ise or ize?

19th August 2009 • 0 Comments

Having been around text editors either online ( Xinha for example ) or indeed offline ( Open office or Microsoft word ) for a fair amount of time, one thing crops up almost every other time I use them.

The spell check which is almost always set to the on point by default, keeps throwing errors due to my use of 'ise instead of 'ize. This invariably makes me feel a little off, checking back to see scores of words underlined in red is no welcome sight!

Maybe this is social conformity at work again?

Warning signs are red, as are traffic lights.

Red must be a bad thing, or at the least it is flagging up something you should NOT do.

Now I have somehow got my hands on 'The Guardian book of English language' -- this no doubt arrived in the inescapable bumf that accompanies newspapers in this day and age ( almost half! at times) --

But I digress the salient point is this;

-ise not -ize at end of word, eg maximise, synthesise (exception: capsize)

Surely that isn't so hard to understand?

And now an example to help our fellow Americans our there!*

Capitalisation --NOT-- Capitalization

I do hope these text editors catch up, its not like we've just invented these forms of English in the last decade, although those 'Chavs' have been almost as prolific as Shakespeare in that regard as of late, but hey that's for another blog!

* A poor attempt at humour**, feel free to attempt any witty retorts. :P

** Yet another example of the difference in English 'across the pond'. Where the need arises that you drop a letter from an already very short word perplexes me. humour --NOT-- humor.