from an American cultural perspective, based on the American worldview - bear that in mind whilst you;re reading it" kind of thing. And I don't mean that entirely negatively, just that the USA and the UK have quite different cultures, and occasionally this, plus differences in use of language can trip us up.

        Now, I have long enjoyed El Reg's sublimely British humour. In the same time, I have even learnt that some Americans DO get irony, gasp! (yeah, I was the UK equivalent of a hick from the sticks, and viewed the world in terms of stereotypes as a kid. I've learnt better since). So - El Reg has decided to go with Left-Pondian spelling? I won't lie, that rankles slightly with me, but it's not a deal-breaker, so long as the style of humour stays the same! Just so long as you relise I may, or may not, indulge in some gentle teasing, should suitable occasion arise over people who can't spell correctly (NB: yes, I'm aware that my typos are getting more frequent of late; unsure what's going on with that, but I DO know how to spell English correctly! 8-})

        1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

          "I won't lie, that rankles slightly with me, but it's not a deal-breaker, so long as the style of humour stays the same!"

          Agreed. Although as a general observation, here in the UK we get a lot of US TV and films and are expected to be clever enough to understand the difference in accents and culture. The reverse seems to be less true. Having said that, even in the US, TV seems to think people are not clever enough to understand American English if it's spoken with a local accent. I've seen US documentaries aimed at a US audience and some people speaking English in their local accent get sub-titled[1]. Even I, as a Brit who has never been to the US can understand what is being said, so just who are those sub-titles aimed at? Is it part of the dumbing down of US education? Is El Reg part of it? Are you confused yet? You will be after this weeks episode of Soap![2]

          [1] In case any left-pondians need a translation, I believe sub-titles are called closed-captions (or close-?) over there :-)

          [2] Yeah, we've been getting imports for a loooong time now.

          1. jake Silver badge

            "so just who are those sub-titles aimed at?"

            People who emigrated here for whom English is a second language. There are rather a lot of them about, the USA being the world's single most popular country to emigrate to.

            "I believe sub-titles are called closed-captions"

            Closed captioning is a broadcast with real-time same language (usually!) captions that appear only on the screen of a receiver equipped with a decoder. Quite handy for the hearing impaired. Most TVs have the necessary decoder built in these days, and it's easy to turn on and off.

            Sub-titles are on the "film" itself, so everybody sees them. Originally the "board" in silent films, now often used to translate foreign language films. Used in "bad accent" situations for people who have issues understanding accents ... Hearing impaired people and ESL folks, for example.

            We also have SAP (secondary audio broadcast), which broadcasts a second language real-time translation on an auxiliary channel. Decoder needed, but again most TVs come with the necessary decoder and it's easy to turn on and off.

    3. ThatOne Silver badge

      > And your answer is a foist an extension on us?

      It's clearly an issue of wounded pride, like "how dare you not consider us as being the standard one and only English!"... :-p

      Joke aside, I have a deeper problem with this: The ability to change anything we don't like on Internet. How long till somebody makes an extension which removes all opposing opinions on the Internet, allowing you to live in you very own little confirmation bubble?... We already live in a time where denying reality seems not only legit, but even normal. There is a term in psychiatry for this.

      1. jake Silver badge

        "How long till somebody makes an extension which removes all opposing opinions on the Internet, allowing you to live in you very own little confirmation bubble?"

        Killfiles (AKA bozo filters) have been around forever. Where do you think your spam filter(s) came from?

        1. ThatOne Silver badge

          > Killfiles (AKA bozo filters) have been around forever.

          While true this are kind of crude since they filter for persons, not opinions. Unless you block everybody you're never safe somebody won't all of a sudden (gosh!) disagree with you.

          1. jake Silver badge

            I wouldn't know. My personal bozo filter is wetware. Much better granularity than the software version. 40-odd years of Usenet and IRC will do that to a guy.

            Some decidedly odder than others ...

        2. Steve Graham

          It occurred to me some time ago to write a browser extension which substituted "shit remake" for "remake" on IMDB and movie review sites. So here's the skeleton code on GitHub!

        3. Fruit and Nutcase Silver badge

          There may be some demand for a BoJo filter, depending on if the Tories embark on a death spiral this week

          1. jake Silver badge

            "if the Tories embark on a death spiral this week"

            This week? Didn't they start that roughly when they threw Thatcher under the bus?

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Windows

              "they threw Thatcher under the bus"

              Well the old girl had run her course and it was time for a change - best to get the green tent erected, when fatally wounded at Becher's (or when the wet's finally grew some).

              She ran the show for quite a lot longer than these modern day fly by nights. At least she had staying power. We will all end up mad and dribbling one day. Ideally we won't be running a G8 economy at the same time (it was G8 back then).

              1. nobody who matters

                "......... it was time for a change............"

                That is probably the very worst reason for making change. It indicates that you are making the change purely for the sake of change without having any solid reason for it.

                There were other reasons why they dumped Maggie; mostly selfish in nature (a trait which seems to continue to this day among politicians).

          2. tezboyes

            A friend of mine (Byronic Sex and Exile) did a cover version of LA Woman, major twist was LS (for any Leeds goffs a giveaway) with a BoJo's dying chorus.

            This week it's LS8 Woman!

          3. Fruit and Nutcase Silver badge
            1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

              Re: Stand down

              "No surprises there - BoJo has pulled out"

              Now there's a first! How many kids has he got again?

        4. GreggS

          Isn't that what Musk is trying to do by buying Twitter?

      2. jake Silver badge

        Not wounded pride.

        More like lese-majesty.

        That version of the language belongs to the King, after all. Inherited it from his Mum, he did.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Not wounded pride.

          Well, ish.

          They may speak with that plummy accent, but shaping of language is still a function of society. A classic example of that is just how much of comedy slips into the language. " 't Is but a scratch" has an entirely different meaning when you've seen Search for the Holy Grail, and in US English (sorry, American) the phrase "it needs more cowbell" only gains meaning when you have seen the original SNL sketch.

          This is one of the more complex issues in general with languages - they adopt and change, so American expressions can sneak in (with their spelling), less so vice versa 'coz there's more of them.

          That said, sorry, but I much prefer UK English and I note with interest how much effort El Reg inflicted on itself by trying to go American (which, by the way, also denies the site its heritage of UK humour and culture which originated the 'biting the hand' idea): first, the effort to translate it all to American, and now the effort to offer some sort of sticking plaster for doing so.

          Given that the audience has been pestered with irrelevant surveys over the last few weeks, why was the readership never surveyed about that change, or did I miss it? It strikes me as a fairly obvious way to end the debate (and about the only really useful survey). Most of us may have a slight dictatorial streak when it comes to user management, but we tend to be fairly democratic amongst ourselves unless there's an opportunity to wind up someone.

          1. ThatOne Silver badge

            Re: Not wounded pride.

            > denies the site its heritage of UK humour and culture

            I'm a little surprised here. So you claim you would lose your humor and culture if you had to speak in some other language (let's say Japanese)? Maybe it's just me, but I'm perfectly fluent in a couple languages, and I know I keep my wit in all of them.

            1. heyrick Silver badge

              Re: Not wounded pride.

              Downvote because it is well known (even to Americans, look it up on TVTropes) that a large part of British humour is "if it exists, take the piss out of it".

              As a person who is multilingual and living in another country, I can tell you that about 80% of my humour does not translate. Because it involves taking the piss in a deadpan way, which is usually taken extremely literally by the natives. You may believe you keep your wit (as do I) regardless of the language spoken, but the real test isn't if you do so, it's how the joke is received.

              If I wanted to seem "funnier", I would have to understand their humour, and stop using mine.

              Which means, ultimately, a USian publication trying hard to be USian may well end up drastically cutting back on the sarcasm. Brits can get away with it, we're known for it. But leftpondian ways? This is a tech site, not Daria, so will it tone the sarcasm down? Time will tell...

              1. F. Frederick Skitty Silver badge

                Re: Not wounded pride.

                You've reminded me of my time working in the US. On one occasion I described some terrible code as "evil", and received a lecture from a po faced American colleague that only the devil is evil and that I was being blasphemous.

                1. Mrs Spartacus

                  Re: Not wounded pride.

                  So, if only the Devil is evil, all those people in Hell just got the wrong tickets? Must have travelled by South-West Trains.

                2. heyrick Silver badge

                  Re: Not wounded pride.

                  Other problematic constructions: "that's awfully nice of you" and "that joke was terribly funny, wasn't it?" (neither seem to be understood by Aussies who hear awful and terrible), and "quite good" which seems to be a rather more positive thing in America.

                  On the other hand, saying something (like a meal, seminar, etc) "it was okay" where I'm from tends to translate as "it was a complete fucking disaster but I don't fancy making a fuss".

                  1. jake Silver badge

                    Re: Not wounded pride.

                    As a Left Coastian Yank, I have never heard of anybody having issues with any of those phrases.

                    However, willfully, intentionally and even stubbornly illiterate people exist in every society. Usually they are spread out among the general population, where they can't cause much trouble ... but I'm sure (nearly) all the readers of this august rag can name a few States where they seem to have concentrated for varying reasons. Were you, perchance, in one of those states?

                    And yes, "it was OK" tends to be a backhanded compliment around here.

                3. jake Silver badge

                  Re: Not wounded pride.

                  Where the fuck were you? Stuck in the Bible Belt? You poor bastard ...

                  Here in SillyConValley "evil" is, and has been. used just as it is in Blighty for generations ... Read comments in Source Code from the 1960s if you don't believe me.

                  1. F. Frederick Skitty Silver badge

                    Re: Not wounded pride.

                    This was about as Silicon Valley as it gets - Santa Clara - and my po faced colleague was from New York.

                4. Apollo-Soyuz 1975
                  Go

                  Re: Not wounded pride.

                  I recently (e.g. within the past month) came across a stock car race TV broadcast that had a snippet of two-way radio chatter in which a Southern-born and -bred driver described his race car’s handling as “evil.” If Blasphemy Guy is a New Yorker as you say, then I suspect you probably just had the misfortune of dealing with a hyper-religious pedant. We find them annoying, too, but learn to just tune them out. American religious observance rates are still higher than the UK, but have declined severely in the last 40 years… and internet access has exposed younger Americans to acerbic British humo(u)r on an unprecedented scale.

                  1. jake Silver badge

                    Re: Not wounded pride.

                    "I suspect you probably just had the misfortune of dealing with a hyper-religious pedant."

                    Exactly. Worse, said HRP was taking advantage of the fact that he had a captive Brit at his disposal to preach at, knowing that the Brit probably didn't know it was against most social rules in the US, and definitely against the rules in most workplaces, and thus wouldn't say anything to management.

                    In essence, the bible-thumper was bullying the defenseless Brit. Bless.

                    And like all bullies, he almost certainly didn't have the cajones to try the same with his Yank workmates, who would know how and when to stand up for themselves.

                  2. jake Silver badge

                    Re: Not wounded pride.

                    "American religious observance rates are still higher than the UK, but have declined severely in the last 40 years"

                    I dunno about that ... virtually everyone I know in the UK will claim to be CofE if asked (with a few scattered among the other major religions of the world). The numbers of self-declared xtians in the US has been dropping since the 1950s. Last time I checked, over 25% of Americans claim no religious affiliation at all.

