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The internet especially has spread a lot of American English into the UK, and some UK businesses even take an explicit decision that they are going to use American spellings (this policy doesn't extend to talking about Mom and apple pie a lot).
The most common difference is the use of 's' or 'z' in words like realise (UK) or realize (American). Ask any Old Etonian about the greek and latin origins of these words and you'll find out more, shortly before deliberately swallowing your own tongue. Mercifully, word processors have UK and US dictionaries built in and it is very easy to choose the one you want for individual documents.
If you're using Microsoft Word then highlight all of the text in your document (using CTRL-A) and then click once on the link at the very bottom left of the Word window which should say 'English (United Kingdom)'. You can then choose the dictionary you want and spellings will be checked from then on using the new rules. |
