Dear

Welcome to my last newsletter of 2009

This doesn’t seem quite right, because I’m convinced it’s only June with unseasonably cold weather, but Merry Christmas everyone!

I’m going to end the year with a plea. If you haven’t already done this, or if you know someone who hasn’t, please set your Word default to UK English.

Writing for your audience should always be uppermost in your mind. I know I’m not the only one to get irritated when I’m sent documents with American spellings from a UK English speaker. However, resetting the default in Word isn’t as easy as it should be. So I phoned a friend and got some tips to pass on to you. You can read them the article, Mind your language.

And to redress the balance, so I don't upset any American readers, I asked a American writer and editor, Roy Jacobsen, to write a guest article on the differences between our two languages. You can read by Roy on his blog, Writing, Clear and Simple.

I hope you enjoy them!

Mind your language - setting your Word default to UK English

I get so many emails and documents with American spelling and it drives me nuts. It’s particularly bad if I have to edit or rewrite a document that has American spelling as its default. Despite the fact my settings are UK English, the settings in the document I’ve been sent override them.

I tried to get to the bottom of it by asking website designer and developer (and all-round Microsoft genius) Keith Gravell of Cambridge Web Projects. He gave me some good tips which you can read by clicking here.

Separated by a common language

The first time I ended up on Elaine’s blog, I found myself giggling about her article “A few little words – why straplines matter.” I knew immediately from the context what she was talking about, but for this American reader, straplines are what show up on a woman’s sun-tanned shoulders. So straplines matter here as well; just not for the same reasons.

England and America are indeed “separated by a common language.”  Read more...