in labor we trust
A liberal Texan brings us This Day in Alternate History. I'm kind of amazed. A lot of thought and creativity goes into this.
help nominate tommy douglas as the face of the next $5 bill
There's a movement to put the face of Tommy Douglas on the next Canadian $5 bill. Wouldn't that be wonderful? And wouldn't it be a kick in the pants to those who seek to privatize our health care system? Go here to nominate Tommy Douglas.
I think you mean labour
ReplyDeleteIt's not going to be easy, re-learning to spell...
ReplyDeleteFor the most part american spellings have become acceptable in Canada, except for some purists...
ReplyDeleteThe only one that I really hold onto is colour.
I generally always spell the British/Canadian way, but it doesn't bother me too much to see the american way anymore.
Peter
It's interesting the issues this can raise. Here in Ontario, there's a cartoonist named Lynn Johnson who's been writing and drawing the successful family strip For Better or Worse for about 25 years now. I saw an interview with her some time ago in which she commented on the cultural pressures she's come under from certain quarters in the US. Early on, there was a lot of suggestion that the strip should be situated in the US, rather than Canada, and that she should adopt US spellings rather than Canadian ones... color for colour, check for cheque, tennis racket for tennis racquet, and so on. To her credit, she stood her ground and resisted these. The cultural differences and assumptions have led to some contention, too. A lot of papers in conservative communities in the US dropped the strip when she revealed that one of the characters, Lawrence, was gay. And she was surprised by a number of letters she got objecting to the imperialism implicit in sending Michael to school in London. Of course, what those complaining didn't realize was that she was sending Michael to London, Ontario, to the University of Western Ontario. It's not an impossible mistake to make (Archie Bunker on All In the Family lost his Christmas bonus one year by shipping an order to London, England... "who the hell ever heard of London, Ontario?" he groaned), it does reveal an interesting set of assumptions about Canadians held by some people in the States.
ReplyDelete"The cultural differences and assumptions have led to some contention, too. A lot of papers in conservative communities in the US dropped the strip when she revealed that one of the characters, Lawrence, was gay."
ReplyDeleteAmazing the state of denial these people live in. If we don't talk about them, they won't exist...
"it does reveal an interesting set of assumptions about Canadians held by some people in the States."
Well yes, but... fame. London England is rather more well known than London Ontario - the world over, not just among Americans.
There's a Brooklyn, Kansas, but if I write about Brooklyn, I don't need to say Brooklyn, New York.
"For the most part american spellings have become acceptable in Canada, except for some purists..."
ReplyDeleteI'm really going to try - so as not to be an Ugly American. I can set my spellchecker for Brit English, that will help me get in the habit.
But not until after I move!
There are differences between Canadian and Brit English. Canadian is something of a fusion of American and British. We say aluminum, rather than aluminium. Also, words like cheque and check or program and programme are used pretty interchageably. The biggest differences with US English spellings are, of course, the `u` in colour, harbour or valour and the rather recent switch from `er` to `re` in words like theatre, centre and metre. Personally, I don't care for the latter. They are French spellings of words that are pronounced differently in English and should rightfully be spelled differently.
ReplyDeleteThen it'll be a little easier. Coincidentally, I already use the spelling "theatre" - when I in theatre, it was an affectation we all used, and it stuck. Like putting the line through my 7s.
ReplyDelete