                    Note that I know many people who would claim "christian affiliation" if asked, but who have no actual affiliation with any church, have never actually attended a service in adult-hood, and probably haven't had a thought on the subject in years, if not decades. If you take these people into account, I rather suspect the actual numbers here in the US are well above 50% not affiliated with any religion. And rising.

                    1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

                      Re: Not wounded pride.

                      "I dunno about that ... virtually everyone I know in the UK will claim to be CofE if asked"

                      Many people seem to be averse to answering "none of the above" to the question of religion. And many who never visit a church for a service in the lives will still get married in a church, have their children baptized and have a religious ceremony for their funeral. Primarily because "it's the done thing", although since the relaxation on the rules over where you can be married have been relaxed, churches have lost a fair chunk of the wedding business. When the choice was the council registry office or a church, most chose the church because they wanted some sort big ceremony because of the "fairy tale princess effect". Now they go off to fancy country hotels and the like which gives even more opportunity to "splash the cash" and prove they too can spend the first 10 years of married bliss paying off the bills for the bash!

                      1. Anonymous Coward
                        Anonymous Coward

                        Re: Not wounded pride.

                        you could always try following the Japanese approach:

                        "Born Shinto, Marry Christian, Die Buddhist"

                        Covering most bases there.

              2. jake Silver badge

                Re: Not wounded pride.

                As a Yank who spent many years in the British isles, I suspect your problem is that you just plain aren't as funny as you think you are. Cross-pond humo(u)r can be difficult to translate for the GreatUnwashed, but it's not impossible. And once explained (regardless of direction), it keeps its humo(u)r. Except many of the Brits refuse to have anything to do with the crossing from the West "because it's Yank".

                There is a word for that ...

                1. nobody who matters

                  Re: Not wounded pride.

                  "..............I suspect your problem is that you just plain aren't as funny as you think you are............"

                  That comment underlines the issue nicely - our humour doesn't translate to North American understanding (witness the number of highly successful British sitcoms which US networks have tried to make their own version of, only for them to pan immediately: and the number of US sitcoms which have been broadcast in their original form in the UK, and have been enjoyed over here as mildly amusing, rather than hilariously funny as the US audiences percieve them).

                  To respond to your comment - we don't find US humour as side-splittingly funny as you Americans do either.

                  Humour does not translate easily, even into a slightly different form of the same language, and different nations/cultures percieve humor in different ways. Translating from English to American can frequently neuter the humour altogether ;)

                  1. Anonymous Coward
                    Anonymous Coward

                    Re: Not wounded pride.

                    Much of our humour is based upon our ability to take the piss out of ourselves. Only mature societies can do that.

                    If you take the piss out of Americans then it is often considered as an insult to the flag and to every American.

                    I learned that the hard way in the 1980's when I lived in New Hampshire.

                    Now you get Trump rallies where they pray to the flag and for the elimination of RINO's. Sad... really sad the way they have regressed.

                    If you are an American and not a MAGA/GQP fan then watch out for the new republic based upon A Handmaids Tale with bits of 1984 and Brave New World thrown in.

                    Putin will be rubbing his hands with glee at the thought of a deranged Donald proclaiming himself King Donald the 1st.

                    1. cmdrklarg

                      Re: Not wounded pride.

                      That's why I come here: the humo(u)r is different, but still humorous!

                      RE: MAGAts: It's no wonder they take offense; they rarely have a sense of humor. It's all about sowing anger and fear with these idiots.

                2. Tams

                  Re: Not wounded pride.

                  But most British people find US chat shows to be completely unfunmy (there's a reason we're okay with John Oliver staying with you), and then things like The Office needing to be redone for a US audience.

                  The humour is very different. Now throw in an actually different langauage (say Japanese, where most 'Western' humour falls face first flat on the floor) and you have a mess at best.

                  1. heyrick Silver badge

                    Re: Not wounded pride.

                    US chat shows were supposed to be funny? Oh, you must be referring to that over-scripted painfully "edgy" monologue at the start that is cringeworthy at best...

                  2. O RLY

                    Re: Not wounded pride.

                    Agreed about Oliver not being funny, but he doesn't do a chat show.

              3. IanTP
                Coat

                Re: Not wounded pride.

                Upvote for the Daria reference, have a Monday beer!

                Mines the one with a copy of Sick, Sad World in the pocket -->

            2. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: Not wounded pride.

              I'm perfectly fluent in a couple languages, and I know I keep my wit in all of them.

              I am perfectly fluent in a number of languages as well, and I thus know that each language comes with its own cultural framework and payload. Just having the vocabulary doesn't provide you with the depth you get when you also have a feel for the cultural background.

              English itself is a good example of that where one sentence can comfortably carry several layers more information than just the words convey according to their strict meaning in a vocabulary. Choice of words, tense, punctuation, context and culture can change the meaning completely.

              (English is not my mothertongue but I like it exactly because of its richness - it's one of the reasons English humour can be so brilliant).

          2. jake Silver badge

            Re: Not wounded pride.

            Personally, having spent roughly 20% of my life in Blighty, I find both versions of English to work just fine. All the angst being displayed here is, to me, quite funny.

            Because IT DOESN'T REALLY MATTER. The Universe doesn't care, and never will.

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: Not wounded pride.

              To me it mainly matters when people lack the cultural background to maintain a sense of humour.

              I would not go as far as claiming Americans have a lesser sense of humour (OK, it would be spelled humor, but bear with me) because you would only have to point at the late Robin WIlliams to disprove that notion, but - as some people have already identified - it's totally baked into UK culture to take the mick out of anything if the opportunity arises, and that has a tendency to keep things going if the discussion is tough.

              It is the exact nature of humour to take a 90º turn that can sometimes unstick complexity and ease tension as long as it doesn't get personal or insulting (something only weaker minds resort to IMHO, it's just poor form), and a latent irreverence tends to open up topics for debate that would otherwise just be hard to discuss.

              Just my opinion :).

            2. Anonymous Coward
              Windows

              Re: Not wounded pride.

              "I find both versions of English to work just fine"

              Quite right. Getting all steamed up over whether you use English (-or) or French (-our) suffixes is silly 8)

              I do enjoy pointing out that we (Brit here) often use French suffixes and that the American style might be preferred as perhaps being more English (whatever that might mean).

              As you say: who gives a shit? If we are mutually intelligible, then let's start off from there and crack on.

              1. gotes

                Re: Not wounded pride.

                Yeah, it puzzles me that so many people are wound up about this non-issue.

              2. nobody who matters

                Re: Not wounded pride.

                The problem is that it sometimes makes it much less intelligible - you can figure out what you think it means, but understanding isn't always instant, as it would be with the version and phraseology that you are used to.

                1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

                  Re: Not wounded pride.

                  "The problem is that it sometimes makes it much less intelligible - you can figure out what you think it means, but understanding isn't always instant, as it would be with the version and phraseology that you are used to."

                  Should we table that motion?[1]

                  [1] Was I writing in American or English? Are you reading it in American or English? If you make the wrong choice you will take the exact opposite in meaning that that which was intended. Especially confusing if it's a meeting involving people from both sides of the Atlantic.

                  1. jake Silver badge

                    Re: Not wounded pride.

                    "Was I writing in American or English?"

                    Neither. But you might have been writing in American English or British English.

                    "American" could be any one of several major[0] languages and dozens of minor[0] ones.

                    "English" is not one language, it is a family of languages.

                    [0] Major and minor in this context refers to the number of speakers, not importance.

            3. that one in the corner Silver badge

              The Universe doesn't care, and never will.

              Yikes. Overkill or what!

              Comparing this piffling argument over a single website with the rest of the things the Universe doesn't care about, like - literally every other thing Humankind has ever achieved, including evolving into existence in the first place!

              What a bummer, to be reminded of that over a weekend.

              Oh look, over there, a Bleak Abyss to peer into.

          3. tezboyes

            Re: Not wounded pride.

            Or when you've listened to a lot of BOC!

          4. Jan 0 Silver badge

            Re: Not wounded pride.

            OI, The USA is NOT America!

          5. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

            Re: Not wounded pride.

            "first, the effort to translate it all to American, and now the effort to offer some sort of sticking plaster for doing so."

            Which interesting in itself. There's been way more blow-back over going all out American than there ever was over each author using whatever version of English they felt most comfortable with. Lots' effort and lots of complaints, versus the status quo of no effort and only a few complaints.

      3. heyrick Silver badge

        "How long till somebody makes an extension which removes all opposing opinions on the Internet, allowing you to live in you very own little confirmation bubble?"

        No need. YouTube, Facebook, etc do that sort of thing automatically.

        1. jake Silver badge

          Their servers, their rules. The freedom of the Press belongs to he who owns the press.

          ::shrugs::

      4. tezboyes

        Then just up the ante and deal with them permanently...

      5. stiine Silver badge

        Isn't that the purpose of the Chromium project itself?

      6. AnotherName

        I thought there already was a confirmation bubble - it's call Facebook or Twitter or something like that.

    4. katrinab Silver badge
      Headmaster

      Which in any case should be called "Spelleriser", not Spellerizer.

      1. A Non e-mouse Silver badge
        Mushroom

        IANAL* But I believe in British English, it was originally "-ise" then it changed to "-ize". But this is the beatuy of language: It changes over time.

        People who post about how "their" version of spelling, punctuation, grammer, etc is the "right" one have too much time on their hands and too little meaning in their life.

        * I am not a linguist

        1. jake Silver badge

          "ize" is the original, from the ancient Greek. You Brits partially changed over to the French "ise" awhile back. Kinda like you did when going metric.

          So once again, you're speaking/spleling in French, not your vaunted English.

          The Big Dic says that both -ise and -ize are correct in British English.

          1. captain veg Silver badge

            -ise is the English original, taken from the French, which is the source of the borrowing. Only later did some lexicographers invent -ize on the basis that the word came into French from Greek. Which is odd, seeing as how the Greeks don't even use the same alphabet.

            -A.

            1. Irony Deficient

              -ise is the English original, taken from the French, which is the source of the borrowing.

              Not always, according to this article at Oxford University Press, it wasn’t:

              In fact, the ‘-ize’ forms have been in use in English spelling since the 15th century: they didn’t originate in American use, even though they are now standard in US English. […] The first recorded use of the verb [“realize”] with an ‘-ise’ spelling in the OED is not until 1755 – over a century later!

              which suggests that the 19th century standardization in the UK on “-ise” is due to Dr. Johnson’s preference for French spelling over Latin spelling because (from his dictionary’s preface)

              Of many words it is difficult to say whether they were immediately received from the Latin or the French, since at the time when we had dominions in France, we had Latin service in our churches. It is, however, my opinion, that the French generally supplied us; for we have few Latin words, among the terms of domestick use, which are not French; but many French, which are very remote from Latin.

              (Johnson’s preference for “-our” over “-or” extended to words no longer spelled with that “u”, e.g. “authour”, “errours”, “superiour”, “tenour”, “translatours” from the same preface.)

              Only later did some lexicographers invent -ize on the basis that the word came into French from Greek. Which is odd, seeing as how the Greeks don't even use the same alphabet.

