Crusade for proper English

While I may not express myself with proper English at all times, it is still a great peeve to me when the English language is continually misused and mistreated. Part of the crusade is for me to learn better English and the other part is to spread this attitude more widely to others as well.

I have divided this page into three parts. The first part deals with common misusage of the language. The second part describes the differences of International English and the variant spoken in the United States of America. The third part is directed to my Finnish friends and colleagues and everybody else with less extensive knowledge of how to use English. It is a kind of FAQ section where I shall include all (or most) questions people ask me of how to use proper English.


1) "Please, don't misuse the English language"

One of the best examples of how English language is raped is the treatment of third person pronouns. Naturally I refer to the thoroughly ridiculous and clumsy 'he/she' that some people seem to use as a general term. It may be slightly odd that there are no pronouns that would immediately distinguish a male or female person, the meaning of the word 'he' is:

"he /hi: pers. pron., 3. sing. masc. subjective (nom.), n., & a. [...]
A pron. 1 The male person or animal, or the person or animal of unknown or unspecified sex, previously mentioned or implied or easily identified. 2 ... 3 ... 4 ... 5 ...
B n. 1 The male; a male. 2. A person, a man. 3 ..."
from: The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary
And that of the word 'she' is:
"she pers. pron., 3. sing. fem. subjective (nom.), a., & n. [...]
A pron. 1 The female person or animal, or the person or animal of unknown or unspecified sex, previously mentioned or implied or easily identified. 2 ... 3 ... 4 ... 5 ...
B adj. Female ...
C n. 1 The female; a female. 2. spec. A female person, a woman, a girl."
from: The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary
So, as a pronoun either 'he' or 'she' means 'a male or a female person'. Therefore the clumsy 'he/she' means literally 'a male or a female or a male or a female person'. Admittedly there is a certain prejudice against male gender in the noun treatment of the words because 'he' as a noun does not explicitly give away the gender of the person in question whereas 'she' is always female. Perhaps men should get justice in this matter, but on the other hand the language has worked nicely for centuries and we should use the language properly instead of trying to change it according to (ideologically) adolescent whims.


2) "Differences between English and American"

Differences of word spelling:
English American N.B.
ardour ardor
armour armor
behaviour behavior
colour color If American had any consistency, their version should really be pronounced like colon, but with an r-sound in the end.
favour favor By the way, shouldn't famous be famos, curious be curios, etc. in American as well.
flavour flavor
honour honor
humour humor
labour labor
neighbour neighbor
odour odor
rumour rumor
saviour savior
savour savor
valour valor
vapour vapor
centre center So the American version of central should be centeral, centric should be centeric, centrifuge should be centerifuge, etc.
litre liter
metre meter I see, so what is the difference of a unit of length and an instrument that measures quantities of distances, times, etc. Seems to me somebody didn't consider everything thoroughly when changing from English to American. Furthermore the American version of metric should be meteric, metronome should be meteronome, geometry should be geometery, etc.
saltpetre saltpeter
analyse analyze
palaeo- paleo-
jeweller jeweler Shouldn't collector be colector in American - or at least killer be kiler?
marvellous marvelous
towelling toweling
traveller traveler
axe ax
catalogue catalog
dialogue dialog
goodbye goodby
programme program
grey gray grey is also sometimes used in American
light lite light is also used in American
night nite night is also used in American
schedule sked schedule is also used in American
autumn fall It seems almost needless to remark about the possible confusion between fall the verb, fall the noun derived from the verb, and fall the season...
lift elevator
post mail This is tricky because both post and mail are used in both English and American. The usage is, however, slightly different.
sunrise sun-up


3) "English FAQ"

Everybody (everyone), nobody (no-one), and anybody (anyone) are singular words; i.e. the verb used with them should also be singular (e.g. Everybody is happy to learn proper English.)


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Created by Rami T. F. Rekola