Americans: Do you use the British spelling of words (colour, favourite)? Britons: Do you use the American spelling of words?

I’m Australian and I refuse to use the American way of spelling rather than Australian/British. Sorry guys, I like to keep the meaning in the word rather than shorten it down for the sake of it.

I sometimes use those spellings, but I secretly wish I was from the UK.

I’m Canadian. Here, both are acceptable. Personally, I spell some the British way, and others the American way. In my opinion, no meaning is lost from the word when spelled the American way.

Out of curiosity, did you mean to have “British Columbia” as one of the tags to this question?

Also, why did you just ask the Yanks and Brits? Poor neglected Commonwealth…

Crap, I didn’t notice, I was typing Briton and…... auto correct.

I’m American, but I spent several of my childhood years in Singapore. Hence, I often switch between spellings without even realizing* it. I’m often not sure which is which. Same with dates and occasionally idioms and vocabulary. Dates are the biggest problem, though.

*(See? American today, maybe British tomorrow.)

I’m American, but I prefer “grey” over “gray”. I also like “theatre” over “theater”. However, I use “color” and “flavor” instead of their u-infused counterparts.

And if you haven’t noticed, I prefer putting the punctuation outside of the quotation marks, unless the punctuation is part of the quote, because it makes way more sense that way.

@sumul: I thought you were supposed to do that?

@asmonet
Technically, it’s “correct” to put the punctuation inside the quotation marks. I agree with sumul, though. Forget the rules, do what makes sense. I choose clarity.

Like sumul, I’m American but use the British convention for “quotation marks”. It makes much more sense that way, and is more flexible.

@jasonjackson
That’s a Britishism? I had no idea. I thought I was just doing it for the reasons stated above, but perhaps I learned it that way in Singapore.

I’ll use grey or gray, and I’m with others on the punctuation outside of the quotation marks (though I usually do it the American way, just because I’ve been indoctrinated for so long) – everything else is American.

All English here. I’ve never heard of the punctuation in quotation marks, though. I’ve always put punctuation on the outside.

I grew up reading British authors, and I catch myself injecting the “silent u” from time to time. I still don’t understand the rationale for “maths”; any more than I understand kippers for breakfast. I accept it, though.

As a girl, I fell in love with the original Mary Poppins books, and hence picked up British spelling. My spelling paper was marked wrong once because I put “colour” instead of “color.” After I grew up, I lived in England for a while, so really got the British spelling and pronounciation drilled into me. I like the British spelling of things. The only thing I have a problem with is their pronounciation of “schedule” and “aluminium.”

You think we say Aluminium wrong?! heh!

“Meh!, I can’t pronounce that.. I’ll just drop this letter here. Ahh, that’s easier!”

I agree with “SHEDule” I am toally for the Brit pronunciation of aluminium! It’s too silly to pass up!

It’s just a mouthful to say it the British way.

My spelling will depend on where I am and who I am writing for. When writing a paper for an American university, there is only one “proper” way to spell. When writing a strongly worded letter to Stephen Harper, I use the Canadian standard.

In casual work, I tend to use the spelling I feel happiest with. To me, “theatre” and “colour” have better visual appeals than their American counterparts, while “calibre” just looks incorrect. Language is a living and changing thing- and it is difficult to assert that one way is “wrong” or another is “better.” I use a combination of professional courtesy and my own unique background to make my spelling choices.