              Which 15th century lexicographers are you referring to? Regarding “-ize”, it started from Ancient Greek -ίζειν, was adopted into Latin as -izare, and English adopted “-ize” from Latin, for words with roots from Greek or Latin.

              1. david 12 Silver badge

                Re: -ise is the English original, taken from the French, which is the source of the borrowing.

                In Aus we used the Concise (or students) Oxford English Dictionary when I was at school. Which gave ize as the first (preferred) spelling for many words. That was the early 70's. ISE later became the only valid Australian spelling specifically because IZE was used by Americans. By the late 80's, anyone using an IZE spelling online would be specifically criticized for using 'American' spelling.

              2. captain veg Silver badge

                Re: -ise is the English original, taken from the French, which is the source of the borrowing.

                In the fifteenth century no one spoke a language we would recognise as English, and there was no written standard anyway. I was thinking of Fowler mostly.

                -A.

                1. Irony Deficient

                  In the fifteenth century no one spoke a language we would recognise as English,

                  Since the topic is spelling rather than pronunciation, it’s not what they’d spoken, but what they’d written that is relevant. Take a look at the 1425 example of the sentence with “organized” in the linked OUP article above:

                  The brayne after þe lengþ haþ 3 ventriclez, And euery uentricle haþ 3 parties & in euery partie is organized one vertue.

                  As long as one knows that “þ” has since been replaced by “th”, I daresay that that sentence is easily recognizable as English.

                  and there was no written standard anyway.

                  Quite right, which is why claims like “-ise is the English original” are so amusing — people spelled words however they saw fit, even using different spellings of the same word in the same work.

                  I was thinking of Fowler mostly.

                  The King’s English was focused on vocabulary, syntax, punctuation, and style. There was an “Americanisms” section in its chapter on vocabulary, but that was focused on word choice (e.g. “fall” vs. “autumn”) rather than spelling (e.g. “realize” vs. “realise”).

        2. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

          * I am not a linguist"

          But you are cunning!

    5. F. Frederick Skitty Silver badge

      The majority of people who speak English as a first language use spelling based in the British form, a consequence of the British Empire. So using US spelling is actually a minority thing.

      1. jake Silver badge

        Where did you get that "statistic", Fat Freddy Scat?

        1. F. Frederick Skitty Silver badge

          Well there's over a billion Indians for starters, and roughly a third of them speak Indian English which uses British rather than US spelling. Add on roughly eighty million Brits and we're already exceeding the US population.

          1. stiine Silver badge

            I hope you don't think that all of us Americans actually speak English, becauwe we don't.

            1. F. Frederick Skitty Silver badge

              I considered mentioning that Spanish is the preferred language of a large section of the US population. There again, outside of work many English speaking Indians prefer to converse in local dialects. English is the common language for business and bureaucracy in India, as there's over twenty indigenous languages in common use.

        2. My-Handle

          I appreciate that any anti-American sentiment is like a red rag to a bull for you, but it's bad form to insult a man just because you don't agree with him. Your point, querying the source of his statistic, may well have been taken more seriously if you hadn't.

          1. jake Silver badge

            Insult?

            What insult? I see no insult.

            I see something that might be perceived as an insult by someone not in on the joke ... but I assure you there was no insult. And I'm pretty sure the OP didn't take it as one. Unless he hit on an amazing coincidence of a handle ... Which is plausible, but highly unlikely.

          2. jake Silver badge

            "anti-American sentiment is like a red rag to a bull for you"

            Actually, I find it funny :-)

    6. silent_count

      'How does using standard American English make your content more accessible to people?'

      It's as obvious as 3 + 5 = 941

      By the way, the above is not wrong. It is written in American Mathematics. It is like mathematics as employed by mathematicians but is, you know, different because why not?

      1. AlanSh

        Excuse me - according the the Yanks, it's MATH, not MATHS!!!! {Which I hate with a vengeance]

        1. jake Silver badge

          The word "Math" is ...

          ... inherently plural , as it is short for "Mathematics". Presumably you say "Mathematicses"?

          Kind of like RPM is the plural (the S is implied from "revolutions"). If you insist on saying "RPMs", I'll need to know how many minutes you are intending to measure those revolutions.

          1. werdsmith Silver badge

            Re: The word "Math" is ...

            Kind of like RPM is the plural (the S is implied from "revolutions").

            No, maths is shortened word. When we shorten revolutions we say revs. Revs per minute. Not rev per minute that might apply to a second hand, which is apt (appropriate) for a second hand language.

            Anyway, I couldn’t care less. And my inability to care less is because I already care the minimum amount possible. This is important because if I cared a great deal for something then I definitely could care less because it is still possible to care less. Simple logic seemingly beyond some 300 million people.

            1. jake Silver badge

              Re: The word "Math" is ...

              "Anyway, I couldn’t care less."

              And yet here you are, posting. Couldn't help yourself, could you?

              1. werdsmith Silver badge

                Re: The word "Math" is ...

                And yet here you are, posting. Couldn't help yourself, could you?

                Whoooosssshhhhh!!!

                1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

                  Re: The word "Math" is ...

                  Clearly Jake COULD care less :-)

                  1. jake Silver badge

                    Re: The word "Math" is ...

                    I'm only here for the lulz.

          2. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: The word "Math" is ...

            Bollocks!

            Plurals of shortened words are still pluralised.

            You say "apps", "autos", "amps", "cabs", "bras", "megs", "gigs", "ops" etc.

            "Math" would be short for "mathematic"

            1. stiine Silver badge

              Re: The word "Math" is ...

              Gits How could you forget gits?

              1. jake Silver badge

                Re: The word "Math" is ...

                What is git short for?

                1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge
                  Thumb Up

                  Re: The word "Math" is ...

                  Whatever you want it to be.

                  1. jake Silver badge

                    Re: The word "Math" is ...

                    That page is a trifle ... lacking.

                    https://forums.theregister.com/forum/containing/3971674

                    But we weren't talking about the distributed version control system.

          3. nematoad Silver badge
            Headmaster

            Re: The word "Math" is ...

            If you insist on saying "RPMs",

            No,

            If you were to go down that ridiculous route you would have to say RsPM being as it is the revolutions bit that is plural. It's the same with POWs (prisoners of war, not prisoner of wars}, It's just easier to say than PsOW.

          4. Missing Semicolon Silver badge

            Re: The word "Math" is ...

            But they are ripums! (c) Ave.

    7. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Myself, I find it hilarious that they fell into the fallacy that to reach a "global" audience, you have to use American spelling.

      Far from it. Most of the world's English spelling came from UK and colonial roots, not American, including Canada's. But I'm sorry to say that because of moves by the likes of The Register and other online media, our Canadian UK-rooted spelling has fallen ever more by the wayside to adopt the American cesspool bastardization of the language.

    8. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      "you abandon your roots."

      It's technically called "Watering Down the Brand" or also "Blanding The Brand".

      Bleeding edge MBA expertise leveraging the synergy of US life style and US life style!

    9. Steve Button Silver badge

      Losing interest anyway

      I've been disappointed with The Reg over the last few years anyway. Seems to be more a case of regurgitating press releases and less "Biting the hand". When have they bitten any hands recently? (for example with Big Tech censorship)

  3. xyz Silver badge

    *article paid for by Google

    At least measurements are proper Reg. I chequed. :) What's happening with dates?

    1. Ken Hagan Gold badge

      Re: *article paid for by Google

      It's an IT site so I would hope that all dates were ISO 8601 format.

      1. Fruit and Nutcase Silver badge
        Coat

        Re: *article paid for by Google

        In UTC!

        1. Mrs Spartacus

          Re: *article paid for by Google

          I think you mean "Greenwich Mean Time".. To quote the immortal words of the Pub Landlord, "The French can only sit down to lunch when WE tell them it's f*cking lunchtime". Priceless.

          1. Lars Silver badge
            Thumb Down

            Re: *article paid for by Google

            That was stupid, because the French sat down for lunch one hour before the British knew it was lunch time.

            Some jokes work only domestically and should be kept domestic.

            1. Peter Ford

              Re: *article paid for by Google

              And in most cases didn't get up after lunch for at least an hour after the Britsh had finished

            2. nobody who matters

              Re: *article paid for by Google

              @Lars

              All you have done is show that you didn't 'get' the joke ;)

  4. b0llchit Silver badge
    Angel

    ∞↔ ∘ ∘

    Is there an extension for (un)splitting the infinitives?

    1. Mike 137 Silver badge

      Re: ∞↔ ∘ ∘

      The original argument against split infinitives is interesting (and to some extent questionable). It originated in an assumption by classicists that English is grounded in Latin (as indeed some of it is). Because in Latin an infinitive has no particle (as in to spell), it was argued that the infinitive particle in English is unbreakably coupled to the verb. That is valid if you assume that English grammar should always follow Latin grammar rules.

      But it's a very narrow view given the immense variety of languages that have really contributed to English. And indeed enforcing it actually diminishes expressiveness in some cases. For example, "she will do it clearly" does not mean exactly the same as "she clearly will do it" or "clearly she will do it" -- the first expresses the manner in which the action will be done, whereas the second expresses the speaker's level of certainty that the action will be done and the third indicates a level of certainty as who will perform the action.

      So there's a very good argument for allowing "split infinitives" in some cases, as there is in general for not being excessively pedantic about linguistic "rules" that reduce the capacity to express fine shades of meaning.

      1. Primus Secundus Tertius

        Re: ∞↔ ∘ ∘

        To neatly split an infinitive is the hallmark of a confident style.

        1. b0llchit Silver badge
          Coat

          Re: ∞↔ ∘ ∘

          Shouldn't that read: "To boldly split where no man has split before"

          1. ThatOne Silver badge

            Re: ∞↔ ∘ ∘

            Please use the splittoon.

            1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

              Re: ∞↔ ∘ ∘

              That was so bad, you ought to have posted as anonymous poltrron!

      2. Charlie Clark Silver badge

        Re: ∞↔ ∘ ∘

        English has many latinate words but virtually no latinate grammar.

        Charles Dickens, Jane Austen and many other regularly used split infinitives.

        1. John Sager

          Re: ∞↔ ∘ ∘

          There is no scope for latinate grammar. We got rid of most of the word endings (inflections) that indicate it centuries ago.

          1. Charlie Clark Silver badge

            Re: ∞↔ ∘ ∘

            Lots of languages have inflections, they're not particular to latin. Ours were Germanic and we have still a couple kicking around (second person singular). More problematic is the attempt to impose latinate grammar with things like the subjunctive, gerunds, etc. that match imperfectly: Would that it were… for example.

            1. Irony Deficient

              More problematic is the attempt to impose latinate grammar …

              … with things like the subjunctive, gerunds, etc. that match imperfectly: Would that it were… for example.

              No Latinate grammar is involved with “Would that it were …”; both the auxiliary “would” and the subjunctive “were” are grammatically entirely Germanic. (In Latin itself, an imperfect subjunctive conjugation would be used without an auxiliary.) Would you describe how one might attempt to impose Latinate grammar on this construction?

