QUESTION: British vs. American spelling

["M. Dannenberg" <midannen -at- SI -dot- BOSCH -dot- DE>]

Hi.

I don't want to get into this discussion, but I have a related question.
Basically for me this is a non-issue of monstrous proportions. As far as
the stuff I write is concerned, it boils down to spelling "colour" with
"ou" and customise with an "s". I can't imagine anybody having a
comprehension problem because of that. However, our management seems to
think this is somehow very important and they've been pestering me about
it quite a bit.

The thing is, people from our American subsidiary have been complaining
that the British spellings would actually bother American readers. It's
not that people wouldn't understand it, but rather they'd be reminded of
the colonial oppression they suffered at the hands of the Brits and that
would somehow give rise to negative feelings that would then be
associated with our products.

Yes, this sounds like complete bullshit to me too. So here's the
question I'd like to put to our esteemed American colleagues: If you
read a text that uses British spellings but is otherwise completely
neutral,

a) does it bother you?

b) does it somehow impede your comprehension?

I think these questions should be specific enough to avoid any usage
jihads. Then again, that never prevented anyone, has it?

Mike

--
Mike Dannenberg
ETAS GmbH & Co.KG
midannen -at- si -dot- bosch -dot- de


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