

Ask HN: Writing for Americans - neiljohnson

I've recently started writing a tech blog and as a regular reader of Hacker News wanted to ask people's opinions on internationalisation.<p>As a Brit I spell words like grey, initialise and colour like so. I recently wrote a post entitled "In Defence of Scrumbut" and was wondering what an American audience would make of it. Does it appear to be a typo implying that the post is likely to be poorly written? Or are variations in the spelling on English words well known and it simply isn't an issue?<p>Clearly I'd rather stick with the British English spellings but I may want to adjust my choice of titles accordingly.<p>Thanks
N
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jamesbressi
Maybe I speak for myself, but just like accents, I like reading the English
spelling of words--and dare I say prefer it?

I think it is absolutely fine. Now, if your bigger worry is getting the SERP
pages on Google, then I can tell you it is very rare that I do a search and
come across an English or Australian article in my results with the English
spellings.

I know that wasn't your original question, but it is a fascinating one that I
just thought of while replying to you.

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jcdreads
Write in your most natural voice; and with your canonical spellings. The only
British-isms that I have trouble getting my head around quickly are the over-
casual dropping of place names and neighborhoods in London. But we Americans
grow up reading plenty of Dickens and Orwell and Shakespeare and whatnot, so
just like a British accent we can handle it as long as it's consistent.

In general, you will do quite well to have even your American audience think,
"Here's an well-written Brit."

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anamax
It's not the different spellings of common words (gray/grey), it's the
different words (scrumbut?) and different meanings (we call it the hood, not
the bonnet) that will interfere with communication.

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JacobAldridge
I think if you're writing for an international audience, stick with whatever
comes natural to you. I know (I'm Australian) that I use BrE spelling here on
HN and around the web.

If I had to think about using AmE then two things would happen: 1) I would
almost certainly miss some. If you use the word Defense ten times and spell it
Defence once _then_ it looks like a spelling error. 2) It would interrupt the
flow of my writing. Anything that interrupts writing is bad. Why let the
writing _itself_ get in the way.

But of course, know your target market. I'm working on a product for the US
right now, and the extra effort checking for BrE is annoying, but necessary.

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AnneTheAgile
I tried to google and find your post but could not see it. I would think the
word scrumbut is a typo [or perhaps crass], but without seeing the byline or
the article I would not know for sure.

Please don't curse in your writing but any local color is very nice!
Personally, just as I enjoy hearing foreign accents in real life, I enjoy
seeing them on the web. It helps remind me that the web is a many splendored
and located place :).

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neiljohnson
Anne, thanks for the feedback. Actually I'm still proof reading the post, so
it's not quite ready yet (suddenly realised a few bits needed turning upside
down). For the typo I meant 'Defence' vs 'Defense', by Scrumbut I mean 'We do
Scrum but..' as in <http://bitsnwidgets.com/2008/04/19/DontBeASCRUMBUT.aspx> N

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neiljohnson
Guys, thanks for the feedback, based on the discussion I've decided to stick
with the British approach even with titles, and have submitted the article
here.

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1173473>

Thanks

Neil

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billswift
As long as they are the standard spellings, it shouldn't make much difference.
It's the unexpected spellings, especially the ones that make your readers stop
and wonder what you are trying to say that are problems. Anyone who reads much
will be as comfortable _reading_ the British spellings as the American. I use
some spellings interchangeably - I am more likely to write "grey" than "gray"
and I spell "defence/defense" either way (it is possible that I have even
mixed them in the same essay - which is generally a bad idea).

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wrs
Don't worry about the spelling. What strikes me as odd about British writing
is the scarcity of commas. I feel rather breathless reading British writing,
and often it's difficult to parse. (I'm pretty sure most Americans would have
put more than one comma in your >100-word question.) Not to worry, though, it
just adds flavor.

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byrneseyeview
It's better to be consistent. If you try to Americanize (Americanise?) your
text, you'll probably miss something, and it _will_ look like a typo.

That said, in some professions, affecting British spelling will make people
trust you more.

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j_baker
I wouldn't worry too much about spelling. That isn't a big deal. However, you
might be careful about some words. For instance, I might have to pause for a
second if I read lorrie instead of truck.

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Qz
I think people who read tech blogs are educated enough to know that defence is
not a typo (despite firefox trying to spell correct me as I type that).

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niels_olson
We have an Australian resident in our surgery training program. He's going
bald, has bushy eyebrows, and wears glasses. People have been treating him
like a professor since day one. Even the faculty revere him.

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RiderOfGiraffes
I'm having trouble seeing how this is relevant. Can you provide more context?
Thanks.

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anamax
He's pointing out that appearances matter.