              1. Charlie Clark Silver badge

                Re: More problematic is the attempt to impose latinate grammar …

                That is precisely my point: there is very little latinate grammar in English. We use the terms but they are often misleading because of the mismatch. Interestingly, I think you also get similar things in French, which is even more of a hybrid language.

                1. LionelB Silver badge

                  Re: More problematic is the attempt to impose latinate grammar …

                  I wonder about the (disappearing?) subjunctive in English, though. If I ask my son (aged 20) whether he prefers:

                  If I were you, I'd stay at home.

                  vs

                  If I was you, I'd stay at home

                  then like me he prefers the former (although many of his contemporaries wouldn't). But for

                  It is not necessary that you be there in person.

                  vs

                  It is not necessary that you are there in person.

                  he prefers the latter (the former edges it for me).

                  These structures feel Latinate to me - I speak Spanish, and the subjunctive forms in the above map directly to the Spanish equivalents ("Si fuera tú...", "No es necesario que estés ahí...").

                  1. Irony Deficient

                    These structures feel Latinate to me -

                    I speak Spanish, and the subjunctive forms in the above map directly to the Spanish equivalents ("Si fuera tú...", "No es necesario que estés ahí...").

                    Those structures aren’t Latinate; rather, they’re Indo-European, which is why those English subjunctive forms have Spanish equivalents (as well as equivalents in other Germanic, Romance, Celtic, &c. languages that descended from Proto-Indo-European). The Slavic and Baltic languages have shed their ancient subjunctive conjugations, though.

                    1. LionelB Silver badge

                      Re: These structures feel Latinate to me -

                      So the Spanish constructions derive from its Latin origins, while the English equivalents could have derived from either its Romance or Germanic roots - out of interest, do we know which (or is the best answer just "both")?

                      As far as I know, "to be" is the only remaining English verb which retains distinct subjunctive forms (aside from the general case of 3rd-person present-tense indicative) - and I think it derives from the Germanic origin... perhaps that's a clue.

                2. Irony Deficient

                  Re: More problematic is the attempt to impose latinate grammar …

                  I’m still in the dark about that attempt which you’d mentioned to impose Latinate grammar upon Germanic constructions such as “Would that it were …”. What is the attempted grammatically Latinate version of “Would that it were …” that you’ve seen?

      3. nobody who matters

        Re: ∞↔ ∘ ∘

        ".........the first expresses the manner in which the action will be done, whereas the second expresses the speaker's level of certainty that the action will be done and the third indicates a level of certainty as who will perform the action."

        Not really. The second version just comes across as nonsensical, and doesn't convey any actual meaning to me at all.

      4. Jonathan Richards 1 Silver badge

        Re: ∞↔ ∘ ∘ by example

        Not disagreeing in any way with what you wrote, but the example (moving the word 'clearly' within a phrase with a future tense) had nothing to do with infinitives, and everything to do with word order, see "Man found playing a piano with three legs", etc.

        I just reached down from the shelf Fowler's Modern English Usage [2nd Ed., 1968], which says

        "The English-speaking world may be divided into (1) those who neither know nor care what a split infinitive is; (2) those who do not know, but care very much; (3) those who know and condemn; (4) those who know and approve; and (5) those who know and distinguish

        1. Those who neither know nor care are the vast majority, and are a happy folk, to be envied by most of the minority classes"

        Fowler seems to place himself in class 5, of which he says "We maintain ... that a real s. i., though not desirable in itself, is preferable to either of two things, to real ambiguity, and to patent artificiality. ... We will split infinitives sooner than be ambiguous or artificial; more than that, we will freely admit that sufficient recasting will get rid of any s. i. without involving either of those faults, and yet reserve to ourselves the right of deciding in each case whether recasting is worth while.

        Word.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: ∞↔ ∘ ∘

      You evil man, you started an infinitive debate..

      :)

      1. b0llchit Silver badge
        Angel

        Re: ∞↔ ∘ ∘

        I merely asked for a browser extension...

  5. jake Silver badge
    Pint

    Spellerizer?

    Damn your ise!

    But ta. I'll be sure to cheque into it, if I ever get around to trying Chrome.

    Have a beer for your efforts. And another, for the hate comments you're going to be getting from the chronically complaining commentards.

    1. heyrick Silver badge
      Pint

      Re: Spellerizer?

      No use to me (I use Firefox), but I respect the motive and the effort, so....

      1. Forget It
        Go

        Re: Spellerizer?

        If it's a web-extension Addon it should also br portable to Firefox.

        1. jake Silver badge

          Re: Spellerizer?

          Presumably you are going to get right on that, in your copious free time.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    You developed an excellent news website based on British English, humour and values. American and international visitors came anyway. You must have needed some sop to Americans in order to make the change from co.uk and British spelling, but successful IT journalism clearly wasn't the reason.

    Like so many other UK IT institutions, you sold out your roots and the Brits who helped you grow in return for the Yankee dollar. In doing so you threw away what was unique and merged in with all the other US-centric IT publications on the internet.

    1. Charlie Clark Silver badge
      Thumb Up

      I suspect it was only the Yanks that appreciate irony that stayed and they're probably not the target audience for advertisers…

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      you threw away what was unique and merged in with all the other US-centric IT publications on the internet.

      The irony is that you're now competing on the same playing field, whereas uniqueness has its own value. That said, I understand the economics that compel you to do this, but it's a shame.

      1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

        Advertisers are funny. They all want to differentiate their products and push their own USP. But when it comes to placing adverts, they all want "safe", "same" and shy away from "unique" places, locations or websites.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Bullshit

      Spelling in English is unique?

      The uniqueness is the non-pandering to the tech-bullshit that most publications espouse.

      If you haven’t figured that out you really don’t belong here.

  7. Fruit and Nutcase Silver badge

    Icon required

    brick-centered notes hurled through our digital windows lately.

    Brick through window icon please.

    1. jake Silver badge

      Re: Icon required

      Seconded.

    2. Dan 55 Silver badge

      Re: Icon required

      Brick through Windows.

  8. OffBeatMammal

    Why not do server-side substitution when rendering the page - default to UK/US spelling based on IP2geo or user preference?

    1. Jonathan Richards 1 Silver badge
      Facepalm

      Why not?

      Well, because unless the thing was backed up by some serious ML language engine, we wouldn't be able to have a flame war about whether the right spelling was check or cheque!

    2. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

      "Why not do server-side substitution when rendering the page - default to UK/US spelling based on IP2geo or user preference?"

      It'd a far more fun to have a client-side plug-in to switch between US/UK locale but have it render server-side :-)

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    But some of us prefer the Encheferizer.........

    ......but you need the Unix utility "lex"......and if you can't find John Hagerman's original script....

    ====

    %{

    /* chef.x - convert English on stdin to Mock Swedish on stdout

    *

    * The WC definition matches any word character, and the NW definition matches

    * any non-word character. Two start conditions are maintained: INW (in word)

    * and NIW (not in word). The first rule passes TeX commands without change.

    *

    * HISTORY

    *

    * Apr 26, 1993; John Hagerman: Added ! and ? to the Bork Bork Bork rule.

    *

    * Apr 15, 1992; John Hagerman: Created.

    */

    static int i_seen = 0;

    %}

    WC [A-Za-z']

    NW [^A-Za-z']

    %start INW NIW

    %%

    \\[^ \n]+ ECHO;

    {NW} { BEGIN NIW; i_seen = 0; ECHO; }

    [.!?]$ { BEGIN NIW; i_seen = 0;

    printf("%c\nBork Bork Bork!",yytext[0]); }

    <NIW>"bork"/{NW} ECHO;

    <NIW>"Bork"/{NW} ECHO;

    "an" { BEGIN INW; printf("un"); }

    "An" { BEGIN INW; printf("Un"); }

    "au" { BEGIN INW; printf("oo"); }

    "Au" { BEGIN INW; printf("Oo"); }

    "a"/{WC} { BEGIN INW; printf("e"); }

    "A"/{WC} { BEGIN INW; printf("E"); }

    "en"/{NW} { BEGIN INW; printf("ee"); }

    <INW>"ew" { BEGIN INW; printf("oo"); }

    <INW>"e"/{NW} { BEGIN INW; printf("e-a"); }

    <NIW>"e" { BEGIN INW; printf("i"); }

    <NIW>"E" { BEGIN INW; printf("I"); }

    <INW>"f" { BEGIN INW; printf("ff"); }

    <INW>"ir" { BEGIN INW; printf("ur"); }

    <INW>"i" { BEGIN INW; printf(i_seen++ ? "i" : "ee"); }

    <INW>"ow" { BEGIN INW; printf("oo"); }

    <NIW>"o" { BEGIN INW; printf("oo"); }

    <NIW>"O" { BEGIN INW; printf("Oo"); }

    <INW>"o" { BEGIN INW; printf("u"); }

    "the" { BEGIN INW; printf("zee"); }

    "The" { BEGIN INW; printf("Zee"); }

    "th"/{NW} { BEGIN INW; printf("t"); }

    <INW>"tion" { BEGIN INW; printf("shun"); }

    <INW>"u" { BEGIN INW; printf("oo"); }

    <INW>"U" { BEGIN INW; printf("Oo"); }

    "v" { BEGIN INW; printf("f"); }

    "V" { BEGIN INW; printf("F"); }

    "w" { BEGIN INW; printf("v"); }

    "W" { BEGIN INW; printf("V"); }

    . { BEGIN INW; ECHO; }

    ====

    1. jake Silver badge

      Re: But some of us prefer the Encheferizer.........

      There are other variations on the theme, including ValSpeak, Jive, Pig Latin, Porn and a few more.

      Most are funny, once, but rather dated by today's standards.

      1. Vometia has insomnia. Again. Silver badge

        Re: But some of us prefer the Encheferizer.........

        I remember discovering the cached manpages on our college's Ultrix box were world-writeable so I set about running them through Valspeak.

        God I was an annoying kid.

      2. that one in the corner Silver badge

        Re: But some of us prefer the Encheferizer.........

        When I first came across ValSpeak, I was most disappointed that it didn't convert everything into instructions involving old washing up bottles and sticky-backed plastic. And now, let's see how John is getting along with that elephant...

        1. druck Silver badge
          Happy

          Re: But some of us prefer the Encheferizer.........

          Not many yanks will get that one!

          1. jake Silver badge

            Re: But some of us prefer the Encheferizer.........

            Probably about the same as the number of limeys who would get references to the magic mirror and Mr. DoBee ...

            1. Jonathan Richards 1 Silver badge

              Re: But some of us prefer the Encheferizer.........

              Exactly. That's proper localization, right there.

        2. jake Silver badge

          Re: But some of us prefer the Encheferizer.........

          "And now, let's see how John is getting along with that elephant..."

          Little Lulu stepped on his foot before attempting to exit stage left, didn't she?

          1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

            Re: But some of us prefer the Encheferizer.........

            Yes, dragging the keeper through the piss she'd previously deposited on the floor, making the dragging action that much easier with a lubricant. It's almost as if she planned it :-)

  10. Dan 55 Silver badge
    Headmaster

    As I understand it, if someone want an international audience you should use UK English, as all non-US English variants use UK English or very similar.

    Likewise most of the world uses metric measurements, even in the UK which is hybrid metric measurements are understood by a science and engineering audience.

