You ‘realised’ something or you ‘realized’ it?

American and British English spelling differ. Does using one or the other make it ‘bad’ copy? 

Spoiler alert: No. But you do need to choose a style and stick with it. 

Like stylist Kara Welch:

I’d rather be on the best-dressed and the worst-dressed. I don’t want to be “that’s fine”… that’s the kiss of death.  

‘I haz cheezburger’

These days, cat memes are accepted currency, and spelling has become… variable.

But the ‘-ise/-ize’ dichotomy is not a new phenomenon. 

Although the ‘-ise’ spelling is considered the strictly British way to spell, ‘-ize’ has become more and more common in British, South African and Australian copy. Oxford (an ostensibly British institution) says ‘-ize’ is okay, but many Britishised (see what we did there) versions of regarded American publications, like the Guardian and Economist insist on ‘-ise’. 

Why? Style. 

They chose one way and now they stick with it. Some people may pull faces at the sight of the ‘-ize’ in South African copy… kind of like Kara’s worst-dressed. 

But that doesn’t matter. As long as it’s consistent.

Need help with cat meme spelling and sticking to one style? Contact us now.