Weaver - Revising your spelling

Living

News agency to switch spelling style

Patti Tasko of The Canadian Press

Press release, September 1. Reported and embellished by the Evening Telegram.

The Canadian Press endeavours to write with fervour, humour and candour.
Starting today, The Canadian Press will endeavour to write with fervour, humour and candour.
Canada’s national news agency has spelled these words and about 35 others without the final “u” throughout its 81-year history. But at the urging of many of the newspapers that own CP, editors will switch to “our” for words of more than one syllable in which the “u” is not pronounced. This is the spelling preferred by many readers.
The Evening Telegram is adopting CP’s move to the Canadian spellings, effective in Wednesday’s edition of the newspaper.
“The lack of Canadian spellings has been an ongoing issue for our readers so we welcome the opportunity to move to Canadian spellings,” said Evening Telegram managing editor Bretton Loney.
Be forgiving of those of us who edit the daily news. We’ve been writing with color, ardor and rigor for so long that we may forget — at least until we get the spellchecker adjusted — that those are rumours, not rumors, about Bill and Monica; that the latest government directive is an endeavour, not an endeavor; and that the body of water next to St. John’s is a harbour, not a harbor.
At the same time, editors have to remember that although we will now use honour, it is still honorary without a “u.” Ditto for labour and laborious; odour and odorous.
Such is the arbitrary nature of spelling, which is governed a lot by history and only a little by consistency.
Canadian spelling, in particular, is schizoid because of our historical ties to Britain and our physical proximity to the United States. We use British spelling for some words (centre, not center, for instance) and American for others (program, not programme).
For those who don’t get all worked up about spelling, it may be hard to understand why one little “u” is such a big deal. Trust us: advocates of both spellings feel strongly that theirs is the “proper” Canadian spelling. And they are not hesitant to write or phone editors to complain.

Those are rumours, not rumors, about Bill and Monica
For the “our” advocates, it is a matter of passion. “Or” is an Americanism, as huge a threat to the Canadian cultural identity as zee instead of zed.
The “or” proponents take the logical approach. They feel “or” is the cleaner, more consistent, more modern spelling — there are many more words with “or” endings than “our” — and has been used in Canada long enough to be considered Canadian.
CP has been caught in the middle. On one hand, the news agency is a strong proponent of distinctly Canadian spellings: it publishes spelling and style guides that are followed by most Canadian media and many businesses. At the same time, it stood behind “or.”
The roots of the dispute go back to before the last century, when written English — in Britain and elsewhere — began replacing “our” with “or” in such words as governour, terrour and errour. Then Americans began using “or” endings almost exclusively and it became practically a matter of honour outside the United States to retain the remaining “our” spellings.
In Canada, Sir John A. Macdonald decided arbitrarily that Canada would use “our” endings in federal government documents, despite the fact that “or” endings were already in common use and that the Queen’s Printer of the day spiritedly resisted the move.

“Or” is an Americanism, as huge a threat to the Canadian cultural identity as zee instead of zed.
Daily newspapers, which followed CP style, used “or” for most of this century until recently when some made the switch to “our.” Most Canadian schools also teach “our” spellings.
Earlier this year, CP surveyed its 95 members and found 77 per cent of respondents wanted the “our” spelling used.
Although one publisher decried the change as “trendy,” another argued it would “end the argument and save everyone’s time and energy discussing a matter that is not really that important.”
Now, you can’t really argue with that candour!
Patti Tasko, Senior Supervising Editor of The Canadian Press, is responsible for language and style issues at the news agency.

front	local	mscl	music	news	sport
mail me

This page updated November 7, 1998


	The Canadian Press endeavours to write with fervour, humour and candour.	Starting today, The Canadian Press will endeavour to write with fervour, humour and candour. Canada’s national news agency has spelled these words and about 35 others without the final “u” throughout its 81-year history. But at the urging of many of the newspapers that own CP, editors will switch to “our” for words of more than one syllable in which the “u” is not pronounced. This is the spelling preferred by many readers. The Evening Telegram is adopting CP’s move to the Canadian spellings, effective in Wednesday’s edition of the newspaper. “The lack of Canadian spellings has been an ongoing issue for our readers so we welcome the opportunity to move to Canadian spellings,” said Evening Telegram managing editor Bretton Loney. Be forgiving of those of us who edit the daily news. We’ve been writing with color, ardor and rigor for so long that we may forget — at least until we get the spellchecker adjusted — that those are rumours, not rumors, about Bill and Monica; that the latest government directive is an endeavour, not an endeavor; and that the body of water next to St. John’s is a harbour, not a harbor. At the same time, editors have to remember that although we will now use honour, it is still honorary without a “u.” Ditto for labour and laborious; odour and odorous. Such is the arbitrary nature of spelling, which is governed a lot by history and only a little by consistency. Canadian spelling, in particular, is schizoid because of our historical ties to Britain and our physical proximity to the United States. We use British spelling for some words (centre, not center, for instance) and American for others (program, not programme). For those who don’t get all worked up about spelling, it may be hard to understand why one little “u” is such a big deal. Trust us: advocates of both spellings feel strongly that theirs is the “proper” Canadian spelling. And they are not hesitant to write or phone editors to complain.
	Those are rumours, not rumors, about Bill and Monica	For the “our” advocates, it is a matter of passion. “Or” is an Americanism, as huge a threat to the Canadian cultural identity as zee instead of zed. The “or” proponents take the logical approach. They feel “or” is the cleaner, more consistent, more modern spelling — there are many more words with “or” endings than “our” — and has been used in Canada long enough to be considered Canadian. CP has been caught in the middle. On one hand, the news agency is a strong proponent of distinctly Canadian spellings: it publishes spelling and style guides that are followed by most Canadian media and many businesses. At the same time, it stood behind “or.” The roots of the dispute go back to before the last century, when written English — in Britain and elsewhere — began replacing “our” with “or” in such words as governour, terrour and errour. Then Americans began using “or” endings almost exclusively and it became practically a matter of honour outside the United States to retain the remaining “our” spellings. In Canada, Sir John A. Macdonald decided arbitrarily that Canada would use “our” endings in federal government documents, despite the fact that “or” endings were already in common use and that the Queen’s Printer of the day spiritedly resisted the move.
	“Or” is an Americanism, as huge a threat to the Canadian cultural identity as zee instead of zed.	Daily newspapers, which followed CP style, used “or” for most of this century until recently when some made the switch to “our.” Most Canadian schools also teach “our” spellings. Earlier this year, CP surveyed its 95 members and found 77 per cent of respondents wanted the “our” spelling used. Although one publisher decried the change as “trendy,” another argued it would “end the argument and save everyone’s time and energy discussing a matter that is not really that important.” Now, you can’t really argue with that candour! Patti Tasko, Senior Supervising Editor of The Canadian Press, is responsible for language and style issues at the news agency.