Re: Acceptance of US writing by Canadians - different perspective

[Suzette Seveny <sseveny -at- PETVALU -dot- COM>]

Suzanne Townsend wrote:
>
> 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."

Since the American language originated from the British at one point, and still
draws from it somewhat, does that mean their styles are American only by
circumstance?  Not being an editor, I am ignorant as to what Canadian
copy-editing books exist.  I do know however, that for a period of time our
education system was inundated with Americanism and only within the past decade
has a serious effort been made to focus on Canadianism (?).  If recent style
guide publications do not exist, perhaps there is a requirement for one to be
written.

Suzette Seveny


 From ??? -at- ??? Sun Jan 00 00:00:00 0000=