Sharing: British English Resources

First, a personal story: A few years ago, I was tasked with being the senior writer/editor for a certain online magazine. Like me, all of the junior writers were outsourced freelancers. Things were going well--everyone was producing really great stuff, no one was missing deadlines. We were well off into the second batch of write-ups and articles, when the whole first batch was returned to us, filled with red marks and a dozen notes.

I forgot to mention that this online magazine is based in the UK. Naive, young me thought that English is English. Little did I know that across the sea, aluminum is spelled with an extra 'i,' or that they don't use trash cans at all (they use bins).

And so to help new writers cope with UK clients better, I am going to share some of the online resources that helped our team during that period:

1) THE BRITICIZSER
http://us2uk.eu

If your MS Word doesn't have UK English settings installed (my Office on Mac doesn't), this website will help immensely. Simply cut and paste chunks of your work in the provided box, and The Briticizser will automatically convert all of those "meters" into "metres," and soon you'll find yourself realising instead of realizing.

2) EFFINGPOT
http://www.effingpot.com/

Of course, knowing the minor differences in spelling is not enough for you to sound legitimately British. Effingpot is made by a British person who moved to Texas, and is a layman's guide to British English, delivered in a humorous (or humourous) way. It has everything, from what British call different types of people (and why it's okay to be called a chap but not a chav), to clothing (and why you should use the word pants very carefully), to more obscure slang. Read it, and learn who the hell is this Bob that is everybody's uncle.

3) English-Zone
http://www.english-zone.com/vocab/ae-be.html

This one is a little more straightforward comparison of terms between American and British English, arranged alphabetically. This chart makes it easy to see why "popping out to blow a fag" isn't as offensive as you think it is.

4) Project Britain
http://projectbritain.com/americanbritish.html

Like English-Zone, this site has two-column charts comparing American and British English. Unlike English-Zone though, Project Britain separates the terms into distinct categories.

5) The Septic's Companion
http://septicscompanion.com/

A dictionary of British slang. This one is quite useful when you're reading something mundane that becomes suddenly confusing because of one word, like that time when I was reading about preschool students running out of rubber.


Oh, and here's another handy tip: do not over-Briticise things. You'll sound incredibly inauthentic and be called a wanker by your boss/client. As in everything, moderation is the key. So read up, and the best of British to you!

 

Thank you! That one is really useful.

 

us2uk.eu has been one of the most helpful sources for me at university. It's amazing. Thank you for posting all the other websites that deal with this problem.

 

Or indeed, asking to "bum a fag". Perfectly acceptable proposition in the UK

 

In a place like San Francisco, it would take on an entirely different meaning.

 

Here in Canada, we use a mix of British and American English as our spelling standard. We spell aluminum same as you but put colour/humour/neighbour, etc. have a "u" in them.

I'm not completely sure but I think the Brits may pronounce aluminium differently - the second i is used in speech.

 

It is humorous in British English, despite the fact that the noun is spelt humour.

I'm sure you were just providing an example.

Regarding the site:
http://www.english-zone.com/vocab/ae-be.html

Any writer should keep in mind the disclaimer as quite a few of those words are outdated/rarely used and could just confused readers. It's quite an amusing list, though.

Yes, we pronounce it differently.

 

"It is humorous in British English, despite the fact that the noun is spelt humour."

We spell both of those words that way, too.