Have you ever paused to consider the differences in the English language from one English speaking nation to the next? I mean of course we understand the obvious variances such as localized slang or idioms, the well known pronunciations used for words like aluminum, and of course the blatant spelling differences of color vs. colour, or theater vs. theatre.
But there are some words that it wasn’t until I went through an editor that I discovered I had internalized as “normal” yet were actually borrowings from a more UK variation!
In particular – I use the word “towards” ALL THE TIME! Annnd apparently, that is not the American equivalent. Instead it should be “toward” and I just can’t cut out the “s” without feeling like something is missing!
Other similar versus words:
hiccups – hiccoughs
grey – gray
apologize – apologise
aluminum – aluminium
canceled – cancelled (I waffle between these two aaalll the time!)
No one mentioned that a big part of researching in writing would constitute “which version of spelling should I be using?”
It is similarly fascinating and frustrating discovering the greater depths of a language you have spoken since infancy. There is something to be said about how many rules native born speakers of their given language just internalize without truly understand where the principles stem or sometimes how to even properly engage with them.
I spent about four years of my early twenties teaching English as a second language overseas. Prior to doing so I had to receive a certification that would allow me to work in different institutions. Mind you, I had already gotten my Masters degree by this point, in a split major of History and English nonetheless! Still while going through this particular course I discovered there were quite a few grammatical terms my education had bypassed and yet I was still working in without even realizing. One such concept was a “gerund,” which I had improperly pronounced as “guh-run-d” instead of “j-air-en-d.” It’s a very simple principle in regards to adding -ing on the ends of words to produce verbs and so on. Yet in all my years of education I somehow missed that term while still fulfilling the rule.
Then you have the concepts of how certain types of writing are formatted in similar and yet completely different ways. Whether it be a physical letter to an email, or an essay to a story. And don’t even get me started on the whole comma debacle. I really feel that commas just live in this elusive reality where writers and academics alike just have to embrace some level of inconsistency as no one ever seems capable of completely coming into agreement with them. To Oxford Comma or not to Oxford Comma, that is the question! Which then leads me into concepts of “Old English” compared to the modern forms of the language. There are just so many crazy twists and turns this can all take.
Which then brings us back to the authoring end of this circle because often as a writer the reason for knowing a rule is so you can better understand how to break it. You want to balance things so they are still digestible for the reader, but also keep them fresh both to entice the reader and aide your own artistic sanities. It’s what I like to call the “play” part of writing. Within such spaces you find that in studying how modern language structures work perhaps you and envision what a futuristic society turns to. Or perhaps you look through ancient language slang to help whatever old school fantasy realm you have show the differences in class structure, whether there are prejudices, or even simple pet names held between friends and lovers.
The English language can be so very strange, and yet so fascinating to dissect and rediscover. At the end of the day as a writer I must say above all else, please make sure to make good use of a professional editor. The good ones will help you make a story shine far brighter.