    I think you've thrown the baby out with the bathwater here.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Most English as a second language training teaches American English because its more common.

      1. Lars Silver badge
        Coat

        Not in Europe I would claim.

        1. Will Godfrey Silver badge
          Happy

          Nor in China. On a visit there, I had a number of free meals (and some other offers) simply for speaking 'proper' English and correcting the people's grammar etc.

          P.S. and I'm by no means a teacher - just born and bred S/E Englander.

          1. bonkers

            I'll second that - and please read down for the main point, let's keep the cachet of British irony and incorrectness, brother RegTards.

            - when I worked in Germany, "proper" native English, with its accent, idioms, vocab and corruptible grammer, was highly valued.

            However, what they really loved was our dark humour and irony.

            Nationalities, like people, tend to undervalue their best, most effortless skills because they are intrinsic, and because it might be immodest. - Here best explained by Kate Fox, in her book "Watching the English".

            The English are not usually given to patriotic boasting – indeed, both patriotism and boasting are regarded as unseemly, so the combination of these two sins is doubly distasteful. But there is one significant exception to this rule, and that is the patriotic pride we take in our sense of humour, particularly in our expert use of irony.

            The popular belief is that we have a better, more subtle, more highly developed sense of humour than any other nation, and specifically that other nations are all tediously literal in their thinking and incapable of understanding or appreciating irony. Almost all of the English people I interviewed subscribed to this belief, and many foreigners, rather surprisingly, humbly concurred.

            What took more time was introducing humour in meetings and discussions with more than two participants.

            By convention in Germany this is strictly verboten. The definite upside being that annoying comic wankers, company clowns, are routinely and deservedly shot.

            Downside is that the devices we love to slip in to see who's awake - like veiled insult, wrecking endorsements, blind innuendo, faint praise, helpful but catastrophic suggestions - will just cause confusion, cognitive dissonance. - Are we being clumsy, rude, inept, vicious, stupid or what?

            It is of course soon remedied, they get it - it is a question of scope, not of understanding. We've broadened the rulebook and smuggled in a subtle, subversive, perpetual game, and it's a new, toe-curling type of funny.

            Again, better explained by Kate Fox:

            For those attempting to acclimatize to this atmosphere, the most important ‘rule’ to remember is that irony is endemic: like humour in general, irony is a constant, a given, a normal element of ordinary, everyday conversation. The English may not always be joking, but they are always in a state of readiness for humour. We do not always say the opposite of what we mean, but we are always alert to the possibility of irony. When we ask someone a straightforward question (e.g. ‘How are the children?’), we are equally prepared for either a straightforward response (‘Fine, thanks.’) or an ironic one (‘Oh, they’re delightful – charming, helpful, tidy, studious . . .’ To which the reply is ‘Oh dear. Been one of those days, has it?’).

            Seriously though, Reg readers and creators, look at New Scientist - once excellent, British, highly read and enjoyed worldwide. It was taken over and infantilized, then peppered with American token-words: quadrillions, cellphones, holiday season, freedomheit.. to mention just a few.

            It is now heavily paywalled and completely worthless.

            The Reg, many thanks to Lester Haines originally, has been for years a beacon of quintessential British humour, irreverence, irony and wit.

            The straplines alone are an absolute artform, seen here first.

            Please don't spoil it by removing the linguistic tokens that identify it as English (UK).

            1. jake Silver badge

              Regardless of my somewhat irreverent amusement elsewhere in this thread, it may surprise some that I agree with the above post.

              Well, most of the post ... Kate Fox's observation "The English are not usually given to patriotic boasting – indeed, both patriotism and boasting are regarded as unseemly, so the combination of these two sins is doubly distasteful. But there is one significant exception to this rule, and that is the patriotic pride we take in our sense of humour, particularly in our expert use of irony." is clearly bullshit.

              Or perhaps she didn't notice the major kerfuffle caused by The Sex Pistols when they were top of the charts during the Queen's Silver Jubilee, as the entire nation lost its tiny collective mind in celebration ... There are other, somewhat less egregious examples.

              1. bonkers

                Glad you liked the post.

                I think the point stands, we just need to separate patriotism and royalism.

                The English aren't particularly patriotic, compared to the Scots for example, or the Americans. (Both fine, I like them, they're just different in this regard, on the average).

                The English don't really adopt any national identity, nor claim any distinguishing features - it is almost as though we see ourselves as a reference, the norm, like BBC "received" pronunciation.

                Despite the efforts of our newspapers and institutions, we mostly reject excessive patriotism and royalism, because it is jingoism, most unseemly. Also, we mistrust any appeal to base emotions, we don't like to be "gamed" into mob politics. I accept that we are starting to lose that battle, through laziness, ignorance, and the resources available to social media.

                The outrage against the Sex Pistols was whipped-up by the tabloids and BBC, but most saw it as an attack on the Queen, who cannot respond, and therefore a bit unfair. Our sympathies, as ever, for the underdog.

                Note that it doesn't preclude other attacks, like Spitting Image, The Royals, perhaps equally savage, but very funny - so that's OK then.

            2. david 12 Silver badge

              When I worked in Germany, only "proper" English was valued. English as actually spoken in the UK was not valued.

          2. that one in the corner Silver badge

            Nor in China

            Absolutely. When we visited China our guide had a superb English accent, which she learnt in China, and took great joy in using the British vernacular. During the long coach rides we all enjoyed such things as arguing over how to pronounce "scone" and coming up with different words relating to walking (IIRC she knew them all except for "galumph").

      2. Dan 55 Silver badge

        Wikipedia has the final word on this matter (whatever that is).

        If we claim purple and yellow as ours, the one true English language has surely won and El Reg has joined the minority.

        1. Ken Hagan Gold badge

          That's a pretty long final word.

          What I take away from that is that I am mid-Atlantic and I strongly suspect we all will be eventually. Oh, and neither side can claim any kind of rationality, either historical or phonetic, for their choices.

          1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

            >I am mid-Atlantic and I strongly suspect we all will be eventually.

            Global warming ?

            1. jake Silver badge

              Misunderstanding of how rifting works.

          2. jake Silver badge

            Except ...

            ... the mid-Atlantic is slowly retreating from both sides.

          3. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

            "What I take away from that is that I am mid-Atlantic and I strongly suspect we all will be eventually."

            Or speaking Mandarin ;-)

      3. chololennon

        RE

        Well, the cultural (and more) influence of USA in Latin-america is huge; having said that, at least in Argentina, where both variants are taught, the English one is the most common.

      4. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Um... I can only think of Israel.

        Please name some other places that teach "American"

        1. david 12 Silver badge

          'American' was the preferred accent in Japan in the 1970's. I have no more recent knowledge.

    2. jake Silver badge

      "As I understand it, if someone want an international audience you should use UK English"

      For the spoken word.

      However, like it or not, just as written Arabic drove early science, written Latin (Koin Greek, Aramaic, et al) drove early Christianity, written Deutsch drove later science (etc., I won't continue. You are quite welcome), written American English is the lingua franca of tehintrawebtubes, and of the FOSS world. This isn't a good thing, nor is it a bad thing. All it is is an accident of history.

      However, it will change over time. If there is one thing that's a dead cert, it's that language mutates. Much to the deep dismay of all those Internet King's English nazis out there.

      And of course, running code trumps all.

      Please understand Godwin's Law before invoking it, or I shall laugh at you.

      1. ThatOne Silver badge

        As he said ^.

        I guess the first ambassador of American English has been Hollywood movies, which established in the ears of other countries how "English" (they don't know there are several flavors) is supposed to sound, and then of course more recently the IT world: Internet, but also the GUI's of software. For each mention of "centre" you'll see 100 occurrences of "center".

      2. chivo243 Silver badge
        Go

        "it's that language mutates." Yes, I believe that Laurie Anderson said "Language is a virus."

        1. that one in the corner Silver badge

          Language is a virus

          William S. Burroughs came up with the idea but, yes, Laurie Anderson did write a good song about it, amongst their other collaborations. See them together in "Home of the Brave".

          PS in all honesty, I'd stick with Anderson's material, far more accessible. Clumsy Angel boots and all.

          Que es mas macho, lightbulb or schoolbus?

      3. LionelB Silver badge

        However, like it or not, just as written Arabic drove early science, ... written Deutsch drove later science ...

        Nowadays, in fact, most scientific journals (there are exceptions) are quite relaxed about spelling. They are generally happy for you to use UK, American, Australian, ... spelling, as long as it is used consistently. However, US spelling still predominates (and as might be expected, scientific publications by US authors outnumber those by any other single nation by a significant factor).

        1. jake Silver badge

          Yes.

          Even Scientific American, back in the day, allowed spellings according to the Author's background. And even mixed & matched, in the case where one author was quoting another. (See Martin Gardner's columns on Conway's Game of Life, for example ... if you can find reprints that haven't been "helpfully" edited, that is).

  11. TheProf
    Headmaster

    Optional

    I fort the koala-tea of spelin ad gone dawn a bit an noow eye no wy.

    Off cource u shud panda two th' masess. Yur a bizzness an hve too mak a scent or free. Spelin is difucult an jus coz it mackes mi brian hrut dunt meen u shundt pleeze de moist poople.

    I luk fword too usin ur Crome extenstion an ope itll mack fings on ur sigth mutch ezier tu unnerstand.

    1. jake Silver badge

      Owed to a Spell Checker (was: Re: Optional)

      (AKA "Candidate for a Pullet Surprise")

      I have a spelling checker,

      It came with my PC.

      It plane lee marks four my revue

      Miss steaks aye can knot sea.

      Eye ran this poem threw it,

      Your sure reel glad two no.

      Its vary polished in it's weigh.

      My checker tolled me sew.

      A checker is a bless sing,

      It freeze yew lodes of thyme.

      It helps me right awl stiles two reed,

      And aides me when eye rime.

      Each frays come posed up on my screen

      Eye trussed too bee a joule.

      The checker pours o'er every word

      To cheque sum spelling rule.

      Bee fore a veiling checker's

      Hour spelling mite decline,

      And if we're lacks oar have a laps,

      We wood bee maid too wine.

      Butt now bee cause my spelling

      Is checked with such grate flare,

      Their are know fault's with in my cite,

      Of nun eye am a wear.

      Now spelling does knot phase me,

      It does knot bring a tier.

      My pay purrs awl due glad den

      With wrapped word's fare as hear.

      To rite with care is quite a feet

      Of witch won should bee proud,

      And wee mussed dew the best wee can,

      Sew flaw's are knot aloud.

      Sow ewe can sea why aye dew prays

      Such soft wear four pea seas,

      And why eye brake in two averse

      Buy righting want too pleas.

      -Mark Eckman and Jerrold H. Zar, early 1990s

    2. heyrick Silver badge
      Coffee/keyboard

      Re: Optional

      "de moist poople"

      Oh dear. See icon.

  12. Lars Silver badge
    Pint

    None of my business

    But the American spelling is mostly just a bit simpler.

    After all, is the "u" in colour that important and is it not the French "connection" sort of.

    Most of the differences are similar, making things easier.

    I use an English spell checker as it's the way I was taught the language but to be honest, this will not upset me at all.

