I agree with the sentiments of this article entirely, but for the sake of pedantic one-upmanship would point out that the “~ize” word ending form has long been preferred by some English purists, including Oxford University Press. Or, if you want to be really pedantic, use “~ize” for word that came into English from the Greek, and “~ise” if it came from the French.

Paul L. has adopted such spelling, unless he's an American. I guess he thinks Australian English spelling is too anti-American.

* The Oxford actually prefers "-ize" (read the frontmatter)
* The "-or" ending was never a result of an "Americanization" process. The "-our" was a later English affectation (it was "Frenchified")
* The "-re" rather than "-er" was another Frechification: the US kept the original spelling from Latin.
* I'm for etymological clarity - letters should reflect derivation.
** Labor, color, (rubor, dolor, calor, tumor : -our just looks wrong to any biomedical student)
** Skeptic
** Connexion (as used by Gibbon in 18th century, cognate with nexus)
** Night (shows link to Scot nicht and German nacht)
** Hippopotamos (so I can say hippopotamoi which trips off the tongue, and the Latin -us after two Greek roots is just plain ugly)
** Archaeic (not archaic), Paediatric (not pediatric, which could be about feet)

When spelling reflects derivation, it is much easier for foreigners to read, and much easier to guess at meaning of new words in your own tongue, and much easier to guess at words in other languages. Now, if we can only get the Germans to put a few hyphens into their words so they can be nutted out!

Louise I’m, like, sooo with you on this one. The bastardisation of Australian English has been going on for decades but the trickle has become a torrent. As you pointed out, spellchecks and internet pages are likely to have played a role but in the end it is ignorance, carelessness and occasional improvisation that drive changes to language. It’s always evolving. It’s simply a pity it becomes more beige every day.

Readin’ and writin’ are out of fashion. SMS ‘spelling’ rulz. Talking often consists of a string of preconstructed phrases devoid of colour or meaning or emphasis. The written word is less important than it was, which is a pity since poor grammar means poor communication. English is unique in that it has more words than any other major language, with many shades of meaning derived from many different languages. It is so colourful.

The French have tried to limit the effect of foreign languages on their own, with limited success. Occasionally they give way to the sheer force of numbers and deign some foreign alternative acceptable. The point is they take pride in their language but at the cost of widespread ridicule.

So how do you make people, well, CARE? Geez Louise, how would I know?

Hmm... maybe I'm mistaken Romany, but I always thought that 'centre' was the Australian/English version, and center was the American one.

Nice article Louise, and no, you're not alone. I suppose my objection to adopting American spelling stems from the fact that the rest of the English speaking world, by and large, has settled on the British version - which is also the Australian one.

It's just the Americans who are the odd ones out, with their 'z' spelling style and propensity for dropping essential albeit silent 'u's'.

If they want their own version, fair enough, but if there's one version to spread, I hardly see why the rest of the world should change. I can recall with some chagrin, writing a post on a blog and having someone correct my spelling to 'defense' while telling me 'it's okay, a lot of people make that mistake.'

Hmph. I think not.

I think Balneus got it right. My vague memory is that much of what Louise defends is in fact French affectation (or rather upper class English people adopting such an affectation in the 18th Century?) and that the American spelling of words like color was in fact the "original" English one.

We are all creatures of habit and I much prefer the affectation to the original, not because either is inherently superior but because I grew up with that way of spelling and I feel comfortable with it. Hardly grounds for a revolution, especially one that wants to defend the younger upper class version over the older version.