British Spellings Quiz

Hmm, I guess I've been using the British spelling for cheque, grey, and catalogue all my life.

Have always used kilogram - it's programme that has the extra me. And why do Americans say aluminum instead of aluminium when most of the elements end in -ium?

RogerM is right. 'Programme' would be a better example.

What on earth is Behoove? Never seen the American or English spelling of the word

I've actually always used the British spelling for some of these...

I grew up reading CS Lewis and ended up doing the same, but I have since recovered.

By recovered, do you mean, lapsed back into the unfortunate American way of speaking.

I've always wondered why gray and traveler had 2 accepted spellings.

grey/gray are both acceptable in American English. Some of these, though, are only correct in either British English or American English.

Great quiz!

Hey Quizmaster - you list all of these but forgot gaol? Really?

These aren't British spellings. They're English spellings. More than just the British use them. It's just the Americans who don't. And what the hell is up with kilogram? Also, there is "defense" in British English, it just has a specific meaning. There is also "story" believe it or not. As in story or tale.

"These aren't British spellings...British use them..."

The British fall under the broader category of English

this guys right, these spellings are used by most english speaking countries, its the american spellings that are the exceptions

You are wrong. I am an English teacher and I teach English all over the world. The vast majority of people wish to learn American English, not British English. British English is spoken by a much smaller number of people, not only in the respective countries where the two dialects are most commonly spoken (and where the USA's population trump's Britain's by a very large margin), but also all over the world. I realize that most Europeans believe firmly that the world begins and ends at the borders of Europe, but if you do some traveling you'll find that this is true. In addition, it's because of America's status as a superpower, their military supremacy, and their economic and cultural hegemony that English remains a relevant language today. Some people go to the UK to look for jobs or to attend university, but the numbers are tiny compared to those that go to the US for the same. It's not British films playing at the multiplex here in Bahrain, nor a British website we're logging in to.

No, the vast majority of people who wish to learn any kind of English, wish to learn English. It just so happens that because America is the bigger, more powerful country, and so much of pop-culture is American, people end up learning that. Nobody that learns 'English', chooses which English to learn, it's those that teach them, or the resources that they use, that decide. Also American English is a more simple language - seen in the spellings reflecting the sound of the word and the multiple use of the same spelling for words with different meanings, which isn't as prevalent in British English, e.g. story (level of a building) and story (tale).

Also I would like to disagree with the point you make about why English (as a language) is relevant at all, nowadays. It is almost entirely down to the spread of the British Empire - the reason that America speaks English as opposed to Spanish, French or German - and the fact that so many countries were subjugated under British rule for a long time. Take, for example, Nigeria - a country where English is the official language, although there are hundreds of others. The Nigerians were speaking English before America was a big player on the world scene. This is the case in many of the territories that were part of the British Empire - especially in Africa, where there was the least opposition. When the countries did gain independence, they simply stuck with the language they had been speaking for a long time as it would be a logistical nightmare to completely change the language of a country.

Also, the point you make about films and websites is irrelevant, the reason that they are US films and websites, is because they have the money, which may well change to Brazil, China or Russia in 50 years - it has nothing to do with whether they are in American English or British English, the simple fact remains - they are all ENGLISH speaking films/websites/books/whatever.

actually, Gaston, in many places they do indeed choose which English to learn. At least in Europe, most students have a choice. I know this because half of my cousins live Europe and they all had the option of choosing. I also know an immigrant from Kuwait who said he had both options in school but chose American English. Of course, in many places they may be limited to the teachers available. I wouldn't expect many American teachers in Ghana for example, whereas they are used to the British system...

i agree with Roger M and Mithol

Good quiz! But then again I live in the UK

17 on the first try, not bad for a french

Most of these are the standard international spellings. Kilogramme is incorrect; it's kilogram. Gram is the name of the unit. Programme is programme, though... and it's because it's not a reference to the unit. :)

Also, Mithol is right, story and storey are simply different words. They both exist in American and standard international English. (Unless Americans have started spelling "storey" as "story", which would just be hilarious.)

There's a Tammy Wynette song "Two Story House" about--what else?--cheating on your spouse. So, yes, we have adopted it, although the standard spelling is also used. And Merry Xmas to all!

i'm english and i've always spelt kilogram that way i've never spelt it as "kilogramme" :/ and I can't spell manouver in either language haha

titbit really sums up the difference between here and there right?

Just what are you implying?

Thank you Sherlock Holmes!

@ Annie1892, it would behoove you to increase your vocabulary! ;)

Behoove, by the way, means to suit or to fit; to be in ones best interest.

I'm American, and I use a lot of the British spellings. I must admit, though, if not for my keeping up with British pop music I may not have known a few of these.

No theatre, honour, or favourite?

Exactly i use those all the time :) i thought that was how they are spelled...us americans are just lazy so we use fewer letters :)

It's not laziness it's efficiency.

30/30 - Plenty of overlap with Canadian English spellings and it wasn't hard to remember/guess the others. Being in the Commonwealth pays off once in awhile. Great idea for a quiz.

I like the American versions better, mostly. Eliminates unnecessary vowels. I prefer "centre" to "center" though.