    But please don't go for the silly formats for dates, English or American.

    1. LionelB Silver badge

      Re: None of my business

      If you want simple and unambiguous, surely it's "kuller"... no, wait, that might be mispronounced to rhyme with "fuller"... damn you, English phonetics.

      On a more serious note there have, of course, been successful reinventions of written language. Korean Hangul script, for instance, was introduced in the 15th century because the emperor Sejong (probably correctly) judged that the Korean-Chinese script in common use was so arcane and difficult to learn that it was holding back the education of the people. Another is a revised phonetic spelling for the Basque language Euskera. Previously written (if at all) using Spanish (and/or French?) phonetics, the modern spelling is very logical, maps cleanly to the spoken form, and has no redundant letters (although I think "c" and "y" are retained for foreign import words).

      1. Ken Hagan Gold badge
        Pint

        Re: None of my business

        You wanted "kuhler". Ah, no, that doesn't work either.

        You wanted the IPA, but then even though it would be unambiguously correct, no-one would be able to read it.

        Icon: not IPA

        1. heyrick Silver badge

          Re: None of my business

          "You wanted "kuhler". Ah, no, that doesn't work either."

          Kuhla, thank you. Or maybe kuhluh if I'm being lazy. I have a definite deficit of Rs.

          1. LionelB Silver badge

            Re: None of my business

            You'll not be from around these parts, then? Afraid you'll need to keep the arr in there out of respect for our Northerly (and Westerly) kinfolk - which of course works for Americans and Irish, amongst other rhotic peoples.

    2. This post has been deleted by its author

      1. LionelB Silver badge

        Re: None of my business

        I think historically it was changed gratuitously and somewhat arbitrarily just to be different from the scribblings of the Motherland.

        1. Vometia has insomnia. Again. Silver badge

          Re: None of my business

          That's my understanding too. One of the most impressive examples of serious lack of foresight (I mean unless he wanted to provoke endless squabbling, which tbf is the kind of thing I'd do).

          1. LionelB Silver badge

            Re: None of my business

            I think the technical term for that is "being a sod". Bold admission.

      2. nematoad Silver badge

        Re: None of my business

        ... presumably because English (Traditional) was too hard for the locals to pick up.

        No.

        Afaik it was Noah Webster and his eponymous dictionary that started this argument. Something along the lines of his antipathy towards the British which caused him to deliberately alter many words, color, plow etc. just to differentiate the language used by the American colonist from their former colonial masters.

        1. captain veg Silver badge

          Re: None of my business

          Webster was trying to encourage the development of a separate American language.

          -A.

  13. Winkypop Silver badge
    Unhappy

    Lowest common denominator

    I guess

  14. Primus Secundus Tertius

    German-American pseudo-English.

    There are more differences than just the spelling.

    Hopefully we will not meet with too many dumb examples of bastard German-American pseudo-English.

    1. jake Silver badge

      Re: German-American pseudo-English.

      How very dare you. Pennsylvania Dutch is a perfectly cromulant language.

      1. Dan 55 Silver badge

        Re: German-American pseudo-English.

        El Reg went after the crucial Amish IT market that nobody else had laid claim to, a unique growth opportunity.

        1. jake Silver badge

          Re: German-American pseudo-English.

          The Amish probably use more technology than you think they do. Even Cell Phones, although most of them refuse to allow a telephone into their homes.

  15. anthonyhegedus Silver badge

    In other words, British spellings imply a British publication, presumably with some integrity. American spellings imply a generic no-country faceless publication with no ‘bent’ towards any particular country.

    You’ve sold out. Game over man, game over!

    1. ThatOne Silver badge
      WTF?

      > generic no-country

      Well, the IT world actually is rather (if not totally) "generic" and "no-country", isn't it?

      1. Alumoi Silver badge

        Of course, that's why all code is written in English, using American date & time and always requiring a zip code.

    2. DoctorPaul

      On Call has been scraping the bottom of the barrel for a while now as well:-(

      1. cosymart
        Holmes

        You mean they use a barrel? I thought they were fished out of a small bin.

      2. Spasticus Autisticus

        The last few have been a bit weak.

        Richard Speed was doing a good job with On Call and Who Me? Maybe he was too English for the USAsians, lots of Yanks have a good sense of humour but many, many others aren't educated enough to 'get' funny things.

        We (the UK) get many overseas comedians here as their humour is sometimes lost on their fellow countrymen, we send our weaker comedians to the USA - Tracey Ullman, James Corden, for example. I can imagine Rich Hall is probably not considered funny in a lot of US States :)

  16. Will Godfrey Silver badge
    Meh

    Appreciate the effort but...

    Like so many others have said, it's really solving the wrong problem. The problem being the loss of unique identity that attracted me to El Reg in the first place.

    Incidentally, why exactly was "Biting the hand that feeds IT" dropped. Seems a perfectly innocuous and amusing by-line.

    1. BenDwire Silver badge
      Pint

      Re: Appreciate the effort but...

      I came here to say exactly the same thing. Have an upvote.

      El Reg has changed for the worse, but it's no one specific thing: US spelling grates on me, but I can cope. The lack of irreverent humour (and Paris and Dabbsy) makes the whole thing more 'work' and less 'play'. There are far more articles, but I only skim read very few as they're often informative, but boring.

      As others have said, why not put out a survey to see what actual readers think? And then those in the wrong can accept that they are wrong - even if it's us, the readers.

      Anyway, it's the weekend. Drink beer and carry on.

      1. jake Silver badge

        Re: Appreciate the effort but...

        The whole Paris thing was a joke that was past its prime a decade or more ago. Good riddance.

        Dump Travaglia (rusting on his old laurals for a quarter century), and bring back Dabbs.

    2. Aleph0

      "Biting the hand that feeds IT" dropped

      Not entirely dropped but moved to the page bottom.

      On that note I have another question, why does it say 1998-2022 when according to this article the site originated in 1994?

      1. that one in the corner Silver badge

        Re: "Biting the hand that feeds IT" dropped

        > Not entirely dropped but moved to the page bottom

        No doubt hoping that out of sight is out of mind. Of the new owners, at least.

        One last, brave, attempt to keep the old ways alive. Though we've brought it to their attention now, how long until it is truly out of site?

  17. Anonymous Coward
    Stop

    Unsub

    unsub theregister

  18. gsf333

    Dropping UK English for "simplified English" is just another nail in the coffin i'm afraid. You've lost the uniqueness (or should that be your USP) that you once had. The reg has become just another site for people to check on occasion.

    Are you insinuating with this pointless article (as it'll please no-one and appears that you are just giving us the rods) that Americans are unable to understand British English? Maybe they should be given the chance to learn, you know, like us British have done with the American ways.

    There's more to British English than just spelling. Our language is richer with a far wider range of both words and phrases used in common parlance. This site even used to come up with words I'd never heard or seen before, the fun being then to work out how they could be used by myself if I liked them.

    You've lost your culture mate! Like many have said above it's simply selling out, and unfortunately for you guys it'll make jack all positive difference, only negative.

    1. heyrick Silver badge

      "Our language is richer with a far wider range of both words and phrases used in common parlance."

      Once upon a time, on this very site, back in the good ol' days...

      https://www.theregister.com/2015/10/16/nippy_palaver_cockwomble_english_language/

      1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

        How can you say that when an el'reg staffer won a debate in the Liz Truss thread with the brilliant comeback - 'so ner'

    2. that one in the corner Silver badge

      Are you insinuating ... that Americans are unable to understand British English?

      Maybe the American readers themselves are able to understand, but American publishers don't believe that. To the extent that British authors (no names, no pack drill, Stross, stop fidgeting) will Americanize their books themselves to avoid having them butchered when the publishers attempt the job themselves. Leaving us with only the pre-yanked version, reading a Brit writer's accurate description of London life - up until we thud into a Friday night take-out bag of fries.

  19. Trigun

    Swapping from UK-centric to US-centric is not something I wanted to see with this site as part of the charm is that it has UK roots with UK humour. That's not to say there's anything wrong with being US centric, but it does make it more generic, less interesting, more corporate. If you hadn't noticed, your readership, in general, are a bit anti-corporate. So it does feel like a sell-out in some way.

    1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

      There is a separate plugin that removes all traces of sarcasm and irony for our cousins in the former colonies

      1. Irony Deficient

        There is a separate plugin …

        … that removes all traces of sarcasm and irony for our cousins in the former colonies

        You’re presuming that we’d even notice the presence of sarcasm and irony without that plugin.

        1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

          Re: There is a separate plugin …

          >You’re presuming that we’d even notice the presence of sarcasm and irony without that plugin.

          It's official lab policy here "if YAAC (the Brit) says something, it's sarcasm"

    2. This post has been deleted by its author

  20. DJV Silver badge
    Unhappy

    I remember...

    I remember when this was all fields.

    I remember when a quid could buy you a full tank of petrol.

    I remember when the streets were swept clean at least once a week and litter wasn't a problem.

    I remember when politicians at least pretended to be honest.

    I remember when El Reg was a UK-based publication and fun to read...

    ...sigh...

    1. heyrick Silver badge

      Re: I remember...

      I remember milk floats.

      1. Fruit and Nutcase Silver badge
        Happy

        Re: I remember...

        Teslas are milk floats on steroids.

        Surely there is some soul out there who'll revive an old milk float and retrofit with a Tesla motor and battery pack

        1. genghis_uk

          Re: I remember...

          Ernie?

          (A bit of British humour that might not translate)

          1. Will Godfrey Silver badge

            Re: I remember...

            ... he drove the fastest milk float in the West

      2. Will Godfrey Silver badge

        Re: I remember...

        I remember the rag and bone man, coal lorries, horse-drawn milk floats and London trolley buses.

        1. Fruit and Nutcase Silver badge
          Joke

          Re: I remember...

          Private Godfrey - is that you?

        2. that one in the corner Silver badge

          Re: I remember...

          We still have two competing rag and bone men round here.

          Sadly, they moved on with times - instead of 'orse 'n' cart and a good pair o' lungs, they both drive around the villages in small lorries with a recorded call on 30 second repeat. Although tradition is kept by the calls being so knackered that unless you know what they're saying you haven't a hope of understanding it!

        3. jake Silver badge

          Re: I remember...

          This Yank remembers pig bins in British schools ... do all y'all still do that? Or did it go away with the foot&mouth problems in the early '90s (or earlier?)?

          1. Will Godfrey Silver badge
            Unhappy

            Re: I remember...

            Not allowed now, so unwanted food is just wasted.

            1. BenDwire Silver badge

              Re: I remember...

              Not wasted, but sent to the biomas digesters to ultimnately generate 'leccy

          2. Spoobistle

            Re: I remember...

            Pig swill (waste food) was banned in 2001 after an outbreak of foot & mouth.

      3. johndrake7

        Re: I remember...

        As the late great D.R. Jones so poignantly observed a half century ago: Don't let the milk float ride your mind.

  21. hayzoos

    OK, that's it, game over, man

    One of the factors drawing me to The Register was the language difference. It suited the laziness in me in learning a new language. I was begining to do quite well, but alas. Now, I am reverting back to my 'merican ways entirely. Why should I even bother? Now, I will have to find another way to easily learn another language. I heard about that Parler site, seems like it may due with that little French twist on the name. Last resort is Facebook, but that may be too hard to understand.

