You say tomato: raising awareness of differences in English around the world

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You say tomato raisingawareness of differences
in English around the world

• Harriet G MacLehose
• Laura Mellor

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Let's Call The Whole Thing Off (1937)
You like potato and I like potahtoYou like
tomato and I like tomahtoPotato, potahto,
Tomato, tomahtoLet's call the whole thing off
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Workshop format

• Introduction and differences
• Group exercise
• Knowledge into practice
• Discussion
• Recommendations for further reading

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Regional variations in written English

• More similarities than differences
• Differences neednt stop the reader from
  understanding the text
• US and UK English differ the most
• Think about your reader
• Be as inclusive as possible

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Vocabulary

• Avoid slang and parochial vocabulary (UK
  examples the Tories, the tube)
• Think about what is appropriate vocabulary
• Think about tone and register

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Spelling 1 variation

• British and American spellings are distinct and
  distinctive
• Australian and Canadian usage is positioned
  somewhere between them
• Choose a dictionary

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Spelling 2 -ize or -ise?

• The ize ending (eg randomize) is acceptable in
  UK as well as US English
• If you are not using US English the following
  must be spelt yse, not yzeanalyse catalyse
  dialyse electrolyse hydrolyse paralyse

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Spelling 3 proper names

• Dont change the spelling of proper names
• World Health Organization
• Australian Labor Party
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

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Punctuation quotation marks

• Single or double quotes? Follow the Cochrane
  Style Guide
• Punctuation and closing quotes at the end of a
  sentence. In North America, the closing quote
  usually comes after the full point
• In Australian and UK English, practice varies

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Punctuation commas

• Refer to the Cochrane Style Guide
• Comma before and is used in American English
• It is also acceptable in UK English and is often
  used for clarity Participants had myalgia,
  dizziness, headache, and fever
• Sometimes known as the Oxford comma because of
  its use by readers and editors at Oxford
  University Press

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Dates and seasons

• Follow the Cochrane Style Guide
• If there is any potential for confusion write out
  the month (eg 7 November)
• Use early in 2004 rather than Spring 2004 as
  Spring means a different time of the year in
  the different hemispheres

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Group exercise
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Editing strategies

• Consult the Cochrane Style Guide
• Authors are not always aware that they are using
  a mixture of styles
• Decide on a policy at your editorial base
• Choose one English dictionary and one medical
  dictionary
• Always be consistent within a document

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Setting language in MS Word 1

• This tool has limitations (eg the UK English
  spell check does not accept any ize spellings,
  even though this form is acceptable
• Not provided as standard on all PCs
• Make sure the appropriate section of the text is
  highlighted before you select the language

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Setting language in MS Word 2
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Style resources

• Cochrane Style Guidehttp//www.liv.ac.uk/lstm/ehc
  ap/CSR/CSG.html
• William Strunk, Jr. The elements of style.
  http//www.bartleby.com/141/
• Chicago Manual of Style, University of Chicago
  Press, 1993
• Ritter RM. The Oxford guide to style. Oxford
  Oxford University Press, 2002
• Butcher J. Copy-editing. Cambridge Cambridge
  University Press, 1992

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Dictionaries

• US Merriam-Webster Dictionary (http//www.m-w.com
  /)
• UK Oxford English Dictionary
• Australian Macquarie Dictionary
  (http//www.macquariedictionary.com.au/)
• Many web-based dictionaries available.

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Thank you! hgmac_at_liverpool.ac.uk
lmellor_at_wiley.co.uk