The American versions are better, but Mr. Webster really didn't go far enough. He fixed some words while leaving others with their errors. While we're on the subject, we could eliminate some letters from the language completely and never miss them. There's no reason for a letter "c" when we've got "k" and "s" and "tsh," and no reason for "x" when we've got "ks." Further, just to help illustrate how screwed up English spelling still is (even in the improved American version of the language), I remember my phonetics professor writing the word "ghoti" on the board and telling us it was "fish." He explained that it was the "gh" from "enough," the "o" from "women," and the "ti" from "nation."

Wow you really have an irrational hatred of the British, don't you?

i agree with the unnecessary letters, and you can add 'q' to that list. Though I think the language would benefit by creating new letters to make the 'sh' and 'ch' sounds, like russian has.

I'm American and I've always spelled [or spelt? :)] it "moustache", "traveller", and "likeable". *shrugs*

I'm English and I only got 26 :( though I haven't heard of some of these for instance what on earth is behoove or behove?? Also I've always used kilogram...

I hate American spellings. Especially when you start to see children using them because of all the American programmes and films!

Language is dynamic. Might as well accept it now or your life will be full of frustration. I can guarantee that the changes aren't going to go the other direction.

Using this logic, we should all learn Chinese and Portuguese, because the U.S.A isn't getting any richer, whereas Brazil and China are.

I was stuck on story... (I'm from the UK) ... then realised that you meant level not narrative haha...

Australians also use the british spellings, in fact most english speaking countries do because they were the original words, that the americans changed.

Airplane is an American word that the Brits turned into aeroplane.

haha. :) It's also another common misconception that British English is somehow more "pure" than American English, which is demonstrably untrue and any linguistic historian can tell you this. From the 16th Century when British and American English began to diverge, through the 18th Century when the language was more or less standardized and codified on both shores, and on through today, British English has actually undergone far more dramatic changes than American English has. The language spoken on the BBC today is in fact much farther from the English of Elizabeth and Shakespeare than the English spoken in some parts of the United States. Thinking of British English as "original," simply because the people who speak it live in the same place that Geoffrey Chaucer did, is just downright silly. All language is dynamic and changing, and the roots of both American and British English go back to the same place.

Common misconception forwarded by people who try very hard to convince themselves that they are somehow still important. The "original" words were not uniformly spelled any particular way. Up until the 18th century both written and spoken English was a total free-for-all in terms of grammar and, especially, spelling. You can find old manuscripts from this period where words are spelled three or four different ways in the same sentence. During the 18th Century a few snooty linguists (mostly students of Latin) decided to try and standardize things by telling everyone what was correct or not. Their decisions were mostly arbitrary and when they weren't, they were illogical (trying to force the rules of Latin, erroneously but popularly believed to be a pure language, on to English). Around the same time, Noah Webster published a dictionary of American English in which he fixed many of the problems that found their way into dictionaries of British English. But not all.

Got 21 out of 30; I couldn't spell "manoeuvre: for the life of me. I'm from the US and many of my friends mock me for using "favourite" and "colour". Seems they don't recognise the rest. ;-)

Surprised that I got 20/30. The only one that I ever used was "grey", I never call it "gray".

This was always going to generate a lot of interest, maybe someone should do a quiz that points out the similarities. Also I'm an aussie and i have no idea how to spell the British, English or US way...tbh it's prob cause i just cant spell good =9 (or french which some of these seem to be)

i never knew that americans have such a variation on our language, some of the american spellings i had never seen before :P

aeon means a long time. behove is better explained in context. So, "it ill behoves you to criticise me when you spent an aeon in the toilet doing your make-up" could be translated as : "You've got a nerve to bitch at me when you spent flamin' ages in the bog putting on your slap" I hope that helps

I use the british spellings for like, 15 of the words lol. I always thought that's how they were spelled in the US. :)

Instead of 'British spellings' it should just be called 'Correct Spellings'

Or.. "Correct spellings until Americans came along and fixed it making it better." Also.. you forgot Americans: Saw. And British: Sawr. Since they add weird r's to the end of words. But I guess thats not in writing just in the horrific accents.

My other comment was removed, though I don't see why. This one is more offensive than what I had to say. 2/3 of the world's native speakers of English live in the United States. The English spoken in the USA today has changed *less* since the 16th century than the English spoken in the UK today, making American English more "pure." Furthermore, all over the world American English is the preferred dialect of English, excluding Western Europe and the handful of countries that are in the Commonwealth. Arguing that British English is correct is... well... I'm afraid that if I speak plainly I'll be censored again, so figure it out.

Racquet? Never seen it written like that - not even by my English teacher.

We don't spell racket 'racquet'? never even seen that spelling before

You need to make the words easier to understand, because we say story, as in a tale, story book, and also, with check, i had no idea it was Cheque. other than a few minor errors, very good quiz. :)

Being Canadian, about half of the words on this list I spell the british way, and many are completely interchangeable, or everyone lives in confusion about how they are supposed to spell them.

Glad I'm not the only American that spells like a Brit. :)

I don't know if its just me, but I'm British and I don't spell 'story' as 'storey' I get annoyed if anyone spells it like that :/

I'm British and I've always used curb (probably because I watch curb your enthusiasm)