  22. Fruit and Nutcase Silver badge

    Boffinizer

    As used by the sub editors here before scientific articles are published

  23. Fruit and Nutcase Silver badge
    Headmaster

    Corrections

    Are we expected to send in Corrections if we spot non-American spelling?

    1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

      Re: Corrections

      For the correctionalizationing process ?

  24. GrumpenKraut
    Trollface

    American English, British English...

    ist there a difference?

    1. Will Godfrey Silver badge
      Angel

      Re: American English, British English...

      Gibt es einen Unterschied?

  25. Bitsminer Silver badge

    Fahrenheit -- banish

    Could you adopt your new skill to a simpler task -- autoconvert (or remove) the Fahrenheits, miles, yards, pounds, ounces, inches, and (short) tons the "americans" use?

    It would be a subversive way to de-americanize the site.

    (Although pounds might be hard, the £ glyph should be in your style guide).

    1. jake Silver badge

      Re: Fahrenheit -- banish

      What about Pints?

      1. nematoad Silver badge

        Re: Fahrenheit -- banish

        Thanks, mine's a Guinness.

      2. First Light

        Re: Fahrenheit -- banish

        American or British?

    2. The other JJ

      Re: Fahrenheit -- banish

      Don't forget meters which I've even seen sneaking into BOFH articles, a story set in England and written by a Kiwi.

      And I'm sure you meant AmericaniSe. :-)

  26. M.V. Lipvig Silver badge

    Ugh

    This was a solution nobody wanted to a problem that didn't exist until a wrong decision was made. Let the writers write, and use the spellings they provide unless it actually is mis-spelled. It's not the 1950s anymore, and people today know the difference between check, check and cheque. Then you don't need an app to let you change words to Britspeak, except when it doesn't since the app itself doesn't know. You can "cheque" with the rest of the commentards here, but I'm pretty sure they'll all agree that The Reg deciding on a dialect standard rather than letting writers write is the real problem here.

    Quite frankly, one of the attractions to the site was getting to read stories in a British writing dialect, a rare thing in the world. If I want to read American tech stories there's no shortage of sites. Switching to Americanized spellings changes The Reg from something unique and recognizable into one of a thousand identical, indistiguishable sites.

    1. Norman Nescio

      Re: Ugh

      Let the writers write, and use the spellings they provide unless it actually is mis-spelled.

      Hear, hear!

      English is used in more than one country, and has an enormous vocabulary. I don't mind people whose mother-tongue is American English writing in (good) American English. I can cope. In the same way, I'm sure your intelligent readership can cope with writers writing in (good) British English, or Australian English, or Indian English, or Irish English, or Canadian English, or Caribbean English, or.... We all get to learn new vocabulary and respect each other's differences. Getting out the American English paint tin and covering a beautiful multicoloured tapestry of language with magnolia American English is a disservice to the intelligent multicultural IT community. You can do better.

      Wikipedia takes the view that articles (in the main) should be left written in the version of English written by the originating author, unless it covers a specifically national topic. El Reg can do the same. Respect your author's backgrounds.

      NN

      1. jake Silver badge

        Re: Ugh

        Exactly.

    2. jake Silver badge
      Pint

      Re: Ugh

      Yes. The obvious solution.

      This round's on me.

    3. Spasticus Autisticus

      Re: Ugh

      I could imagine it's not particularly due to El Reg now being a .com but rather that many po-faced, humourless advertising agents and their equally po-faced, boring clients would prefer El Reg to be less disparaging and more uninterestingly professional.

      1. that one in the corner Silver badge

        Re: Ugh

        > uninterestingly professional

        How long until that spreads?

        First they came for our authors' words.

        Then they came for our commentard nicknames.

    4. druck Silver badge

      Re: Ugh

      Stick the flag of the author's country on the byline of the article, to make it bleedin' obvious why a certain dialect is being used.

  27. Toe Knee

    We may well remember

    That there are more Englishes* than just British and American. British English itself quite diverse, and the English of Scotland is as different as American English is from the English of England. That's before we even consider Ireland, Australia, Canada, South Africa, and New Zealand, which have features that distinguish their Englishes from other, closely related varieties.

    And to really mix things up, keep in mind regional dialects. In the US, a speaker with a "Louisiana" accent is almost unintelligible at first pass to somebody who speaks an "Upper Midwestern" dialect. Who ever thought a living language would be so complex?

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2013/12/02/what-dialect-to-do-you-speak-a-map-of-american-english/

    ^^ WaPo article in the above link is an interesting read that is at least tangentially relevant ^^

    *is "Englishes" even a word?

    1. Norman Nescio

      Re: We may well remember

      *is "Englishes" even a word?

      It is now!

    2. Lars Silver badge
      Thumb Down

      Re: We may well remember

      Please don't mix in dialects with spelling.

      1. jake Silver badge

        Re: We may well remember

        When one writes in a dialect, word spellings can and do change from the national standard. In fact, they can even become entirely different words. One man's beck is another man's stream.

  28. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    As long as it changes the most hated of all Americanisms - the use of 'issue' as a synonym for problem, when it isn't even a synonym of problem in the first place.

    1. Lars Silver badge
      WTF?

      @AC

      Why do you have an issue with that.

      1. that one in the corner Silver badge

        AN issue? One could scribe enough on that topic to fill at least two issues and an introductory pamphlet.

        1. jake Silver badge

          When will you issue this marvelous epistle? Or do you have issues backing what you write?

          1. that one in the corner Silver badge

            The backing will be quite simple: red cloth, gold lettering and marbled endleaves. No dustcover.

  29. mr0c
    Pint

    Where’s the regisizer extension?

    I’m still waiting for an extension that translates any sites apparent sizing into what we all know is the pinnacle of sizes: The Register’s standard sizes, of: double deckers buses, brontosaurus, linguini and obviously the newly crated truss.

  30. anthonyhegedus Silver badge

    Why not keep articles written by American journalists in American spelling, and articles written by British journalists in British spellings, and everyone else using the spellings they are used to? It adds to the flavour of the site, and emphasises [adds to the flavor amd emphasizes] the diverse sources of your excellent reporting.

    1. jake Silver badge

      "amd emphasizes] the diverse sources of your excellent reporting."

      And commentards, IMO.

  31. tezboyes

    How about, just let folk write in theory own dialect, we'll decide if we like it?

    Hadaway and shite pet ye divvent nah wot yet tacking bout man.

  32. CommanderGalaxian
    WTF?

    WTAF!? I really don't think this guy is going to be solving World hunger problems soon.

  33. that one in the corner Silver badge

    Does it correct the directions as well?

    You know, the US use of "out" when they really mean "in"; the growing inability to use "take", substituting "bring" instead.

  34. NaturalApparatus

    Maximum confusalization

    As a Brit, being constantly told that Americanisms are global and English can go whistle is highly insulting. The Americans... To speak in pseudo American have been "adjustabating English for the maximum confusalization of the English since 1776".

    Given that the language is still called English and we are not yet speaking "English American", perhaps it would be more appropriate to develop an extension to translate English to left-pondian

    I also note that the tagline "biting the hand that feeds IT" is gone. Probably too much sponsorship from certain large companies and the need to regurgitate the speech patterns of corporate America.

    Bring back Dabbsy

    1. diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

      Re: Maximum confusalization

      > is highly insulting

      It's not an insult - it's just a reflection of what's expected globally.

      > the tagline "biting the hand that feeds IT" is gone

      It just got moved to the end of the page to tidy up the masthead.

      > Bring back Dabbsy

      We parted on good terms, and wish him all the best – he's on his Autosave is for Wimps Substack.

      C.

      1. NaturalApparatus

        Re: Maximum confusalization

        There's a problem here you see. I didn't read El Reg (Can we still call it that, or does it not meet with Corporate's brand identity guidelines?) For what's expected globally. I read it for its angle on the IT world, that is to say an unusual and original angle, and for its sense of humour. And for the fact that as a brit, Inherently 'got' the sense of humour. The inuendous headlines. The schoolboyish in jokes. While I appreciate that the infotorials and surveys are the stock in trade of Corporate expectations, why would I come here to read them when $corporatewebsite does it in a much more corporate, and polished form?

        To translate that a bit more, expect your bandwidth bill to go down ever so slightly as I stop bothering to read. Because El Reg made a teabreak both educational - but also funny. Now it is starting to feel more like an IBM sales seminar from the mid 90s. How long before the comments section goes to be replaced with a "reach out to us" feedback form.

        The cultural insensitivity of this post just rubs our nose in an American corporate attitude that : "British is quaintsy and irrelevantized: strange people but we like the profit of selling products at dollar prices with a pound sign in front of it. After all, America invented the computer, and all that went with it and by the lord we'll cash in. Because we're global and Britain is quaintsy.

        One final question before it's beer o clock... When the Chinese IT sector does the inevitable and grows into a behemoth, will you still publish in any version of English, or will I have to use AliTranslate to read it because that's what corporate expectation is?

        The register's last headline, in sardonic form, should be "latest British computer related company sells out" and subtitled "went boom after joining the dot-com boom... 25 years too late"

        1. diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

          Concerns

          1. You can still call it El Reg. We still do internally and publicly. Myself and TR's senior editorial staff have been at The Reg or with our publisher for ten or more years. It's not like we've forgotten the past.

          2. We're constantly experimenting with headlines to find the right balance between being unique and amusing and not off-putting for new folks. Sometimes titles go too obscure, sometimes they go too dry. We've got a sub-headline right now on the front page stating "You can kiss my Californian ass, says ad giant" and a headline "Why are PC webcams crap?" and boffins and so on... there's no corporate watering down. We're just trying to make our humor and our take on the IT world a bit more accessible for everyone.

          If any part of it reads like a sales seminar, shoot me. That's not the intention, and not what we want to do. We want to make stuff that's informed, accurate, and independent.

          3. I'm British. I live in the US after living in the UK. I know Blighty's going through some weird shit right now, and how we're perceived globally is perhaps not quite optimal. But TR switching to US spelling isn't part of that, and your thoughts about the UK being "quaintsy" is something you need to figure out for yourself. TR changing to American spelling isn't commentary on the UK.

          It's that the internet sees US spelling and thinks "international or American" and sees UK spelling and thinks "England". Which can be a bit frustrating when we're writing about non-UK things a lot.

          4. One day it would be great to translate TR into other languages. An English version is obviously going to be available and prime.

          Above all, we're just being honest and open. We could have just not said a thing.

          C.

          1. Lars Silver badge
            Pint

            Re: Concerns

            @diodesign

            But why bother about it at all, some of your people will write one way and some the other way.

            And we who comment will do the same.

            Why bother.

            Or as the Finns say why "rassata verta nenästä" which Google translate translates to "to draw blood from the nose" which again has assassinated the spirit in it.

            Anyway i will still read u.

          2. Just Another SteveO

            Re: Concerns

            I would actually like to read the articles in the manner and flavour that they were written - not artificially using a single style of 'English'. I don't take it as a comment on the UK but I do take switching to a form of English that probably isn't prevalent across the world as strange frankly.

