Re: British or American spelling in IETF docs

Jordi,

I don't think we benefit from more rules unless there are really good
reasons for them.  As we have seen over and over again, in many
cases, they eventually lead hair-splitting and long drawn out
arguments.  Brian's example of -ize and -ise is just one example of
the problems we can get into.  Whichever choice is made, sooner or
later there will be inconsistency between document text and
references.  Automatic translation program have been able to deal
with the differences for many years.  So, unless there is a much more
compelling reason than I've seen so far, let's just stick with this
being an author choice issue as long as there is  consistency within
a document (and even that informed by good sense).

   john


--On Saturday, August 8, 2026 11:51 +0200
"[email protected]"
<[email protected]> wrote:

> May be will be better to take a decision about using British or
> American spelling to make all our documents uniform (after a
> decided date, if we reach consensus on that)?
> 
> Regards,
> Jordi
> 
> @jordipalet
> 
>> El 8 ago 2026, a las 1:18, Brian E Carpenter
>> <[email protected]> escribió:
>> 
>> Exactly, it's the author's choice as long as it's consistent.
>> 
>> BUT there is an internal war in British English, where some
>> grammarians prefer -ize or -izing but most actual writers
>> (including me) prefer -ise or -ising. However, it may surprise you
>> that there are some words that are always -ise even in the USA.
>> 
>> https://home.oxfordowl.co.uk/spelling-spotlight-when-to-use-ize-an
>> d-ise/ may help, or may make you even more confused.
>> 
>> Now back to your regularly scheduled program(me).
>> 
>>  Brian
>> 
>> On 08-Aug-26 05:11, [email protected] wrote:
>>> I'm not sure is so clear I looked into this and all the
>>> referenced documents:
>>> https://www.rfc-editor.org/authors/rfc-style-guide/
>>> <https://www.rfc-editor.org/authors/rfc-style-guide/> And only
>>> mention is in RFC7322 which say:
>>> 3.1 <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7322/#section-3.1>.
>>> Language The RFC publication language is English.  Spelling may
>>>    be either American or British, as long as an individual
>>>    document is internally consistent.  Where both American and
>>>    British English spelling are used within a document or cluster
>>>    of documents, the text will be modified to be consistent with
>>>    American English spelling. Saludos,
>>> Jordi
>>> @jordipalet
>>>> El 7 ago 2026, a las 18:19, Michael Richardson
>>>> <[email protected]> escribió:
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> "[email protected]" wrote:
>>>>> Actually it will be good to know if there is a preference in
>>>>> IETF on what English to use, British or American and have a
>>>>> explicit IESG (I guess) decision about that, for consistency
>>>>> across documents. Anyone knows if this has been
>>>>> discussed/decided at some point?
>>>> 
>>>> I thought it's in the RPC/RFC-editor style guide: no U in
>>>> honour. American spellings.
>>>> 
>>>> --
>>>> Michael Richardson <[email protected]>   . o O ( IPv6 IøT
>>>> consulting ) Sandelman Software Works Inc, Ottawa and Worldwide
>>>> 
>>>> **       My working hours and your working hours may be
>>>> different.         ** ** Please do not feel obligated to reply
>>>> outside your normal working hours **
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
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> This electronic message contains information which may be
> privileged or confidential. The information is intended to be for
> the exclusive use of the individual(s) named above and further
> non-explicilty authorized disclosure, copying, distribution or use
> of the contents of this information, even if partially, including
> attached files, is strictly prohibited and will be considered a
> criminal offense. If you are not the intended recipient be aware
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