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Re: Acceptance of US writing by Canadians - different perspective
Subject:Re: Acceptance of US writing by Canadians - different perspective From:Suzanne Townsend <suzyt -at- ISTAR -dot- CA> Date:Thu, 21 Jan 1999 08:06:13 -0400
Suzette wrote:
>> My pet peeve is Canadian technical writers who claim there is no unique standard in Canada for spelling or grammar. Ignorance of a standard does not mean the standard does not exist. And those who feel that as Canadians we can choose any standard we like. Says who? My standard is determined by the intended audience for my work. I will write to whichever standard is required. <<
I disagree! I am a Canadian tech writer who claims there is no UNIQUE
standard in Canada for spelling or grammar. Some style books use a
combination of British and American spellings, for example. Others are
strictly British; I have yet to see one that is strictly American. Allow
me to quote from "Editing Canadian English" (Douglas & McIntyre, 1988):
"Our research dispelled the illusion that there is only one Canadian
style. Instead, Canadian editors draw upon two copy-editing traditions
-- American and British -- to create varying amalgams of the two, with
some local colour added. The result is a wide range of styles that are
Canadian only by circumstance."
Suzanne Townsend
Nova Scotia
Member, Editors' Association of Canada