          3. Julian Bradfield

            Re: Concerns

            The "internet" doesn't see or think anything. A small number of *people* think about it, the vast majority of *people* read the content, whether it's in British, American, Indian, Canadian or international (which used to be mainly British in spelling outside South America, and is now a random hodge-podge depending on the country and even individual school of the E2L speaker).

          4. Dizzy Dwarf

            Re: Concerns

            > 4. One day it would be great to translate TR into other languages.

            Back into Klingon, as originally written, obviously.

          5. druck Silver badge

            Re: Concerns

            Above all, we're just being honest and open. We could have just not said a thing.

            You couldn't because we'd already noticed.

            This wouldn't have happened back in the days of drobe.

      2. gsf333

        Re: Maximum confusalization

        Globally expected by who? I've never heard anyone ever say such a thing before. It's not just an insult to the British, it's an insult to everyone, unfortunately just for different reasons!

        Well done for alienating your long term readers even more. You'd have been best not saying anything as clearly you don't understand a key demographic. Won't matter though long term as they will have gone. After this, I'll most certainly be one of them!

      3. Alumoi Silver badge

        Re: Maximum confusalization

        It just got moved to the end of the page to tidy up the masthead.

        It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying ‘Beware of the Leopard.”

      4. nobody who matters

        Re: Maximum confusalization

        "> the tagline "biting the hand that feeds IT" is gone

        It just got moved to the end of the page to tidy up the masthead."

        ......so we don't notice when it is removed altogether more like!

        Your posts clearly show that you either do not understand the points being made in the thread, or that you are sticking slavishly to the corporate line. Either way, you are doing neither yourself nor El Reg any favours.

  35. iron

    While I applaud your efforts it will not change my opinion of The Register deciding to fail at English for the forseeable future.

    You don't see American publications wondering if it makes them sound provincial when they assume we all understand their crappy sports that no-one else plays, politics, school system, etc.

  36. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    ISOUC

    International Save Our U Committee

    Says: Bah!

  37. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    American spelling has its uses. It tells me that the article has been written by a foreigner and should be disregarded until I have exhausted the correctly spelt sources. Pip pip.

  38. Twanky
    Pirate

    Circa 1989 IIRC

    While upgrading All-in-1 on one of our VAXes: Install British dialect?

    Bloody cheek.

    You think there's just the one?

  39. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    You've done the work....

    I appreciate you doing the work, so why not make it server-side, like http intended, rather than some extension, bearing in mind that many people here won't even run javascript yet alone chrome extensions.

    Oh, and no browser I use supports extensions either. I'm sure I'm not alone!

  40. J.G.Harston Silver badge

    I mostly don't care, but particularly in technical documents if I could stop Americans using "insure" when they mean "ensure", that would be a start. They mean two completely different things.

    Insure is ON ERROR fixup

    Ensure is REPEAT action UNTIL completed

  41. Dizzy Dwarf

    Don't want to start a language war, but

    C is so much better than C++

  42. Pirate Dave Silver badge

    The Register moved from a .co.uk to a .com during the pandemic, we chose American spelling.

    Ah, that's why it feels like all the articles come from the San Francisco office now.

    I'm a dumb Merican, and I miss the old British/UK style. It gave El Reg a feel that the other tech-nerd sites lack.

  43. BenDwire Silver badge
    Alert

    What a lot of comments!

    It's interesting that this article got so many comments, especially over the weekend. I suspect many of El Reg's readers care passionately about this industry and this publication in particular. I see that some staff have tried to respond with their side of the story, but I would humbly suggest that they 'reach out' (urgh!) to the corporate masters and ask them to read all the comments to gain an understanding of how they are making El Reg appear worse to a lot of long-time readers.

    For the record I don't see this as a US Vs UK thing, but more a 'corporate big company' Vs 'nimble small company' thing, almost as if everyone has been told to grow up and act like adults. It used to be so much more fun around here, but hey, that's progress and professionalism for you.

    1. Pirate Dave Silver badge

      Re: What a lot of comments!

      "It used to be so much more fun around here"

      It is just my own opinion, but that period passed about the same time that Lester did, or shortly thereafter. Something subtle but fundamental changed, and, as a reader here since ~2000, I don't know that it's really been for the better. When was the last time we had a Lego re-enactment? or a Flame of the Week? Or a camera review? Was there no-one willing to step in as The Moderatrix II? And was Lester really the only one at El Reg with hairy enough gazongas to take on the US FAA and try to launch a rocket into space from a weather balloon? That's the zany, interesting, non-scripted, off-the-cuff kind of nerd stuff that used to make this place cool. Now, it seems like a lot of it (but not all) is either sponsored, or toned down to appeal to mid-management corporate types.

      Like you said, more grown up, less irreverent, less biting the hand that feeds IT.

      I guess in the end, it's all about the Benjamins, everything else is just a happy side-effect.

      Ad astra tabernamque.

      1. BenDwire Silver badge
        Pint

        Re: What a lot of comments!

        I think that you've hit the nail on the head there.

        A pint for Lester, and for all those that knew him.

        1. Will Godfrey Silver badge
          Pint

          Re: What a lot of comments!

          One pint is not enough

      2. that one in the corner Silver badge
        Pint

        Re: What a lot of comments!

        Wear your LOHAN tee-shirt with pride.

        1. Pirate Dave Silver badge

          Re: What a lot of comments!

          If I'd been smart enough to snag one when they were available, I would.

      3. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: What a lot of comments!

        When was the last time we had a Lego re-enactment?

        Playmobil surely?

        1. Pirate Dave Silver badge

          Re: What a lot of comments!

          Ah, damn, you're right. It's been soooooo long, I confused the two. lol.

    2. David Hicklin Bronze badge
      Mushroom

      Re: What a lot of comments!

      " 'reach out' (urgh!)"

      I wish I could up vote you more than once - that is one of the most hated phrases that has crept in right up with "touch base"....icon is how I feel when I hear either...

  44. ian 28

    Choose the US variant was a ridiculous decision

    Why use any variant? Use real English. Hope you reconsider this silly decision

  45. Paul Hovnanian Silver badge
    Trollface

    It could be worse

    It could have been an app that implemented the writing guide of The Grauniad.

  46. Arty Effem

    Those of us who don't suffer from Chrome, will continue performing the conversion mentally and on the fly.

  47. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Cant spell or count

    The US just needs to learn how to spell.

    Also, they need to learn how to count. A thousand million is not a billion, a million million is.

    1. jake Silver badge

      Re: Cant spell or count

      Perhaps the AC would change his tune a trifle if he knew that the British officially depreciated the long billion in 1974, and now officially use the short billion. Which they got from the French, not the Yanks.

      You seem to have run out of apostrophes. Here's a double handful to see you through ''''''''''.

      1. that one in the corner Silver badge

        Re: Cant spell or count

        > Perhaps the AC would change his tune a trifle...

        Why would he?

        Wikipedia: "In Britain, however, under the influence of American usage, the short scale came to be increasingly used. In 1974, Prime Minister Harold Wilson confirmed that the government would use the word billion only in its short scale meaning (one thousand million)."

        So after American (note that) influence, the PM said and did a Stupid Thing.

        > the British officially depreciated the long billion

        Nope - not "The British", let alone "officially", but just government publications, back in 1974.

        Back in 2003: A few weeks ago on Radio 4 someone made a comment to the effect of "...since we have now adopted the billion as being one thousand million..." and I nearly fell off my chair.

      2. that one in the corner Silver badge

        Re: Cant spell or count

        (curse commenting in Android, this got cut off)

        Dans la magnifique langue française

        * 1,000 = mille

        * 10,000 = dix mille

        * 100,000 = cent mille

        * 1,000,000 = un million

        * 10,000,000 = dix millions

        * 100,000,000 = cent millions

        * 1,000,000,000 = un milliard

        * 1,000,000,000,000 = un billion

    2. Paul Hovnanian Silver badge
      Boffin

      Re: Cant spell or count

      "Also, they need to learn how to count."

      One, two, three, ... many.

      That ought to do it.

  48. Aoyagi Aichou
    Terminator

    Yes, a big "thank you" for contributing to the continuing metastasising of American culture into Britain. All for the purpose of making a few lazy Yanks feel more comfortable, isn't it?

  49. Big_Boomer

    UK/US English

    Personally I have worked with UK, US, CDN, AUS, NZ, SA, Indian, and many other "English" mother tongue speakers for over 40 years. Verbal communication can be difficult due to dialect and cultural differences, but written language pretty much comes down to UK and US English. Most of the world uses UK English spelling, apart from the USA. When people from outside the UK/USA see US spelling then they assume that the site is US based and US culture. When they see UK spelling there is no assumption as the site could be based just about anywhere in the English speaking world, EXCEPT for the USA. There are a variety of reasons given for the differences in spelling and they are all valid for the culture they are used in. Most of us can communicate in both with ease as the differences are minimal, mostly ignored, and are at worst a mild irritant.

    However, El Reg started in the UK, has always been perceived as a UK based site, and has built up it's readership thanks to that UK culture and humour. Changing it to US spelling/culture is, in my opinion, a mistake, and in the longer term will change how El Reg is perceived outside the US. It may be a success w.r.t. profitability, especially in the short term, but longer term it will become just another US based IT news site, and there are plenty of those already.

  50. druck Silver badge
    Thumb Down

    Excuse

    I've been looking for an excuse to spend less time reading the ever increasing volume of articles on The Register, which have become less and less humorous and irreverent. This change to Americanised language is the last straw.

  51. Spoobistle
    Coat

    Milking it

    So if the Register is entirely Pasteurised will Consumption go down?

  52. NomadUK

    If I'd wanted to live in the 51st state, I wouldn't have left the place and lived in Blighty for years, eventually (and after considerable effort and expense!) becoming a naturalised citizen, a Massachusetts Yankee in Queen Elizabeth's (now King Charles's) Court. And even though I'm now back on the other side of the Pond (I hope only temporarily), it rankles no end watching the increasing Americanisation of Emily (great film, that). One of Churchill's biggest mistakes was hitching the wagon to the burgeoning American empire, as though somehow the Yanks would give a flying f*ck about Airstrip One except as a forward operations base and seemingly bottomless source of quality stage, film, and television actors.

    Anyway, yes, there seem increasingly fewer reasons to read The Register these days; I have noticed that I just don't bother, as the articles all seem to be duplicates of what's already available on other (equally boring) sites, with little to nothing to distinguish it — and now not even the language. Meh. Guess I'll just save myself some time in the mornings.

  53. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    and then there is pronunciation..

    Another nightmare

    https://youtu.be/tfRSvTSY0d4

  54. sw guy

    Global, what global

    How can people not having learn (whatever) english as a foreign language tell us (those who did) how this teaching is done ? What I learnt in school: First UK english (and BBC as reference), second, once first step OK, US english.

    Beside, as other commentards wrote, if I want a global IT site, there are lot of choices.

    What I appreciated with El Reg was its (unique) UK aspect.

    My feeling is initial flavor/flavour is not totally gone, and I agree with claim that each of you should write in its own "dialect" (but for units, of course)

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