: Re: British / American language mishmash English is not my mother tongue. I am completely fluent in English though, and I write my fiction in English. Here's the problem: I live in neither the

@Pierce369

Vote Up Vote Down

The differences between British and American English (Standard Written English) vary in degree from region to region. Many British words, like Autumn, are easily understood because they are used as part of a regional dialect as well. The people who settled the American Colonies brought their language and idioms, changing only slightly over the years.

I am an American living in Canada and have daily exposure to the essentially British English spoken here.

Mixing the two variants will not confuse native speakers as most have had some exposure to the other English. What might seem jarring is if you have an American character who uses many British idioms without a backstory of studying abroad etc.

Context is your friend. When reading Tale of Two Cities, the word qeue had me pause for a second, but it was clear the character was standing in a line, so idiom learned and off I went.

(0)

Login to post a comment!